1979 Mooney M20J - Phase 1

[David Rogers]

Hey all,

Here is an update regarding my new GA pit project; The Mooney M20J, circa 1979 !

I went for GA firstly because I am exclusively flying GA in the sim at the moment - in the beautifully stunning ORBX FTX AU scenery, and secondly so I could concentrate on the areas that I need to get experience in - the woodworking, cutting, panel making, etc ..... rather than get caught up in simulating advanced systems.

Up to now, the Sim consists of:-

- Satiek Yoke
- Saitek Throttle
- CH Pedals
- GoFlight Radio / case
- GoFlight RP48 buttons (AP)
- GoFlight LGT
- Saitek Pro Switch Panel
- Running PM GA IFR (demo at present) on Client PC
- Running FSWidgets GMAP on Client PC

The 'MIP' is currently just a painted cardboard template - I have ordered some Plexi but I am nervous about cutting it as I have no experience and have little tools ...... so it will be a learning experience.

I am using the Carenado Mooney M20J FSX flight model.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a95/The-GPS-Kid/Picture001.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a95/The-GPS-Kid/Picture002.jpg

- Phase 2 will be the new MIP and replacement (better) pedals.

- Phase 3 will be an improved Yoke.

- Phase 4 will be Flight Illusion or Simkits gauges.

Thanks for looking !

[Kerbo]

That is a nice setup. I am jealous of your gauges because I am attempting to build my own and only have empty holes in my panel right now. :grin:

Keep us posted.

[Jackpilot]

Looks great, even with the cardboard
.
If you want to improve the look at very little cost while waiting for the real gauges:

Easier to work than Plexi, use an MDF panel 1/4"thick and cutout the holes with a drum blade on a drill.
Prime and sand a few times before painting. (Primed and painted MDF looks metal smooth.)

Find ABS or PVC pipe of the proper diameter and cut thin slices to make the rings around the gauges.

I did my first generic sim like that and it looked very nice.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c29/jackpilot/PhotoNIKON008.jpg

[David Rogers]

Thanks William - those gauges are only the PM demo at the moment, so I still need something more permanent. I admire you buiding your own gauges!

Jack - Thanks. You know what, I am beginning to wish I had just bought a 1/4 MDF panel now, rather than buying the plexi (which arrived 30 minutes ago!). I've have good exprience cutting MDF in the past and made my first generic airliner MIP out of MDF. (Although it didn't look anywhere near as realistic as yours does in the pic!).

I was wondering what I culd use to get some gauge bezels so thanks for the idea about the ABS or PVC piping. Looks fantastic in your pic !

I don't have a Hole Saw to cut the Plexi with, so I may have to just drill holes (through masking tape), and then file the rest of the hole out. :eek:

....or alternatively, I may just go and buy an MDF panel from the hardware shop that's 10 minutes away ! :lol:

David

[No Longer Active]

Hi,

As for making gauges from cutting sections of plastic/pvc pipe, there are many junk alternatives......

Now dont laugh!.....but the standard bisto gravy tub (yes...ahhh bisto!) its a red tub and to my knowledge it is infact 79mm in diameter!!! (well it was the last time i checked) and its the exact same diameter as the simkits guages!!!

So, go and buy 10 tubs of gravy from tescos and pour gravy on everything you eat! or drink it...or give it to your cat! whatever, you need the tubs!

If you remove the plastic lid from the tub you also have a nice 'template' to draw your gauge holes ready to cut, once you have removed the lid you will find that the open end of the tub has a really nice finnish like smooth rounded edges, whatever you do dont buy tesco's own gravy (200g) because they only have 70mm diameter tubs!

Ok its real crazy me going on about gravy tubs on a sim forum, but its the sort of thing you throw away and dont realise what use it can have,

also have you thought about 'tin cans' you could go and find a 79mm or 80mm tin can, remove all the paper so you have a shiny finnish, so if you mount the tin can in your panel and and leave a 2-3mm section exposed out of the panel, you will infact find that you have created a really nice shiny polished 'trim' on your panels that has a professional finish! Also a tin can will give you a sturdy enclosure to create some gauges!

Believe me this is what im doing, its all about junk, and stuff you throw away, and with alot of thought and imagination you will be suprised just how good this will look! And you will be able to tell people that your panel is made from bisto gravy tubs and baked bean cans and people are like.....'no way???'

Something to think about!........Junk & Rubbish!

Mate go and raid you mums kitchen get the tape measure out and start measuring those tubs, tins and cans! and eat away!

Laughable i know, but what you got to lose.....only gain!

Alex

[David Rogers]

Hey actually, you've got some really good ideas there Alex! I know the exact plastic top to the gravy tubs that you mean and yes, primed and painted they would look good! Sometimes it's as much about imagination and resourcefulness as about getting expensive bits. :)

Cheers

[Jackpilot]

Besides you can keep the plexi, if clear and thin, put it behind the MDF and presto you have lenses for your gauges.

Simkits used to sell vey nice bezels for small and big instruments..cant find them on their site but maybe a caall or an email.

[Michael Carter]

Besides you can keep the plexi, if clear and thin, put it behind the MDF and presto you have lenses for your gauges.

That might not look quite right though. The glass should be flush with the bezel. With the bezel mounted to the MFD and the acrylic mounted behind the MFD, it's not going to look correct.

The PVC pipe is great for round instruments. I have 2" rings painted and ready to go now for a year for my engine panel. The rest I had to cut from sheet stock because they aren't round.

If you decide to use the acrylic for the panel, find the finest toothed hole saw you can. The type used for fine woodworking. Fasten it tightly (but not overly tight) to the work surface and make certain you have a wood backer. Secure it as close to where you are drilling as possible. If it shifts or jumps it could crack the entire panel. A safer, but slower alternative is a coping saw.

