New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Hello everybody!
My name is Remco Sol and i am a new member from the Netherlands.
My age is 35 and i work in the airline industrie.
About 20 years ago my dad and i ( mostly my dad) build a flightsim based on a Dehavilland Dove.
Al the instruments used to work, not! via a computer but via mechanical and electronical links.
Now we are trying to rebuild it and hook it up to FSX via SIOC.
First steps have been made by reasambling the flightcontrols.
Pictures will be added later
For now happy building,:p
Remco Sol
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Hi there, my local air museum has a genuine Dehavilland Dove sitting out in the weather awaiting restoration. I bet you would like to get your hands on that aircraft!!! It was one of the first ever built. I just had a look at Bullcreek Aviation Museum's website and there are only pictures of the actual displays, none of the dove. I volunteered at this museum for awhile mainly doing restoration work on the Avro Lancaster. Good luck with your project!
Regards, Gwyn
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Remco, welcome aboard. Sounds like you and your Dad has a wonderful project going. Congratulations!!! We'd love to see pics and please keep us up to date on your project.
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Thx!
I always liked the dehavilland dove ever since we were able to take one apart and use the steering colums etc!
The project has moved to my house now, the only problem is the lack of space..... a good thing the original flightdeck was tiny!
I am still trying to decide if i want to use the original switches or make new panels. My own opinion is that the original panels are a bit ugly and not backlighted...
I will post some pictures shortly!
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Great stuff!!!!! I can't wait to see your progress,
Darryl
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
looks like an interesting project. I've just become a part owner of this Devon ex NZ1804 (Instructional number 214) which we plan to get ground running again. Its based at Ashburton airfield here in New Zealand.
http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/w...n%2004/015.jpg
And a cockpit shot
http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/w...n%2004/030.jpg
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Great stuff!!!
It is nice to see more doves in the air again!
What is the timeframe ?
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
We aren't planning to fly this one. Our plans are to restore her as she currently is a Navigator Trainer. Most of the RNZAF fit is still installed. Our big goal will to get her running again and taxying. One of the owners actually owns two more of them and one he flies and is based at the same airfield! And in the same RNZAF markings, so we seem to have cornered the market for ex RNZAF Devons. Oh plus the Ashburton Aircraft Museum has another one which only has 17.5 hours on its airframe!!!!!!! This was kept by the Air Force as a spare but then she was lowered off jacks onto her undercarriage without the feul tank covers fitted. (A BIG no no for a Dove/Devon as they are a structural part of the wing!!) This damaged the wings so she was never flown again.
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Just a little update:
I have just finished hooking up the throttle box to fsx with the help of flightillusions gsa/10 card. It took me 2 days to get the throttles , prop rpm gear and flaps working.
Also ive been able to get the original gear indicator working using the power extender from flightillusion. This allows me to hookup original 28 volt lights to the gsa/10 card and keep all the a/c lights original.
The bad thing is that i have been forced to use a different panel witch is not the original panel this will make the simultator based on the Dove but not a copy.
Pictures will be uploaded soon
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Sounds like a cool build. Good to see something different.
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
The last few weeks i've been doing some work on installing the throttle box in the cockpit. Also i am taking some measurements for a glareshield panel and other panels, hence the cardboard on the panel.
My dad has been reconnecting the instruments and triyng to figure out the connections again (we used them in a different simulator about 20 years ago). We are going to use the instruments in their original state, some of them were made for 1960-1970's flightsimulators. So no rebuilding or altering of the instruments.
Here are some pictures:
The panel with throttle box installed:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/IMG_0420.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/IMG_0419.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/IMG_0421.jpg
Testing of the airspeed indicators:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/IMG_0423.jpg
And some other instruments waiting to be reinstalled in the panel:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/IMG_0427.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/IMG_0425.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/IMG_0428.jpg
The altimiters are going to be difficult to connect to fsx but it should be possible to do so
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/IMG_0424.jpg
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
It is time for a small update again!
We have been working hard to get all the instruments working, the big challenge is going to be hooking it up to stepper motors and "servo motors" run by sioc scripts.
The hardware generating the signal for the instruments look like this:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC01956.jpg This is for the ADI (pitch and roll) flaps and V/S.
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC01957.jpg , this is for the altimiters .
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC01958.jpg , i have installed one altimiter to go and start testing soon i hope. They work only not yet connected to sioc.
Also the instrument lighting system has been reconnected:
Backside: http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC01961.jpg
frontside: http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC01964.jpg,
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC01963.jpg they are the "arches" above the instruments.
