Building flight controls - How to build a flight simulator home cockpit, unit base, housing, mechanical and electrical

Building flight controls - Home Cockpit

Using cheap plastic joysticks leave many FS users frustrated and annoyed from the dynamics. In this how to one user explains how he made what could be considered the beginning of a home built cockpit for flight simulator. The user had GA and helicopter aircraft in mind. You can use this a a starting point usable for GA aircraft and helicopters. You can use this article as a starting point for building your own version. Always double check measurements and then check again before committing

Main Components:

The module allows for:

MDF fibre board 18mm

Ball bearings used in inline-skates

8mm steel rod

Some aluminum pipe with inner diam. 8 mm.

15 mm. steel central heating pipe

22 mm. central heating pipe

10 K potentiometers

Plastic cog wheels, mine have 50 cogs/ 10 cogs

Metal strips to make brackets for the potentiometers

A second hand car seat

Some screws, bolts and nuts

Heavy duty glue for construction (wood/metal)

This is made from MDF 18mm, glued and screwed to make a sturdy base. The blue edged part is removable (screwed only with 4 screws) and the base for a car seat.

Joystick:

To this base unit connects a "box" for the joystick. In this box are holes for the ball bearings and the ends of the axis. For maintenance better not glue these parts.

Stick Assembly:

Stick is made from 15mm central heating pipe with a steel rod of diameter 8mm soldered or welded into a cross shape. Length of the stick depends mainly on how much space you have under your table. The longer the stick, the more precise its movement. The stick is clamped between four pieces of MDF with holes for bearings, axis and bolts (M6x60). Three pieces are glued together and the 8mm rod for the ailerons-axis is inserted and glued in one piece. When the glue has dried cut away the center piece of the (aileron) rod. This way the remaining two pieces are perfectly aligned.

For keeping the stick centered a spring is used that pulls down from the floor of the base unit. Length, tension, stick length under the pivot point is trial and error.

Rudder:

The rudder assembly is detachable by removing four screws. The rudderbar is made from 22mm central heating pipe soldered or welded through it is a piece of 8 mm steel rod. Centering: two springs. When you do this with tie wraps you can center the bar perfectly by sliding a tie wrap inwards or outwards (look at photo at the beginning).

Throttle:

Again a box and a steel cross shape. I planned to use a bolt on the metal rod for friction but that didn't work (too much stress on the parts). My son came up with a window retainer that works on friction. You can see it in the photo at the beginning.

Important Details:

The bearings always have a washer on both sides (white in the picture). Some have more washers to retain parts. The metal rod has a small piece of pipe (diameter 8mm) glued on top (red in the picture), to center the cogwheel. The metal rods have a hole into the front face (drilled) with thread M4 to fasten the cogwheel with a bolt M4 (be sure to drill this hole exactly in the center of this face!). The small cogwheels are glued to the shaft of the potentiometer. And there is a groove in both the shaft and cogwheel in witch a small piece of metal wire is pushed.

Links for mechanical and electrical:

Interface: www.leobodnar.com (BU0836 or the a/x version)

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