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Thread: Display news...

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    Display news...

    A couple of weeks ago I chased down a lead and found a Mylar vendor that can supply material up to 124" wide. It's _cheap_. For example, a 100 foot roll of .5mil @ 96" wide is roughly $200 shipped.

    We've also come up with a way around the patent issue - instead of the curved "ears" at the ends of the mirror, it can be more square - something shown as "prior-art" in the patent, but a feature we couldn't use because we couldn't get Mylar wide enough.

    What this means is that we're now open to making plans & short kits available to people.

    We're looking at two "reference" designs.

    The first would be large enough to accommodate standard GA aircraft right around Cessna 152-172 size up to something around a Lear or Cessna Citation.

    The second would be a "big iron" display that could be used with cockpits around the size of the Boeing 737.

    If there is enough interest, we'll go ahead and get the design work done and I'll build Inventor models so you can see what they'll look like.

    However, we're not going to build prototypes for either one of them until there is enough commercial interest. This doesn't mean a bunch of folks going, "Hey! I'd buy that!", it's some number of people (say 5 for this example) willing and able (and actually do!) put down a down payment for a short kit.
    We're doing this because building one of these things takes a ton of time and effort when you're writing the manual for it at the same time. The materials aren't cheap either - the prototypes and kit parts will be in 18mm and 12mm Russian Birch - it's a high quality material. It's not the kind of endeavor that either one of us can fund ourselves on the hope that someone might buy one someday.

    A "short kit" is typically parts that most folks can't make themselves - all the shaped parts, etc. Any dimensional lumber, fasteners, Mylar, projectors, etc. would be supplied by the builder.

    We'll also look into providing the vacuum management system - this would likely consist of an Arduino Uno style "shield" and the parts to build a servo controlled bypass gate similar to what you've seen in our videos. Servo not included.

    There will definitely be size issues you're going to need to be aware of if you're going to build one of these. Our single-seat version is a tight fit in a room with a 9' ceiling. You can just about be guaranteed that the GA display is going to be bigger than that and I shudder to think how much shop space that 7x7 display is going to eat up.

    Because of the size & scope of this thing, don't expect any concrete results out of us until April-ish.

    I'm going to re-post this to various places in order to make sure the folks that are interested see it.

    Thanks all!

    g.

  2. Thanks Efe Cem Elci, Matt Olieman thanked for this post
  3. #2
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    Re: Display news...

    Gene,

    I don't have the space, so it is academic, but what price range would you be thinking for a ga short kit?

    Reid
    http://juneaucessnasim.blogspot.com
    N58243 (virtual)- Low and Slow...

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    Re: Display news...

    Quote Originally Posted by AK Mongo View Post
    Gene,

    I don't have the space, so it is academic, but what price range would you be thinking for a ga short kit?
    Reid
    Reid, I wish I could answer that.

    The current display probably has about $200 worth of material in it, but as you know the final price wouldn't only be a matter of the raw material. We've got to amortize the cost of some of the R&D as well as machine time, etc. The big question is how much will it cost to ship - I'll have to pack the parts in a wood crate.

    g.

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    Re: Display news...

    Quote Originally Posted by geneb View Post
    ...the final price wouldn't only be a matter of the raw material. We've got to amortize the cost of some of the R&D as well as machine time, etc...
    Absolutely! Your time is also valuable, and machines wear out if not maintained(or eventually even if they are). I assume that the electricity for your shop isn't free either. You guys have put a great deal of effort into this, and deserve to reward from your labors.

    It is great that you may be able to offer this at all!

    Reid
    http://juneaucessnasim.blogspot.com
    N58243 (virtual)- Low and Slow...

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    Re: Display news...

    Thanks Reid.

    One of the things we're looking at is offering the CAD files & pre-generated files for folks that can find a local fabber via the 100kgarages.com website. That would be an option for those that want to save money and supply their own raw material.

    g.

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    Re: Display news...

    This is awesome news. Makes me wish I was in the same country as you and had a room big enough. One day...

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    Re: Display news...

    Hey, that's great news, indeed! Wouldn't it be cool to see this a number of people do this?

    S

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    Re: Display news...

    Great to hear about the mylar. One way to both gauge interest and secure funds would be to make the kits a KickStarter project. It's relatively easy to do, and, if there isn't enough interest to meet the goal, nobody is charged a single penny.

    Hope this helps!
    Keith 'DeadlyDad' Olson

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    Re: Display news...

    Gene,

    That's a huge breakthrough! I'm definitely willing to make a down payment for the large version for my full size B737 sim. I'm comfortable with the short kit concept and can probably find a good local fabricator for the critical pieces and can build the rest myself. I have a nine foot ceiling and lots of width. I've been following your project with great interest and am really excited about the prospect of actually using your product.

    Peter
    Last edited by peterkwu; 02-10-2012 at 02:57 PM. Reason: Correct typos
    Follow my progress at www.fly737ng.com

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    Re: Display news...

    Peter, I seriously doubt a 737 sized mirror will fit in a 9' ceiling, but Wayne may know different.

    g.

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