A330 Throttle

[kikigey89]

Thanks for your hint!

The problem is, that we do not have the possibility to visit an A330 cockpit. Since 9/11 it is almost impossible for non airline members without a boarding pass, to board an airplane.
So we had to take pictures from the internet and after hours of comparing we said 'okay, they are almost similar, let's take the A320 measurements'. So we changed the shape of the panel and now we found out, that the pedestal is a little bit longer. We will change this in the next few months, if we get the real length.
We do not want to build a 1:1 cockpit, but a cockpit, which looks like an A330. If you see it, you should say 'it's and Airbus!' and if you look closer you should say 'it's an A330!'. That is our aim.

Indeed it would be great, if we had the real measurements and the possibility to visit a real A330. But the fact is, that we are not able. Unfortunately...

[Buddym]

Yes, along those same lines, I would never post a drawing or diagram of any part and declare it as anything or than an example of what I did, and how I approached building a part. As such they are completly legit, and may be of use to someone. After all, we are here to help each other, not to stifle creativity or to supress alternate ideas.

Take as an example, my throttle unit I am building. After countless requests for drawings and diagrams from veteran builders, I finally had to resort to looking at photos and draw my own conclusions as how to attempt a throttle build. The resulting assembly will a one-off, and if it works suitably well the drawings, diagrams, and photos may be useful to other builders, but should not be looked at as being a metered model of the real thing. To quote several threads found here in these forums: "no 2 builds are alike".

There are a number of very skilled builders out there, and the abilties of these builders are apparent in the photos found in the galleries here and other sites. But don't expect that there are any readily available drawings and diagrams that compliment these photos. Another quote: " I only built the one and didn't make any drawings". This seems a perfectly acceptable scenario to me, even if less than helpful to a new builder. I have built many things with only rough sketches left over after the project is completed.

These days I try to do everything on paper (CAD actually) first, and then make the part(s). I am always more than happy to share my work with others, and to have mistakes pointed out for correction. When possible, making corrections to a part for better functionality or a more accurate simulation is very desirable. For me, feedback is the most valuable aspect of posting in these forums. Hopefully it will always be a 2-way path.


BuddyM
Tampa,FL

[phil744]

The A330 and A340 overhead sections as far as I know are identical, apart from the obvious layout differences between the two aircraft types.

The pedistal area you can say is in two parts, fwd and aft, the fwd part (with 2 FMGC and TQ) is identical to the A320, the AFT is indeed longer and also wider.

Keep in mind the pedistal panels on an airbus use the exact same Dzus rail as the boeing aircraft and the panels are also the same width with the exception of the centre row on the FWD area, if you look at the WX panel on the Airbus you will also find those on the 747-400, I know because i have both real parts here in front of me.

A pedistal panel (including backplate) is 145.6mm in width, there are three rows, so that is 436.8mm total width, include another 2mm for a bit of tolerence for the gabs in between the panels, so total panel width is 438.8mm, then you have the black trim the goes around, this is a total guess here but i will say 19mm, simply because it looks the same width as 2 Dzus fasteners, a Dzus is 9,6mm in diameter.

For the total length of the panel area i always look at the pitch between the Dzus, on the A330 there is the ENG START select panel, this looks identical in size to the XPNDR panel, this panel is 56.9mm high, the FMC i allready know is 226.1 the rudder trim panel looks to me to be the same height as the WX panel, this i also know to be 66.1, so the total length of the AFT bay should be 349.1, again add a few MM for tolerence and you should be ok with that.

[mnovak22]

Not to repeat too many people, but it certainly does look good, especially considering you just started the project in January.
Just out of curiosity, what software are you using to display the PFD and ND displays? It looks impressive and I am currently trying several different methods to achieve the same thing (still haven't got one I am happy with)
Thanks in advance.

[kikigey89]

@ phil744:
Great, thank you! This correspond to my estimated values. We will change it maybe next weekend, because today we thought about what to do next saturday, but first we have to wait for our OpenCockpits order.

@ mnovak22:
We are using vasFMC. First, it was just an navigation software for FS aircrafts without FMC but now it is optimized for homecockpits. You can download the current alpha version here: http://forum.vas-project.org/viewtopic.php?id=437
If you are searching where you can setup the font size: MCDU MENU, DISPLAY

[kikigey89]

The new drawing of the pedestal is finished.
To check our overhead: Can someone give me the measurements of it? Thanks!

[phil744]

You should always do a search through the forums, you can dig up most info you need from there

[kikigey89]

Yep, you are right Thanks
Now back to our overhead: The A340 (A330) overhead's width is around 618mm, our A320 overhead (measures from a real A320!) has around 615mm.

[phil744]

Yes it will, thats 3mm difference, dont forget on the attached drawing the panels are laid out flat, you have to put a 1.5mm gap along each row, imagine when the left and right rows are tapered to approx 5 degree like they are in the real Aircraft if you then measure straight across it you will get 615mm