WWII Yokes

[Crescent]

Does anyone know of a company that currently builds or could build different yokes from ww2 aircraft? Thanks.

[Michael Carter]

From what I've seen at APHS, most American bombers used what looks pretty much like an auto sterring wheel with the top third cut out.

It shouldn't be too much of a stretch to build one of these yourself.

Have a look here: http://www.angelfire.com/il2/aphs/wheels/wheels.html

There are a lot of modern yokes mixed in with the old ones, so look carefully through all of the photos. There is a B-24, B-25, P-38, and others to see.

[Crescent]

Hehe. Building one wouldn't be a problem, but I would have no clue as to how to make it accurately work with a game.

[Westozy]

Hi Crescent,

Here's a simple joystick interface solution I am making for a Spitfire builder...
http://www.mycockpit.org/photopost/data/597/Joystick_interface.JPG


Regards,

Gwyn

[AndyT]

Gwynn,

For the Roll pot, why not just fatten up the pot shaft and stick it in the end of the tube? A lot less hassle that way.

[Westozy]

Gwynn,

For the Roll pot, why not just fatten up the pot shaft and stick it in the end of the tube? A lot less hassle that way.

Hi Andy,

That would only put about 20 degrees of rotation on the pot, this would be less than 10% of a common rotary pot's available travel. For best results, pots should have all of their available travel used, it's much better for accuracy and calibration. It's also a normal industry standard to maximize pot travel. Your idea would work and obviously and be simpler to build. Using a hacked USB joystick would be a good option because they only have small amounts of pot travel.

Gwyn

[WJH308]

Hi Andy,

... It's also a normal industry standard to maximize pot travel. ...

Gwyn

Unless your CH products!

[Crescent]

Thanks for the replies. Is there a good guide on the site describing how to wire etc. a yoke/throttle? I don't have the foggiest idea how this is done hehe, but it seems to be the thing to do if you want it as real as it gets. Thanks.

[Michael Carter]

You can cannibalize any two axis joystick or yoke and just use those innards.

It'll be prewired already; you'll just have to rig up the linkage for each axis.

[WJH308]

I just rewired my CH USB yoke and rudder pedals to use one of those 12 bit high resolution USB interfaces from England, I am sorry, forgot the name of the product off the top of my head, it is TOP quality. The hardest part was figuring out the button matrix wiring of the CH yoke without putting in all new wires. I figured it out. I even ripped the guts out of my Pro pedals and hooked them into the same card as the CH electronics were acting up on me.
As far as wiring, just look at examples on the net and play with it. Some basic electronics is in order so you know what a common or ground is, how to solder, what a diode is for, etc.
Nice thing about electronics is that its a small investment to get into, unlike machining.

[AndyT]

Leo Bodnar makes them
Nice cards.

Let us know how your pedals work now since I'm thinking of doing the same thing to mine.

[WJH308]

Leo Bodnar makes them
Nice cards.

Let us know how your pedals work now since I'm thinking of doing the same thing to mine.

Yes, Leo's USB controller, it is very nice.
The pedals work very nice, since I had 3 axises left over on the card, I added a DB9 connector to the back of my CH yoke and placed a DB 9 connector on the CH pedals so they plug directly into the Yoke. Everything works very nicely, I even share a common ground and notice no noise from it from all the pots. Everything works as it should, I still have plenty of buttons left over so the next step is to add some Rotary Encoders to my Yoke for the radios and autopilot.

[Michael Carter]

I use Leo's card for my throttle. Top notch stuff. Never a day's trouble.

[Crescent]

Can you please post a link for Leo's card? Thanks.

[WJH308]

Can you please post a link for Leo's card? Thanks.
http://www.lbodnar.dsl.pipex.com/
I like Leo's taste in web page design, simple, straight to the point!