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#2446104 - 02/11/08 08:18 PM Re: Please show off your pit. ***** [Re: VanUSN]  
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HitchHikingFlatlander Offline
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^Some people go for an authentic feel man, you have the choice to go with your own ideas, but if I built that bad @ss pit, an office or gaming chair sure hell won't come near it. Thats one nice piece of kit and maybe I'm taking your questions the wrong way but the way you ask them comes off a bit strange. Who cares if your not ejecting yourself or not going to have a real HUD its the builders decision and a good looking decision in this case whether operational or not.


I've got a bad feeling about this.....
Inline advert (2nd and 3rd post)

#2446160 - 02/11/08 09:11 PM Re: Please show off your pit. [Re: HitchHikingFlatlander]  
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VanUSN Offline
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VanUSN  Offline
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USA
I'm not denying or disagreeing that the pit looks awesome, it does. I'm more curious as to why he's got a $33,000 piece of glass that doesn't do anything except interfere with your view and a $???,??? (uncomfortable) ejection seat when you could rig up a gaming chair to look pretty close to the real thing for a lot cheaper. US Navy F/A-18 simulators have all that stuff because they acutally use it, so I was asking (more of a joke) if it was being made for the Navy or if was actually for his PC games. What I find "strange" is that people are getting gov't contracted military parts for their home computers. Last time I checked, Rockwell Collins and Martin Baker weren't in the business of selling their parts to the everyday consumer.


Fly EP-3E___|___
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#2446683 - 02/12/08 12:26 PM Re: Please show off your pit. [Re: VanUSN]  
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GlynD Offline
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Shropshire UK
I can possibly understand why he is building it like that - for whatever reason most of us will never get to fly the real thing so a PC game is about as close as we will get! If you have a realistic 'pit it goes someway to the "suspension of reality" while in the game - enhancing the game and the experience while playing. Giving a feeling of being in the real thing without the price tag/danger/years of training etc.

Plus there is the satisfaction of having produced a piece of work that deserves to be respected and admired due to the technical expertise and dedication of the builder - the wow factor! Pit building is a hobby, however in many hobbies you encounter people that want to be at the top of their tree and others that are happy with compromises. I'm not saying either end of the scale is right just whatever suits the individual and their motivation, time and budget...

They may start out as hobbyists and move onto commercial work later, again up to the individual.

A lot of the stuff used by F-16 pit builders is copied from the real thing by incredibly talented craftsmen - just pop over to http://www.viperpits.org to see what I mean. Someone will get hold of a real part and then find a way to reproduce it or they may build it from scratch. You get a reasonable copy without the aforementioned cost - sometimes it is still expensive but more in the range of mere mortals! \:\)

At the end of the day it is "horses for courses"! If you are happy with your pit that's cool - some people will go to further lengths to fulfil their pit building desire and well that's cool too!

Cheers

#2446776 - 02/12/08 03:26 PM Re: Please show off your pit. [Re: GlynD]  
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VanUSN Offline
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VanUSN  Offline
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USA
I understand the desire for the realism factor, pride in your final product, etc. I also know that there are very good replicas of actual aircraft parts out there. I tip my hat to those individuals that put in the time and effort to create such awesome pits, it takes dedication and hard work. I've just never seen a sim pit with the actual glass in the forward windscreen or what appears to be an actual ejection seat except in a military training sim. So to me, that picture is either from somewhere that makes military training sim pits, there is some kind of replication wizzard that can make VERY realistic parts, or someone is getting parts using less than legal means. Are people willing to go that far just to make their pit more realistic?


Fly EP-3E___|___
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#2446784 - 02/12/08 03:31 PM Re: Please show off your pit. [Re: VanUSN]  
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 11,273
531 Ghost Offline
USMC
531 Ghost  Offline
USMC
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Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 11,273
Elizabeth City NC
In a word, to answer your question YES <--- So don't click on that link if you don't want to see some of the most incredible craftsmanship I've ever seen. ;\)


Originally Posted by Abraham Lincoln
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.


#2447152 - 02/12/08 10:20 PM Re: Please show off your pit. [Re: 531 Ghost]  
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 125
VanUSN Offline
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VanUSN  Offline
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Posts: 125
USA
Oh, I clicked the link, that was an awesome piece of work! The pic of the F-18 pit is a little blurry but that seat looks like a REAL ejection seat (not fabricated) and the Combiner glass appears to be an actual Combiner (not pieces of glass in a wood frame). Like I said the picture is blurry, it just threw some red flags for me. Anyway, great looking pits guys. Good luck with your building!