Now another nice project, the wiring. Almost all of the old wires have to be rerouted. A lot of work, starting with the throttlebox wires:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC01954.jpg down under view of rudders and steering cables plus the throttlebox.
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC01962.jpg cables coming from throttlebox.
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC01955.jpg cables coming from throlttlebox going to flightillusion hardware:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC01960.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC01959.jpg , this io module runs all the switches, potention meters and warning/gear/outermarker etc. lights
As you can see a lot of work still to be done. And a lot of wiring still has to go to all of the instrument using the original connectors.
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Hiya,
I am using the EXACT same ASIs as you!!!
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Thx!
They are really nice ASI's and not to hard to get working! Are you using SIOC scripts or another way to hook them up to flightsim?
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
it's time again for a little update. I've decided to make a double post . Here and in the update area....
A lot of work has gone in to getting some instruments to work. Also a bit of misfortune has come my way in the form of a computer crash resulting in investing money into upgrading my computer wich caused a big dent in my sim budget. And a short circuit cost me 2 flight-illusion gsa-10 i/o power extender modules. Also another little dent in the budget.....
But the panel is filling up nicely!!!:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC01985.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC01990.jpg
My dad has had to torture his brain to re-figure out the original wiring of some instruments. All the instruments up till now have not been rebuild but left in there original state. The problem is that a lot of instruments run on either 26 volt 400 hz or 115v 400hz.This requires a special kind of power supply:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC01989.jpg
The link between the 115v 440hz synchro's and fsx is done by a very simple remote control servo motor or stepper motor driven by an SIOC script:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC01986.jpg
This is the section that drives the attitude indicator (pitch and roll) v\s indicator, flaps and ias indicator. :
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC01988.jpg
And after a bit of tweeking it works quite well!!! ( see movies later on).
Also the throttle box is now working. The only thing that needs to be done to the throttle box are the fuel selectors and cowl flaps. Gear lights are working again as are the marker lights and warning lights ( see movie also) .Next step, engine instruments , altimiter, compass, hsi etc. etc. etc.....
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC01992.jpg
The control collums are connected, but not to fsx at this time because i am still trying to figure out the right feel!
The movie quality is not to great but they give you an idea of what this project is all about.
What you will see is the throttle box, gear lights , flaps , gear handle, gear lights, flap indicator, adi, vvi, asi working at this time. I have only used one of my three screens for the movie. The scenery is at Amsterdam ( aerosoft fsx). The high pitch noise is the 400hz in the background.
Enjoy!:
http://s234.photobucket.com/albums/e...t=MOV01997.mp4
http://s234.photobucket.com/albums/e...t=MOV01995.mp4
http://s234.photobucket.com/albums/e...t=MOV01994.mp4
http://s234.photobucket.com/albums/e...t=MOV01996.mp4
http://s234.photobucket.com/albums/e...t=MOV01993.mp4
http://s234.photobucket.com/albums/e...t=MOV02000.mp4
http://s234.photobucket.com/albums/e...t=MOV01999.mp4
http://s234.photobucket.com/albums/e...t=MOV01998.mp4
More will follow soon!
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
It's been a year already!!!!!
A lot has been done the last year, altough not much is visible at this time........ It's all so time consuming.....
The power supply that supplies all the juice (26v ac/dc 26v 400hz and 115v 400hz) has been totally rebuild and will be tested soon. Finally the fuel levers and oilcooler switches have been fitted into the small throttle box. this was al lot of work!
Also the side panels have been fitted and connected. ( more panels will be build soon) Due to shortage of space the panels are installed higher than original
A very friendly friend has coverted a rpm gauge so it can bee used in fsx (couldn't use it in the original state)
And some warning lights have been installed (panel has to be painted and engraved).
Al lot of background work on rudders and yoke has been done and they now work ( they still need to be connected to the artificial feel) .
And a bunch of stuff that i probably forgot......
Here are some pictures and two small movies (sound is bad but it gives you an idea).
It shows the levers being installed . And the movies show the starting sequence , the side panels , rpm gauge , fuel pressure warning lights and fuel levers working.
internal connection of fuel levers and oil cooler levers:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02465.jpg
front side:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02469.jpg
backside:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02468.jpg
connected together:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02475.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02474.jpg
putting the front on:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02472.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02473.jpg
it has to go inhere:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02470.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02471.jpg
installed:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02477.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02478.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02480.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02484.jpg
warning light panel: (9lights)
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02481.jpg
side panels:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02483.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02482.jpg
And the 2 short clips:
http://s234.photobucket.com/albums/e...t=MOV02489.mp4
http://s234.photobucket.com/albums/e...t=MOV02490.mp4
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Time for a little update again in lo-res format ( i can't find my camera ....)
