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Well,..... I found myself with my thumb up my arse this weekend, not able to do anything on my 1:25 type VIIc/41 scratch build so......
..... I decided to build something for another interest that I have, which is being a virtual computer pilot. I figured since I am, there might also be other r/c sub guys who are too. Afterall, it's all about the toys. I decided that I would share with you this little project in the event you need something to satisfy the armchair pilot in you.
What I built this weekend is a virtual cockpit of sorts. It's simple, easy to build, cheap (less the flight controllers), and REALLY adds to the emmersive experience of computer piloting.
The thing is built out of 5/8" MDF (that I had left over from the sub build), a few feet of 2x4, a few feet of 1x3, some deck screws, carpenter's glue, black spray paint, and a couple nuts/bolts. The crown jewel of this virtual cockpit being the seat. In total, I have well under $100 invested in this thing and about 6 hours of labour. You can see from the photos that it is built of very basic wood construction. I will not go into detail on how it was built but will rely on the pictures to tell the story. It's really very simple in construction. It's features include :
-Pilot seat (which I will go into further detail on)
-Fixed wing throttle / rotary wing collective stand to the immediate left of the pilot's seat.
-Mouse stand. (Virtual pilots being aware you need that mouse).
-Monitor stand which includes mount for the fixed wing control yoke.
-Aeronautical map table (which doubles nicely as a coffee mug / beer glass holder) to the right of the pilot's seat.
-Fixed wing rudder pedal / rotary wing anti torque pedal mount.
-Control stick mount.
The cockpit is designed with flexibility in mind. All the flight controllers are either quick release, thumb screw, or velcro'd for quick and easy swapping / mix matching of flight controllers onto their respective mounting areas as need be for the type of aircraft being flown, from heavy metal 747 airliners, to the Robinson R22 helicopter. The mouse stand was mounted to the left of the pilot's seat at a height that was most comfortable as experience has shown that the right hand must remain on the controls. The handy positioning of the mouse on this stand allows the pilot to use it to "click on stuff", or as "eyes" to look around with as 3D cockpits are becoming more popular, as virtual pilots are all to aware of. The map stand again, being something very hand to have instead of having a whole bunch of stuff in the pilot's lap. The most important part of the cockpit of course being the pilot's seat.
I gave much thought into what kind of seat would work best for this application. I didn't want to break the bank, yet, I didn't want something that would take away from what I was trying to make, which was a virtual cockpit, adding to the emmersive feeling of really being in the aircraft. I needed to consider size, comfort, and affordability. I came up with the idea of using a center section seat (The seat that is in the middle of the two front seats) out of a full size GMC Yukon. It was perfect in size, being just a small automotive seat, it was very comfortable, looked great, ....AND.....had a seatbelt in case I wanted to buckle up and REALLY get into my pilot role. Now, new from GM, this seat would set me back $500 or so for the cloth one that I have, or closer to $1500 for a leather one (very cool). However, you would be surprised how many people wreck their new SUV Yukons. A trip to the local autowrecker and I had a mint condition grey cloth seat for $50, with the seat already having mounting brackets built into it. SOLD !. I mounted this seat to my MDF base using 4" square pieces of 2x4, which raised it up just right and allowed me to bolt the seat to the 2x4 pieces. Very easy.
I built this virtual cockpit to custom fit me, at 5'10", with all the controls being positioned "just right" to allow for comfortable and emmersive virtual flying. In trying it out, it adds a TON to the enjoyment of my flight simulator. My flight sim of choice is X-Plane by Laminar Research. I find it without equal when it comes to it's physics model, which is based on the geometry of the shapes flying through the air, and not a bunch of mathematical equations. It's communications model leaves much to be desired though. My fixed wing flight controllers are the CH Products control yoke/ PRO pedals (civilian aircraft), Saitek throttle/stick (for my combat sims), Flight Link advanced rotary wing flight controls (for simming in helicopters. Very high end, very nice, VERY expensive).
I hope this thread isn't too out of line for bubble heads. ....just something a little different that someone might find interesting/valuable.
