Matthew Reeve » Flight Simulator

Comm panel

reevery — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 10:30:44 +0000

I have spent my spare time over the last few weeks crimping cables and this morning soldered some 7-segment cables for the next stage of my cockpit plan. I had aquired a 737 comm panel with the components for a display, but not wired up. This morning’s effort completed this. I also had to do some work on the buttons as they had been glued to the supporting frame using wood, so I took that out to hold the panel together with M3 bolts instead. The standby digits work and display the correct frequency, changed using the rotary encoder, and the transfer button will change the frequencies over. Next time I get ready to fly I will have to change the left hand display to show correctly.

I have also soldered, ready to be installed, two 4 number 7-segment displays, one for the QNH and one for the ATC panel, but have run out of crimps!!

Lent

reevery — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:31:04 +0000

Sat in the Oratory on Ash Wednesday (where as a treat there is no Allegri Miserere mei!), I have been deliberating as to how to mark Lent. Previously I have given up alcohol, not shaven, or some other sundry sacrifice. The fact is, I can’t see this being a huge sacrifice. This year I have been looking at my charitable donations, so it seems fit that I should support some charities as my “sacrifice”. Currently I am supporting the new Music Building at the University of Birmingham, and the Midlands Air Ambulance. So I will find something else to add to this.

Cockpit progress Feb 14th 2010

At the weekend I will try and get a complete break, as I am feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment. I will try and do a few geocaches and some flying, and ignore my phone. After making some serious progress on my cockpit over the last couple of weeks I feel I will get a good opportunity to continue work on it – I have uploaded a picture of it here.

On a geocaching note, I have been out and about trying to log a few local caches which I haven’t had time to get previously, and when I picked up my sister from New Street yesterday I did a couple whilst waiting. As an aside, my third geocache has been published today: Curse of the FTF – Worcestershire #3 (Wichenford)

More Opencockpits cards

reevery — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:29:25 +0000

I today bought a collection of second-hand Opencockpits boards for my cockpit. Most of them are copies of boards I have in place, giving me a bit of resiliance in case of disaster, but amongst them were two input/output boards which I can use to install temporary switches, and a (sadly Boeing) COM box kit, partially complete. Hopefully soon I will get to put them all together, at the moment the priority is to build the MIP where my old futon was so that I can free up the desk. I’ve not flown for a long time and I am wondering whether why I am doing this, but I hope I will get a chance again soon.

Hull Visit

reevery — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 23:32:21 +0000

On 8th August 2009 I had a trip up to see a couple of sims in the Hull area. These provided me with a fantastic opportunity to see two very well advanced A320 home cockpit constructions. Both are very different, one by Barry Kensett having more of an infrastructure, and one by Darren Sugden being more functional. Both have Opencockpits cards and SIOC (the programming system for them, which reassures my decision to go with these cards.

Hispapanels FCU

reevery — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:38:28 +0000

After a bit of a hulabaloo I now have panels for an Airbus FCU, EFIS and MCDU. I didn’t actually order the MCDU, it came accidentally.

I won’t get time to build the MCDU for a while as I want to print a circuit board for it and need a screen, but I have a USBkeys card for when I’m ready.(And, yes I know the buttons are in the wrong place, I only placed them for the photo.)

I have started to construct the FCU. At the moment, the LED displays aren’t connected but I have added the button LEDs. The switches are simple pushbutton switches but the rotary encoders are proper gray type. I have a problem that my stripboard is flexing meaning the buttons in the middle are not being held forward enough to remain in place.

Flight Simulator

reevery — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 13:25:34 +0000

One of my long term projects is to build a home cockpit. Initially, it was to build a cockpit for a Piaggio Avanti, and my first module, a throttle unit, was intended to reflect this. The following pictures show the first incarnation of the throttle (one axis only with a potentiometer sellotaped to a crossbeam), some buttons, and the same throttle unit with a second axis (for the props/spoilers). The controls for the throttle and these basic buttons were connected using the OpenCockpits USBaxis module (essentially creates a USB joystick interface).

As you can see from the pictures above, the unit was cumbersome and badly built. I had connected up four axes for the throttles, but the wood axle and linkages were not efficient enough. I decided to start again, and build a smaller unit using more metal and some remote-control model linkages. This was more successful and I was able to include two throttles, a joint prop/spoiler lever, and a flap lever. I also bought an off-cut of perspex and started to make my first few panels.

It wasn’t long after this that I bought the Master Card from OpenCockpits, but I had a very slow time building my other panels because I couldn’t get this card to work on my PC. Eventually, I bought the USB extender and a new MC and started to build an FMC. Whilst researching the panels it became obvious that I was going to have difficulty with the Avanti, not least because of the number of analog gauges needed. I had also been using vasFMC as my navigation and with their latest version 2 software had introduced a very sophisticated and free Flight Management Computer which was built mainly for the A320. So, I decided to change the project and go for this or an A330, both very similar in terms of the cockpit design.