Now that the power supply is working correct again the instrument red lighting brightness is working correct. White lighting will also be installed:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/IMG_0733.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...IMG_0732-1.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/IMG_0734.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/IMG_0759.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/IMG_0760.jpg
Also the panel glareshield has been made and still has to be finished with buttons switches light etc.:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/IMG_0779.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/IMG_0781.jpg
And another side project has been put back together again!!!!
It is a martin baker mk2 - 3ks/1 mk.4 ejection seat out of a vulcan bomber. We have had this seat for over 20 years now and had been in starage for a couple of years. It has now been put back together again!!
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/IMG_0785.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/IMG_0784.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/IMG_0783.jpg
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Today i have been spray painting the glareshield panel lightning. For the engine instruments i will be using an original panel light system but for the basic six a had to make my own. Tomorrow some pictures will be posted.
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
One reason to register at this board was to say how amazing your project is. I admire your an yor dad's skill and determination. Hats off!
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
@ Wohnlich : thanks for the nice comment!!! Altough it is a lot of work i think my dad did the most work 20 years a go!
best regards Remco
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
It is time for a little update again. Altough the altimeter still is not working a lot of other stuff has been done.
Mainly panel building and connecting them to flightsim (which was more work than expected....)
I've build the panels out of aluminium , spraypainted black and used photopaper (also spraypainted) for the "engraved" letters. The middle panel is backlighted , the outerpanels have got "floodlight" lighting on it.
The rightpanel with magneto's and starter switches on them:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02734.jpg
nightlight:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02740.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02761.jpg
To connect seperate magneto switches and starter switches to fsuipc is impossible for some reason.... i had to emulate keyboard keys to get it working correctly . Can also be done with a usb axes card.
The centerpanel with warning lights:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02759.jpg
Backlighted (bad photo sorry):
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02736.jpg
The lefthand panel: with generator , battery isolation , autopilot and low fuel lights on it ( needs to have one more red cover in stead of orange for the gen2). The autopilot is heading and altitude hold only, which for some reason works incorrectly....
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02763.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02765.jpg
And some general pictures, as you can see it ist still only the panel and no windows etc. This will be done as last.
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02767.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02743.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02750.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02752.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/DSC02753.jpg
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
The panel building continues,
Firstly i have connected the glareshield lights.They can also be dimmed:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/5d3b6299.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/dd0f5178.jpg (nice 70's picture) :).
Then the fire and feather panel had to be build.:
For this i just use a 90 "bend" piece of aluminium and just some power tools to make it the size and shape i want ( a lot of work since i don't have professional tools):
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/e79ebb9f.jpg
Then test if all switches etc. fit:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/d9c9fb5e.jpg
Spray paint it with primer:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/6d4f4e8e.jpg
Then the color you want: (black in my case)
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/c6e294cd.jpg
Get the old printer out and make the backplate with the letters etc. you want. Then spray paint bits of it and put it together:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/78758cae.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/9f109e4f.jpg
It's not perfect but good enough for me!
And a little clip of what it looks like in the cruise phase:
http://s234.photobucket.com/albums/e...t=370b8a5e.mp4
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h_370b8a5e.jpg
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
This month is a bit of a slow month building wise but the altimeters are working!!!!
Happy holidays!!!
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Well it's time for a little update again.
The last couple of months the temperature in my shed was a bit to low to work in but it has warmed up nicely now!
The first big thing that i did was finally building the power supply housing. In here all the voltages i need are safely stored.
The voltages are: 5, 12 (pc power supply), 26 v dc. 26v ac, 26v and 115v ac /400hz. Also a cooling fan has been installed to get a slight airflow in the unit.
Also a new computer has been build to run FSX/ prepar3d only.
Some specs:
Coolermaster housing
i7 2600k oc 4.6 ghz
8 gb 1600 mhz memory (corsair vengeance)
2x ssd drives , 60gb for windows , 120 gb for fsx, ozc vertex 3
1x ATI 5870 matrox edition card ( might need a quicker card)
H70 water cooling
And an asus sabertooth motherboard.
And the 3 samsung 23 inch screens i already had have finally found there way up to the panel.
The last thing i did was rebuild the manifoldpressure indicator (from a flightsimulator so not a real one). It was damaged beyond repair saidly enough. Althoug my tools i needed to make it didnt work anymore i did get it to work in the end . Not a fine mechanical job but it works.....
