TM Warthog Glider Rocker Sim Seat Mod

Needed a place to mount my new TM Warthog. It had to be portable as my wife and kids would not put up with a permanent sim seat at the pc. It also needed to be comfy, functional and not completely butt-ugly. I came accross a (free broken) glider rocker chair. Made a few mods. ie Removed glider rocker portion, removed arm rests, installed folding side shelves with folding support brackets (so it would fit through doorways). Removed and discarded front seat cross support, manufactured a new joystick support and "ejection seat" handles. (the new parts were made with scrap oak I got cheap at a discount hardware store) Still need to do a headrest, install wheels at rear of chair to facilitate moving it around, and bolt on the ejection handles. Also need to recover the cushions with something more... appropriate. Slap on a bit of grey paint and voila one cheap sim seat! Quite pleased with how it's turning out! Very comfy and everything right where at my fingertips!

Here is the finished seat:




Here are a few pics of the construction:
















Updated pic with stick extension, decals and added harness bling from Navy Sea King.







Updated with more detailed lower half pics and suggested wood braces to add a bit of lateral strength. Also added a few decals and a led worklight with flexible neck for reading checklists etc during low light conditions.

Here is a pic of the seat with my RoC modded Saitek pro pedals:

That is fantastic....right until you get to the part with the seat cushions.....time to break out the sewing machine and sew up some olive drab covers for them cushions.
Other than that its a pretty sweet setup.

Sweet!

But Go with CADPAT for the cushions.

J

Aww c'mon whats wrong with the flowery print? lol.

If money was not an object (which it is) I would be ordering from these guys:

http://www.oregonaero.com/p4243-2001.html#APECS1E

A-10 seat cushion:



APECS® I-E Full Custom Cushion Set w/fabric as above $1,535.00

Nicely done there Lobo!

I wonder why the ejection handles are bright yellow?

Maybe they are easier to find?

Great seat real nicely done!!! Emergency systems are marked with Yellow

Update. Found some scrap pine, remants of an old shed and a broken broom handle and voila! one waaaay stand-off scale Aces II Glider Rocker Sim Seat headrest! Here are a couple pics of the nearly completed headrest. Ready for filler shaping, sanding and twin cushion installation. As an added feature I have designed the "enviromental sensing pitot tube horns" to be fully functional! ...well not exactly as in the r/l seat, however they will function as handles for when the seat is tipped back and manouvered on its (yet to be installed), two rear positioning wheels.

Awesome stuff and great creativity!

That's a great idea, amazing how creative you have to get when married. Nicely done Eh.

Nice job Lobo!

Thanks for the compliments fellas! I'll post another update when things progress.

I did make a trip to the local surplus store yesterday and found a real treasure. It is a military surplus "Mustang life raft container" strapped on like a parachute. I beleive these were worn by rotary wing pilots flying Helo's such as the Sea King, although I am not 100% positive... anyway there is no life raft, however where the life raft used to be there is a nice big compartment perfect for stuffing with foam. This looks for my purposes like a parachute and is going to be my back rest. Cost $14 dollars. Now to find/make something a seat cushion.

LOL - Geriatric Ejection Seat

Doesn't look bad on the last pic, though. But why'd ya remove the rocker, makes for some relaxing simming...

GES = Geriatric Ejection Seat lol. Had I left the rocker mechanism intact, I would have had to add a map pouch to hold crochet needles. Also it was too high, and the rocking motion would have interfered with accurate rudder usage not to mention it probably would have put me to sleep in the middle of copying a 9 line. I plan on painting the GES grey to look less... G.

Cheers!

Still would consider ACES. Amazingly Comfortable Ejection Seat?

You are correct this is from a Canadian Sea King. As you stated it would normally contain a one-man life raft, survival pack and also serves as a seat cushion as the crew seats have no additional backing. And it does a good job of looking like a parachute! Nice find.

I like it! ACES II.5?

Thanks for that info Strider! Now it is even more of a treasure knowing exactly what it was for and that it flew in the mighty Sea King. It still has the cord and wooden pull to inflate the non existant life raft and is in excellent condition.

