<div>Ill be at the Ft. Smith show with my sim this weekend. It will be their first show since they transfered from F-16s to A-10s.</div> <div> </div> <div>Justin<BR><BR></div> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"><BR>From: KD <chevello@rcn.com><BR>To: simpits-tech@simpits.org<BR>Date: Fri, 09 May 2008 23:45:48 -0400<BR>Subject: [simpits-tech] Lurk over<BR><BR>OK so I just caught up on a couple of weeks' worth of the list, and have <BR>a few tidbits to throw in.<BR><BR>Gene, on your RC remote video aircraft, you have me wondering if you <BR>have found a real F-15 to fly from the pit in the shed. I'm thinking FAA <BR>clearance might be tough to get for that... :)<BR><BR>I like the idea of a simple pit kit. I couldn't spend the cash for one, <BR>but then I am handy, have 3 kids, and drive an hour and a half o get <BR>home from work. My money is being used by the clothing store, grocery <BR>store, and
Exxon. You might do as said before, offering plans for <BR>different types (I see you already have that) and offering kits in <BR>steps. You know, get the Fuselage kit first, then the IP kit, then the <BR>side console kit, Canopy kit and so forth. Or the kits in stages. Buy <BR>the fuselage and add your own IP, side consoles, whatever. I would <BR>design so that the seat can be anything from a real NACES or ACES to an <BR>extra orange crate that someone might have hanging around, or those <BR>cheap blow-molded dunebuggy seats they sell at Summit for 89 bucks. I <BR>prefer a car seat though for mine I have a sim seat I pulled out of the <BR>scrap at work. Possibly think about one fuselage section with different <BR>IPs for various acft that all fit in the same one. Then, as someone's <BR>sim life progresses (as from Target drone, manned, non-maneuvering to <BR>fast jet) he can buy other IPs to add to his already purchased pit. Not <BR>really a money maker, but something
people sometimes consider when <BR>buying "Is it upgradeable?" Consider selling the kit of only the tough <BR>to make parts. Things that you would need to use the shop-bot for unless <BR>truly a jigsaw sadist. Long skinny parts or square-ish parts would <BR>arrive as templates along with the ribs. Maybe even make the templates <BR>out of 1/4" masonite or something easier (cheaper) to ship. What about <BR>entire template kits? All 1/4" masonite or MDF. Trace and cut! It's easy <BR>to build your own sim pit! Just a few suggestions that I thought of <BR>while reading.<BR><BR>LCDs vs. mechanical gauges: Mechanical gauges have "the LOOK" It's what <BR>we all really want. It increases the depth of the simming experience. <BR>The simkits and others have their limitations, and sometimes it doesn't <BR>make sense to build a whole nother computer or two just to run gauges. <BR>LCDs have their limiotations too. SOmeone mentioned viewing angles, and <BR>another mentioned yoke
clearance. These are things that we deal with at <BR>work every time we build a new pit at work. Most aircraft don't have the <BR>IP arranged so that you can use a single LCD, or even a pair of them if <BR>you are trying to make your sim really look like what it is supposed to <BR>be. I am constantly arranging and rearranging instruments so that I can <BR>fit things on a screen. Thank the good Lord for the internet. It makes <BR>communicating with the software guys in Poland easiER than it would be <BR>otherwise. There is a patented process called Tannas-Sizing where they <BR>actually cut the LCD screen to make it the correct shape and size for <BR>what is needed. From what I have been told, they first cut one glass, <BR>then flip the screen and cut the other. When they break it, they have to <BR>be REALLY careful, and they have to pay a licensing fee to the owner of <BR>the patent. Then, they seal up the cut edge and put the whole thing back <BR>together. The shop-bot has
me wondering if this would be possible to do <BR>without hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment. Would it be <BR>possible to put a glass cutter on the shop bot and cut the glass in a <BR>perfectly straight line, then do it again on the back glass? That <BR>reminds me. You guys should see the 20"x8" F-35 display we just bought. <BR>It is a thing of beauty made from 2 monitors. Sometimes a combo of steam <BR>gauges and LCDs is what we do. If there are just one or two instruments <BR>that I absolutely need, and NO way to get them on a screen behind the <BR>IP, then we put mechanicals in.<BR><BR>One of the most difficult things to do is to get buttons in front of the <BR>screen. I have a half dozen different things that I do to get the screen <BR>close to the back of the IP bezel, and still fit switches like for the <BR>MFD or knobs for the baro alt or horizon adjust. I could tell you them, <BR>but then..well, you know... ;)<BR><BR>So there are my comments, and I hope
you enjoyed them. I need to go <BR>think about how to get my servos and drives working for my pit controls. <BR>It's just a little Akers-Barnes, but I want a floor stick not a side stick.<BR><BR>Anyone else going to the Andrews AFB air show next weekend? I'll be <BR>there on Friday. I have to go take measurements and pictures of the F-35 <BR>Full scale mockup. I have to do that now that I am done designing our <BR>F-35 module. Go figure. NOW I get information.<BR><BR>Please ignore extra commas in the above. I am tired and need to breathe <BR>more often when I am tired.<BR><BR>K<BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE><p> 
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