Power supply pictures:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/c93e6e0b.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/f0d7b72b.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/3cff6cac.jpg
Then six wires transport the power to the power distribution panel i build:(right top side)
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/aac5c836.jpg
The mess i usually make ;) : http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/c7dc277a.jpg
Also the 3 screens have been fitted and might need to be re-fitted :
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/c9b5ce67.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/ad726dca.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/bf70a2ef.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/6ff585c5.jpg
And the manifold pressure in pieces and put back together:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/16b31b47.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/e5f05644.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/b1d99d47.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/dde622a0.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/b1f809d3.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/bfa813de.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...a570af5f-1.jpg
And some movie clips of the stuff working:
Shutdown:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h_b156e003.jpg
And playing around with the throttle:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h_4226cbb5.jpg
And some flying: Altimeters also working.
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h_555a473b.jpg
Stall:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h_8f4d7a42.jpg
So the next thing to do is finish the engine instruments , they are ready to be installed. The altimeter needs to be improved with a better stepper motor and also all the compasses and adf/vor needles need proper 200step/360 degree stepper motors wich are hard to find....
2 Attachment(s)
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
A little update , we've been working hard on the engine instruments and I'm proud to say they are almost finished . Also the turn and slip indicators are working.
More on that later !
Some more news on the history of the dove !!!!
This was the aircraft :
04236
19? The aircraft was registered as G-ALTM.
19? The aircraft was acquired by the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC).
22Jun1955 The aircraft crashed at Heathrow Airport, London, UK.
19? The aircraft was painted as 'N764JN" for a film.
19? The aircraft was acquired by a film making company and destroyed in the making of a film.
The last bit is we're we came in , this was around 1988 . In a studio in Amsterdam we dismantled the aircraft . Just need a picture now :)
All this info thanks to this site:
http://www.cnapg.net/dove.htm
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
A small update , all the engine instruments are working and also the turn and slip indicators . More on that later !
Here a small picture
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/865f67a9.jpg
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
Also both seats have been installed , a picture at Innsbruck :
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...h/7189ef42.jpg
And here some startup taxi and take off clips . Not great quality but it gives a nice impression :
Power up by using battery isolation switch and the ground flight switch:
http://emob234.photobucket.com/album...h_2eb918a2.jpg
Engine start , first opening fuel selectors and switching on fuel pumps:
http://emob234.photobucket.com/album...h_121c5496.jpg
Engine testing :
http://emob234.photobucket.com/album...h_f2369721.jpg
Taxi out , into a bus ;). :
http://emob234.photobucket.com/album...h_6cc8f699.jpg
Scenery demonstration:
http://emob234.photobucket.com/album...h_45b15d0b.jpg
Takeoff , it could be a sharper image but gets better after a couple seconds when the camera focuses :
http://emob234.photobucket.com/album...h_3e7c8887.jpg
And climb out with a nice view of Innsbruck , the orange light on the dashboard is the inner marker of Innsbruck going on and off later on
http://emob234.photobucket.com/album...h_afe5577d.jpg
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
After a couple of months it's time for a small update:
Initially I bought an ati 7970 direct cuii top 3 gb graphics card and thought it would be great for fsx...... But no.
The ati 7970 is gone, it gave a lot of problems especially with 3 screens and 30 fps. I always had problems with micro stutters! In the end I was able to bring it back to the store . In stead I bought an evga 680 with 4 gb of memory. I must say it solved all my problems!!!! Combined with nvidia inspector and 1/2 refresh rate and 30 fps locked inside fsx not much tweaking is needed . It runs great. And has convinced me finally that nvidia is the way to go.
the other thing done is the rudder trim on the throttle box . It's working very well.
Also the radio has been installed and is working.
More lights on the side panels have been installed to increase the night lighting.
The flightmodel has been improved and a lot more realistic.
both seats are installed and some bits and pieces painted.
Here are some pics:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...-tjuh/null.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...juh/null-1.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...juh/null-2.jpg
and a clip or two of the approach to ebbs 25R
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...B027E4934B.jpg
Link:
EB540D4A-A280-452E-9807-888524D2ED7C-1803-000001B027E4934B.mp4 video by Sti-tjuh - Photobucket
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...A9DB230CBA.jpg
Link:
F211CCD4-0ED0-45CB-8DEC-F60F6A5E109C-1803-000001A9DB230CBA.mp4 video by Sti-tjuh - Photobucket
Re: New member building a Dehavilland Dove.
This is a FANTASTIC thread, you've got a brilliant aircraft there, and it's great to see cockpit building in this form ... all too often with the development of parts everything is bought in a click and before you know it all the enjoyment of building your own cockpit is lost.
Not here, thanks for all the photos been inspiring to read through :)