Fly EP-3E___|___
__@__@__(_ _)__@__@__
#2448102 - 02/14/08 05:32 AM Re: Please show off your pit. [Re: 531 Ghost]  
Joined: Oct 2007
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El Hefe Offline
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Posts: 187
 Originally Posted By: 531 Ghost
In a word, to answer your question YES <--- So don't click on that link if you don't want to see some of the most incredible craftsmanship I've ever seen. ;\)


holy... cow...

that's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen \:D

#2449694 - 02/16/08 07:40 AM Re: Please show off your pit. [Re: VanUSN]  
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 789
Pretzel Offline
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Pretzel  Offline
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Posts: 789
Texas
 Originally Posted By: Flamedog
 Originally Posted By: Pretzel
My F/A-18C pit..Work in progress.



Wow! Good looking pit. However...

1. Where'd you pick up an ejection seat and the combiner glass? (That stuff isn't cheap, $30,000+ for the glass alone.)
2. What good are they going to be to you in a sim? (Can't display the HUD in the combiner unless you have an actual HUD, I'm pretty sure you won't be really ejecting yourself either.)

Which leads to my last question:

3. Are you really making this pit or is it from an actual military simulator? If you're building it yourself, it looks awesome so far. I'm just curious as to your method of parts procurement and reasons to have those parts in your sim when they would be pretty much useless (you can sit in the ejection seat, but an office or gaming chair would be much more comfortable).


Hello Flamedog,
To tell the truth everything in the picture is a replica. All except for the ejection ring handle on the seat. Even the stickers on the side of the head box are reproductions.
As you know F-18 parts are extremely hard to get ahold of so I making most of them. I like to say
"Someone made it. Why cant you?"

Yes, Im making this pit for myself and the hud works off a overhead projector reflection. Im amazed that it works too.

Again Yes, The ejection seat is very uncomfurtable just like the real thing. So I made 2 differnt seat pans. One for gaming which houses the tactile sound transducer (BASS) and thicker pad, and a replica pan for show.

HUD: Not glass but Lexan, when cut gives frosted edges just like the real thing.


Mock panel...Gonna make "C" and "F" model. I have all the military switches and DDI bezels.


My center stick. Made completly from steel. Replica grip also.


/O Salute Pretzel




Pretzelworks - We dont make the sim, we make it better.
Soon to open > FA18Hornet.net and FA18SuperHornet.net
#2449701 - 02/16/08 08:01 AM Re: Please show off your pit. [Re: VanUSN]  
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 789
Pretzel Offline
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Pretzel  Offline
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 789
Texas
 Originally Posted By: Flamedog
I understand the desire for the realism factor, pride in your final product, etc. I also know that there are very good replicas of actual aircraft parts out there. I tip my hat to those individuals that put in the time and effort to create such awesome pits, it takes dedication and hard work. I've just never seen a sim pit with the actual glass in the forward windscreen or what appears to be an actual ejection seat except in a military training sim. So to me, that picture is either from somewhere that makes military training sim pits, there is some kind of replication wizzard that can make VERY realistic parts, or someone is getting parts using less than legal means. Are people willing to go that far just to make their pit more realistic?


To answer: Yes, Yes, No and Yes.

Check out the collection of F-18 parts Steve has come up with!!
http://www.f18simulator.com/f_18_project.htm

/O Salute!
Pretzel~


Pretzelworks - We dont make the sim, we make it better.
Soon to open > FA18Hornet.net and FA18SuperHornet.net
#2450450 - 02/17/08 04:47 PM Re: Please show off your pit. [Re: Pretzel]  
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 4,834
Corsair8X Offline
Dagestan, Dover, DMZ
Corsair8X  Offline
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Oakville, Ontario, Canada
That too is excellent craftmanship Pretzel.


Corsair8X

virtually making history 30mm at a time
#2453530 - 02/21/08 02:51 PM Re: Please show off your pit. [Re: VanUSN]  
Joined: Feb 2007
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Michi Hirczy Offline
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Michi Hirczy  Offline
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Posts: 14
Graz, .at, LOWG
 Originally Posted By: Flamedog
or someone is getting parts using less than legal means,

No, before 9/11 it was actually quite easy to get demilitarized parts off of ebay. I have quite some real parts incorporated into my pit (especially the ejection seat), because often it's been quite hard to replicate it the way I want it to look and feel (i.e. the throttle arm lever).
To you question about the switches: I used some real switches, because in the real F-16 you have some kind of safety mechanism before you can activate it (i.e. you have to pull the MasterArm switch to make it moveable). To replicate this behaviour, I had to use the real switch, there isn't just an option to it.

greetings
michi

#2454634 - 02/22/08 11:44 PM Re: Please show off your pit. [Re: Derk]  
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 5
ZappaTime Offline
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ZappaTime  Offline
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My little switch box effort (for IL2):

#2456048 - 02/25/08 04:23 AM Re: Please show off your pit. [Re: ZappaTime]  
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 4,834
Corsair8X Offline
Dagestan, Dover, DMZ
Corsair8X  Offline
Dagestan, Dover, DMZ
Senior Member

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Oakville, Ontario, Canada
That switchbox is a damn fine piece of work - the quality is so good (particularly the box part) that I thought maybe you had purchased it from some place. That is really high quality.


