My NG Update!

Hello everyone, it's been awhile since I last posted any construction updates on my NG cockpit. This has been mostly due to planning my upcomming wedding. I was finally able to find some time and purchased some much needed parts to finalize my MIP.

The new parts for this update include (all from Opencockpits)

Captain's Lighting Panel
Nose Wheel Steering Switch
Captain's Main Panel DU and Lower DU control switches
Lights Switch
Yaw Damper Gauge
N1 SET knob
SPD REF knob
MFD control buttons (using Omron switches)
Pedestal Bay

I have also added AFDS Flood Lighting which is controled by a 10k POT, but I think I'm going to change it to a rotary encoder down the road...just don't trust 12 volts constantly flowing without an off switch.

Anyways, onto the udpate!

Here, we see the nose steering switch, captain's DU control switches, and the light test switch wired and added to the captain's side MIP.

http://www.thenewawe.org/images/26oct/1.jpg

I have learned some interesting things about input cards and have had to do a bit of rewiring. My wiring is a mess right now, but since I will have to take the MIP completely apart once I am ready to paint it, it doesn't make sense to organize yet.

http://www.thenewawe.org/images/26oct/2.jpg

Here I am starting my AFDS Flood lighting system. My plan is to use 6 yellow LED's, 1 for the EFIS, and 5 for the MCP. I pre-measured 6 locations under the glareshield where I would drill for my LED's.

http://www.thenewawe.org/images/26oct/3.jpg

http://www.thenewawe.org/images/26oct/4.jpg

Once the holes where drilled and cleaned out, I used my Dremel tool to create trenches for the wires. This will allow for the top of the glareshield to remain flush.

http://www.thenewawe.org/images/26oct/5.jpg

I used 3 MM LED's with plastic LED holders to secure the LED's to the glareshield.

http://www.thenewawe.org/images/26oct/6.jpg

Once the LED is set, it's almost flush with the glareshield. I may drill this out some more later to hide the LED.

http://www.thenewawe.org/images/26oct/7.jpg

Here is the finished product. I used hot glue to secure the wiring in the trence.

http://www.thenewawe.org/images/26oct/8.jpg

Here's a shot with the MCP backlighting and AFDS Flood lights on.

http://www.thenewawe.org/images/26oct/9.jpg

The next image shows the trickiest part I have had to "engineer" in this build. I have been going over for months on how I was going to get the ENG and SYS buttons working. Finally, I decided to take a small piece of MFD to use as a backing. I epoxied two small plasic squares to create spacing. I then hot glued two Omron switches to the plastic.

http://www.thenewawe.org/images/26oct/10.jpg

I used two long screws to hold the backing in place. You can also see the two static INOP buttons that I have epoxied in. Oh, and if you're wondering what that orange stuff is, that is my orange light filter that I have attached to all my panels to give my backlighting (not yet installed) an orange glow.

http://www.thenewawe.org/images/26oct/11.jpg

http://www.thenewawe.org/images/26oct/12.jpg

Using hot glue, I glued the tiny buttons to the Omron switches. I like using hot glue better because you can peel it off easy if something breaks, but it will hold very well.

http://www.thenewawe.org/images/26oct/13.jpg

And now, some final shots of what everything looks like today!

http://www.thenewawe.org/images/26oct/14.jpg

http://www.thenewawe.org/images/26oct/15.jpg

http://www.thenewawe.org/images/26oct/16.jpg

http://www.thenewawe.org/images/26oct/17.jpg

http://www.thenewawe.org/images/26oct/18.jpg

All I have left now to get before I can paint the MIP is a clock!