Do you see why I don't watch T.V. ?
Mylo
..... I decided to build something for another interest that I have, which is being a virtual computer pilot. I figured since I am, there might also be other r/c sub guys who are too. Afterall, it's all about the toys. I decided that I would share with you this little project in the event you need something to satisfy the armchair pilot in you.
What I built this weekend is a virtual cockpit of sorts. It's simple, easy to build, cheap (less the flight controllers), and REALLY adds to the emmersive experience of computer piloting.
The thing is built out of 5/8" MDF (that I had left over from the sub build), a few feet of 2x4, a few feet of 1x3, some deck screws, carpenter's glue, black spray paint, and a couple nuts/bolts. The crown jewel of this virtual cockpit being the seat. In total, I have well under $100 invested in this thing and about 6 hours of labour. You can see from the photos that it is built of very basic wood construction. I will not go into detail on how it was built but will rely on the pictures to tell the story. It's really very simple in construction. It's features include :
-Pilot seat (which I will go into further detail on)
-Fixed wing throttle / rotary wing collective stand to the immediate left of the pilot's seat.
-Mouse stand. (Virtual pilots being aware you need that mouse).
-Monitor stand which includes mount for the fixed wing control yoke.
-Aeronautical map table (which doubles nicely as a coffee mug / beer glass holder) to the right of the pilot's seat.
-Fixed wing rudder pedal / rotary wing anti torque pedal mount.
-Control stick mount.
The cockpit is designed with flexibility in mind. All the flight controllers are either quick release, thumb screw, or velcro'd for quick and easy swapping / mix matching of flight controllers onto their respective mounting areas as need be for the type of aircraft being flown, from heavy metal 747 airliners, to the Robinson R22 helicopter. The mouse stand was mounted to the left of the pilot's seat at a height that was most comfortable as experience has shown that the right hand must remain on the controls. The handy positioning of the mouse on this stand allows the pilot to use it to "click on stuff", or as "eyes" to look around with as 3D cockpits are becoming more popular, as virtual pilots are all to aware of. The map stand again, being something very hand to have instead of having a whole bunch of stuff in the pilot's lap. The most important part of the cockpit of course being the pilot's seat.
I gave much thought into what kind of seat would work best for this application. I didn't want to break the bank, yet, I didn't want something that would take away from what I was trying to make, which was a virtual cockpit, adding to the emmersive feeling of really being in the aircraft. I needed to consider size, comfort, and affordability. I came up with the idea of using a center section seat (The seat that is in the middle of the two front seats) out of a full size GMC Yukon. It was perfect in size, being just a small automotive seat, it was very comfortable, looked great, ....AND.....had a seatbelt in case I wanted to buckle up and REALLY get into my pilot role. Now, new from GM, this seat would set me back $500 or so for the cloth one that I have, or closer to $1500 for a leather one (very cool). However, you would be surprised how many people wreck their new SUV Yukons. A trip to the local autowrecker and I had a mint condition grey cloth seat for $50, with the seat already having mounting brackets built into it. SOLD !. I mounted this seat to my MDF base using 4" square pieces of 2x4, which raised it up just right and allowed me to bolt the seat to the 2x4 pieces. Very easy.
I built this virtual cockpit to custom fit me, at 5'10", with all the controls being positioned "just right" to allow for comfortable and emmersive virtual flying. In trying it out, it adds a TON to the enjoyment of my flight simulator. My flight sim of choice is X-Plane by Laminar Research. I find it without equal when it comes to it's physics model, which is based on the geometry of the shapes flying through the air, and not a bunch of mathematical equations. It's communications model leaves much to be desired though. My fixed wing flight controllers are the CH Products control yoke/ PRO pedals (civilian aircraft), Saitek throttle/stick (for my combat sims), Flight Link advanced rotary wing flight controls (for simming in helicopters. Very high end, very nice, VERY expensive).
I hope this thread isn't too out of line for bubble heads. ....just something a little different that someone might find interesting/valuable.
Do you see why I don't watch T.V. ?
Mylo
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