Looks much better without the chintz! Still imagining you with a corncob pipe and a shotgun across your lap simming on your front porch though

Just kidding! Kudos for a very creative and cost-effective build!

No no no... I sim in the basement.

Added wheels, head rest cushions, paint and striping. Still to go are new seat cushions!

Nice job!!

Thanks J.A.K.!

Here are a couple pics of the finished seat. My wife made me a superb set of seat covers to go over the brand new memory foam back and bottom. I covered both USB cables with a single length of 1/4" split flex conduit. Fixed the conduit with some c clamps. I am quite pleased with how this old worn out glider rocker has been reborn into a Warthog Sim Seat.

Excellent pics, but I wonder if you have any plans of integrating the warthog extender?

Brilliant work, I really like it!

Thanks. No, as I am very happy with the positioning of the stick.

Nicely Done

Very cool, great result!

Thanks RAF74_Raptor and Tbag for the comments.

Just a further note about the stick position. I watched a great vid on the Blue Angels a few years ago "Around the World at the Speed of Sound". Awesome program (here is a link to a small excerpt http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPNtoT4jSms

One of the things that struck me in this program was that they stated that the Blue's did not fly with a g-suit. The reason given was that they flew with the right forearm resting on the thigh for additional support & precise stick control. If they wore a g-suit the inflation of the thigh portion of the suit would interfere with the forearm etc. Anyhow I dont wear a g-suit when flying the sim... however I did want the positioning (height)of the stick,and rudder pedals, allows me to rest my right forearm on my thigh allowing for more support and accurate control while flying.

Took a bit of fiddling to get the stick and rudder pedals and seat to exactly the right position, but imo it was worth the effort in this regard.

Cheers

Nicely done Lobo! Good work and tell your wife that she did a great job with the cushions as well.

That is some fine work!

Looking really good, nice job especially since you decreased the percentage of floral prints!

Excellent!!!

I am going to recreate this. Can I ask how you have the Warthog mounted to the wood?

http://austin.craigslist.org/fuo/2474051872.html

I am starting with the blue glider

"way stand-off scale" lol, i sense a fellow r/c flyer...

Step 1 complete...



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gmohr, it's more like "stand WAAAY back and squint like you're staring at the sun-scale".

Kinda like how the ACES II drawings I posted are.

g.

Lobo,

Would you be interested in giving me a little guidance on my glider project?

What is step one? Sanding it down? Cutting off the arms? Taking it apart to remove the glider components?

Thanks!

Hi! The stick is mounted by removing the square base plate. Then using the stock screws through the bottom of countersunk holes in the chairs wood mounting base.

Hi! Your chair is different design than the one I started with but you should be able to make it work! I find wood so much easier to work with than metal. The first thing I did was to carefully dissasemble much of the chair, I took apart the rocker mechanism, and removed the arms. I was able to unscrew it all, take it apart till you have just the shell of the chair and then sit back and start figuring out how you want to reattach the rocker base so it does not rock. Dont throw out the excess stuff, I recycled most of the unused wood from the rocker part of the chair. Easiest to sand down the parts when you have them removed from chair. You need to figure out how high you want to sit. Once that was done I figured out how I wanted to mount the stick. I removed and remanufactured the front board where the stick was to be mounted. I adjusted the angle so that it is parallel to the floor. (Both stick and throttle are parallel to floor). Then I worked on the folding shelves. More sanding, paint, cushions and finishing touches. You will need to modify your design based on your chair. Take your time, mock it with clamps, make sure you are happy with the ergonomics, angles etc and you will be very happy with the results! Spend some time to ensure you are happy with the height/positioning of the stick and the throttle shelves. I am so much more happy with this setup compared to a chair with stick/throttle sitting on desk. When I sit in the seat my stick and throttle are always in the same exact spot and they dont move around. Look at the pics I posted at the beginning of this thread and you will get a very good idea of what I did. ie mounting the stick (you can see the holes) etc.

Good luck and let me know if you have more q's!

Cool. I will start to disassemble and sand it down this weekend. I am SO stoked to do this. I LOVE your seat and can not wait to have one of my own !

Thank you

Awesome! Also consider the seat height re rudder pedals/monitor. Looking forward to some pics of your progress!