Corsair8X

virtually making history 30mm at a time
#2456404 - 02/25/08 06:30 PM Re: Please show off your pit. [Re: Corsair8X]  
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 5
ZappaTime Offline
Junior Member
ZappaTime  Offline
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Posts: 5
 Originally Posted By: Corsair8X
That switchbox is a damn fine piece of work - the quality is so good (particularly the box part) that I thought maybe you had purchased it from some place. That is really high quality.

Thanks for the kind words. More info on it here:
http://www.simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2367911&fpart=5

#2456638 - 02/25/08 11:34 PM Re: Please show off your pit. [Re: ZappaTime]  
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 1
Dragline Offline
Junior Member
Dragline  Offline
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Posts: 1
Earth
Fantastic switch box. Where did you get the plastic box portion of it?

#2456676 - 02/26/08 12:22 AM Re: Please show off your pit. [Re: Dragline]  
Joined: Dec 2006
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ZappaTime Offline
Junior Member
ZappaTime  Offline
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Posts: 5
The enclosure is a Comtec brand unit from OKW Enclosures Ltd (http://www.okw.co.uk)

OKW appear to be a huge supplier in the UK - when I was searching around on the web for an angled box I came across many sites that supplied ABS or cast steel box enclosures - they all offered a free sample which always linked back to OKW's site. So I thought what the heck and requested a free sample from OKW and, somewhat surprised, got one by courier delivery the next day! \:D - they're very keen to help, too keen really, they even contacted me a day or too later to see how I got on with it, but they never pushed for a sale, just wanted to spread word about their products. As I work in a design section that sometimes need one-off enclosures their service and helpfulness didn't go to waste in lost sales, I got sent about 5 very glossy catalogues, which we'll probably keep as a handy reference at work and certainly use them for our future needs.

They did not restrict the free sample in any way other than it had a limit of £60 value and they could refuse a request for multiples of a particular design. My box had a value of about £26. I guess I could have requested a few different types within the free sample limit.

Last edited by ZappaTime; 02/26/08 12:25 AM.
#2461127 - 03/03/08 02:02 PM Re: Please show off your pit. [Re: Zebob]  
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 941
Steven190 Offline
Member
Steven190  Offline
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 941
Omaha
Here is a FW190 cockpit that I started. I got the drawings form the French website CheckSix by Pierre 2a. I tried to keep it as close to the real plane as possible. I have many reference materials and scale drawings. I am + or - 1/4"

I built it so the cockpit will slide under the desk. My thoughts are an extra cockpit frame seems to be in the way, since IL2/FB/1946 has the frame and sight as the default. The screen is the same distance as the real plane would be.

Some of the items are a Belkin n52 key pad, a track mouse. the rudder pedals ate SimPeds. I built the pedals and added toe brakes. The new pedals will bolt to the SimPeds and give the correct pedal angle. The throttle, toe brake and trim pots are connected to Leo's BU0836a controller.

I used Monogram German paint guide, took it to the paint supplier and had them match the RLM 02,66,74,75 and 76 colors





I am going to use the KG 13a joystick from Tarmac








Last edited by Steven190; 03/04/08 11:21 PM.

AMD Phonom 2 X4 965, Asus M4N96 EVO mobo, Windows 7 64 bit OS
8g Corsair MSX2 DHX c7
RaptorX 300 gig w/500 gig backup drive
2) GTX 480 Hydro copper,Koolance water system
Dell 2405 FP monitor
Creative X-Fi Exteme
Track4Pro/ Vector 6DOF
Bu0836 controller/ Simped pedals
#2461893 - 03/04/08 10:30 PM Re: Please show off your pit. [Re: Steven190]  
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 4,353
HitchHikingFlatlander Offline
Senior Member
HitchHikingFlatlander  Offline
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California
Nice pit!


I've got a bad feeling about this.....
#2469877 - 03/14/08 03:08 PM Re: Please show off your pit. [Re: HitchHikingFlatlander]  
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 115
Simey Offline
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Simey  Offline
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Posts: 115
Where's the coffee holder?

#2470479 - 03/15/08 01:44 PM Re: Please show off your pit. [Re: Simey]  
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 941
Steven190 Offline
Member
Steven190  Offline
Member

Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 941
Omaha
A beer holder in front of the Track Ball

Just the right size, took me several attempts to get it just right

Last edited by Steven190; 03/15/08 01:45 PM.

AMD Phonom 2 X4 965, Asus M4N96 EVO mobo, Windows 7 64 bit OS
8g Corsair MSX2 DHX c7
RaptorX 300 gig w/500 gig backup drive
2) GTX 480 Hydro copper,Koolance water system
Dell 2405 FP monitor
Creative X-Fi Exteme
Track4Pro/ Vector 6DOF
Bu0836 controller/ Simped pedals
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