If you change your plans and use the MFD for the panel instead, there are suppliers that sell pre-cut round plastic acrylic discs in assorted sizes. I bought a bunch of these to use for my 3" instruments on my panel. The hole in the bezel just needed some light sanding to get a tight friction fit with no adhesive.

[Jackpilot]

That might not look quite right though. The glass should be flush with the bezel. With the bezel mounted to the MFD and the acrylic mounted behind the MFD, it's not going to look correct.

.

Agreed, but David was talking about a temporary set up....Round lenses are definitly better looking

[Michael Carter]

Oops, I didn't read that part. Sorry.

Why temp though? Just go for it. You have a temporary panel now.

[Geremy Britton]

Hi David (Great to see you back by the way! :)) ... If you don't want the plexi and are going with MDF let me know because i need to get some plexi in the coming months to make some panels with, we might be able to come to an offer on it.

[Kerbo]

If you decide to use the acrylic for the panel, find the finest toothed hole saw you can. The type used for fine woodworking. Fasten it tightly (but not overly tight) to the work surface and make certain you have a wood backer. Secure it as close to where you are drilling as possible. If it shifts or jumps it could crack the entire panel. A safer, but slower alternative is a coping saw.


You can also use an adjustable hole saw like the pic below to cut round holes in acrylic. I cut some 2.8" holes in acrylic last night for the instruments I am building. I used the slowest speed on my drill press (720RPM I think) and fed slowly. Lubrication helps a lot, I used a little bit of a 4:1 water/dish soap mix.

http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/resources/2007/05/029-Front_Panel_Hole_Saw.JPG
(not mine, found on Google)

I used the same hole saw to cut circles in 0.064" aluminum sheet but it makes a LOT of noise and you have to go real slow.

[Shawn]

I've built a generic pit and have a few different aircraft that I fly, the Carenado Mooney is one of them. I used the guages that came with the aircraft to build the panels, have you considered using those instead of the PM guages? I've attached a picture of my pit setup with the Mooney guages.

1513

[David Rogers]

Shawn, your panel surround looks amazing ! ....... that is exactly what I would love to have - The leather glareshield part at the top looks fantastic :) - where did you get the material for that ?

Thanks for the pics William :)

I have basically decided that if I can pick up a Hole saw for pretty cheap tomorrow, I will stick with the Plexi - if not, I will switch to MDF as I can cut that with the existing tools I have. :)

Thanks again for all the help and advice!

PS. Hey Gez how's it going. You can buy Plexi in various sizes and thicknesses from a place in the UK on eBay. I payed £12 inc postage for a 3mm board that is 1500mm x 500mm is size. :0)

[Shawn]

Thanks David. The glaresheild was built with blue foam insulation glued onto hardboard and then shaped with a file and sandpaper. The covering is fake leather. If you go that route make sure you buy vinyl that stretches both ways. I made that mistake and bought a material that only stretched in one direction and couldn't get it to fit wrinkle free. I posted a few pictures in the forums when I was building the glarsheild, when I get back to a computer I'll look for it and post a link, I'm on my Blackberry at the moment.

I forgot the thread I posted the pictures in was in the cockpit update section so it's been deleted. So I've attached the photos to this post.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3073/2756404559_7d4b4f470a.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3056/2757238710_51cb27eb8f.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3159/2783216176_a88dce8bfd.jpg

[No Longer Active]

Hi shawn, is your glareshield made from bendy MDF or Hardboard to create the curve? And how do you manage to bend the styrofoam, did you use 'slits' to create the bend or did you use 'sections' as i see you have slits at the front from your picture, and did you staple the fake leather to the wood or glue it? As this is my next project, ive thought of a few ways of making a glare shield, but this way seems to be most effective than a £200 simkit glareshield.

Cheers
_______________________

Alex

AlexPilot2008

[David Rogers]

Shawn, your pit is just the business... I'm so envious! ....... your layout and approach is exactly what I want to achieve in a GA pit. :cool:

One last question for you for now;

I know you said you use the actual panels from the add-ons you fly (ie... like the Mooney), do you use 3 monitors coming from 1 PC ? .... (one for the outside view, 1 for the left side panel of the pit, and 1 for the right ?).

Cheers,

[Shawn]

The bottom of the glareshield (what the blue foam is glued to) is hardboard. The first pictures shows the hardboard tied onto the panel in an attempt to soften it a bit. Eventually I cut 3/4" plywood frames to screw the hardboard to, you can see those in the second picture. The blue foam is a single peice that was cut 85% of the way through in the areas that needed to be bent, it was then glued to the hardboard with a spray on epoxy. The faux leather is both glued and stapled, make sure you invite a few friends over to help with this part, it takes a few sets of hands to pull out all the wrinkles. I am currently using 6 monitors from a single PC, three are connected to a Triplehead2Go for the forward view, one displays the 90 degree right view, and two display the guages. It's a very high end computer (in fs9 I rarely drop below 100 fps) but in hindsight I should have used two cheaper computers and Wideview for the displays. That way I could have both a right and left window and some additional monitors for things like a GPS.

[Paul Thomas]

Nice to see a GA project every now and then. In fact to seldom.

[Tony Hill]

Great looking project of a great little plane. I love the glareshield covering!!


.

[Kennair]

They're some seriously comfy seats Shawn!

David, great to see another GA builder here also and funny you should be building the 201. I'm about to do an endorsement on the Mooney this month and so I've configured my sim accordingly thanks to Carenado and FSPanel Studio. And this on one Quad Core PC. I can highly recommend Windows7 if you want to seriously increase your performance.

Ken.