jeehell
08-04-2008, 02:36 PM
Hi guys,
For a couple of months, I've been building my a320 FCU and cpt EFIS with a low cost approach, and I'm so proud at my first building attempt I have to share it :D. Since I have very limited space for the moment (wife don't want to give up the bedroom...), I intend to build desktop sized elements separately before going for the full mip pedestal etc... so after the FCU, plans are for a MCDU or throtlle quad, self made with quality in mind but low price (3000€ for a throtlle quad seems really disproportionate to me :-?).
For the housing I used PVC sheets which are quite rigid and easy to work with using simple tools (a drill, a saw, and a box cutter!).
The panels were made by Schaeffer with Front plate designer, so they feel really pro and are custom made so it makes planning a LOT easier! The backdraw is they can't be backlit but in my very own opinion this is not an issue, I prefer daylight flight and graphics engine means I want to see things outside ;)
For the interface, Opencockpit cards and their switches, rotaries etc...
The push-pull rotaries were homemade, with inspiration from Matt O.'s tutorial (dated a couple years ago on this forum).I ended up with a pretty easy solution using the built-in push button of opencockpits rotaries. I actually made a google sketchup of this solution here (http://www.jeehell.org/push_pull_encoder.skp). It's very basic but it works.
If you want to see pictures, I've posted some on MyCockpit gallerys here (http://www.mycockpit.org/photopost/member.php?uid=3460&protype=1).
See ya.
For a couple of months, I've been building my a320 FCU and cpt EFIS with a low cost approach, and I'm so proud at my first building attempt I have to share it :D. Since I have very limited space for the moment (wife don't want to give up the bedroom...), I intend to build desktop sized elements separately before going for the full mip pedestal etc... so after the FCU, plans are for a MCDU or throtlle quad, self made with quality in mind but low price (3000€ for a throtlle quad seems really disproportionate to me :-?).
For the housing I used PVC sheets which are quite rigid and easy to work with using simple tools (a drill, a saw, and a box cutter!).
The panels were made by Schaeffer with Front plate designer, so they feel really pro and are custom made so it makes planning a LOT easier! The backdraw is they can't be backlit but in my very own opinion this is not an issue, I prefer daylight flight and graphics engine means I want to see things outside ;)
For the interface, Opencockpit cards and their switches, rotaries etc...
The push-pull rotaries were homemade, with inspiration from Matt O.'s tutorial (dated a couple years ago on this forum).I ended up with a pretty easy solution using the built-in push button of opencockpits rotaries. I actually made a google sketchup of this solution here (http://www.jeehell.org/push_pull_encoder.skp). It's very basic but it works.
If you want to see pictures, I've posted some on MyCockpit gallerys here (http://www.mycockpit.org/photopost/member.php?uid=3460&protype=1).
See ya.