I wanted to say thank you to all of the guys on this forum who have been so helpful in reaching my goal and also to those of you who have inspired me to build this....the list is long.
It has been a long time in development but worth the time and money....I didn't want to learn to fly a desk.
Now all I have to do is learn how to fly! Apparently I'm still just a fabricator and not a pilot, I don't even know what the data cartridge does...lol! But I am looking forward to learning now that I have something to fly in.
Again, thanks a lot guys!

Love the cup holder! Put a toilet in for the seat and you'd never have to get up!
Great work dude! Looks great!

-schnidrman

Lol...thanks schnidrman. Ya no sense flying without your favorite beverage within arms reach!

DDDDDam! Nice work!

AWESOME.

Thanks guys...it was a lot of work but I'm glad I did it. Like I said, now I just have to learn how to fly it!

Nice work! Can you give any details? How did you get measurements for the pit? Are the instruments working or just images? Same thing for the switches... they look 2D at the moment, is this correct?

Either way, nice work!! Would love some closer pics with what you've done to the throttle assembly please!

Duuuuude that is awesome! You must be single!

I would be happy to give you details.

I wanted a structure that I would be able to add all of the switches/knobs/ICP etc. a little at a time as I could afford to, the decals are really good-looking place holders! I think the small scale falcon cockpit model was what gave me the idea, just the consoles..didn't need the tub or seat etc, just the necessities (other than someplace to put my keyboard, mouse and rock star!) I am currently installing the Cougar MFD's.

Getting the measurements took awhile between the little scale model cockpit, online, a lot of help from the guys over at viperpits, and measuring a real panel and extrapolating I got there.

I spent a long time planning, like I said I wanted something light, rigid, functional and above all else a structure that I could add all of the panels/switches/gauges etc a little at a time as I could afford to without getting bogged down by the complexity of building a 1:1 pit, I want to fly! This fits the bill for me.

As far as the Throttle assembly goes, I cut the arm in half, installed 2 aluminum extensions, and added a ribbon cable to extend the wiring. I was going to finish wrapping it with aluminum but I think I am going to go with a different plan so I taped it up so the wiring was secure (not pretty but functionable). If you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask....I'll be glad to help.

@ DaveP63 - Thanks for the compliment man, and no not single, I just lost my job so I had time to finish it
(although my wife just said I'm almost single)...lol

Ah, I see what you did there.

I'm not sure, but I have seen YT videos of throttle mods that has the user "lift" the throttle handle to go into afterburner. I am guessing your mod does NOT do this? How about the idle detent? Is that implemented in your Cougar throttle?

Also, I suspect this is made out of aluminum? Thanks!

The extension is aluminum. This mod allowed me to keep the base of the throttle out of the cockpit which required
adjustment of the detents so the AB and idle cutoff would be in the correct positions. (not to difficult to do though).
It also reverses the axis which has to be compensated for in the HOTAS programming (also no big deal)

Yes, the detents would not be a problem to change (though might be time-consuming) and it is a simple "inverting" of the throttle axis to change direction. However, I see you have a "throttle rail" (not sure what it's called) and I wonder if it is functional and if so, how does it work?

I dont really know what it does either but i was an inexpensive way to add more realism to the pit! (I like it anyway)...

Beautiful stuff! Care to post a video of it in action?

I believe the rail is the "guide" for the throttle and it is the physical stops on idle and mil power. You'd have to push the throttle to the LEFT then pull back to get it to the off position, and I think you LIFT the throttle and push forward to get to the afterbuner stages. I **think** that's how it's supposed to work.

So are you saying that does not function as such in your pit and is just there for show?

@ Ice - that would be awesome! However something of that complexity is way out of scope for this application. Do you know how they did it? Was it a modified Cougar that moved left and lifted up? (I never thought the throttle thing could be so intriguing...you would have to spend quite some time making that work but it would be cool!) But what this is is a structure to give you something to add all of those things to. You can make all of those things as realistic as you want to as you go and can afford.

Thanks for the compliment EinsteinEP!
A video is a great idea!

It will have to wait until I can get the pit back together...a guy wanted me to build him one so I had to
disassemble it for measurements.

As soon as it's reassembled I'll do the video!

It looked something like this, but while this is a render, I remember seeing a real-life video of it in action.... can't seem to find it again though.



The assembly itself is the complex bit, but I'm sure someone in VP has done this. I was just intrigued when you said you had help from VP, then I saw the rail on your pit, and I thought you had it working.

I want that throttle setup!!!

I will definitely add that to my to-do list.
Thanks for sharing that...