Nearly all lamps working 14/05/2007
Yess!
Except the CautionPanel all lamp-outputs of the sim are done and working. Last weekend I finished the ELEC and EPU panel:



Days before I managed to get the first 7-segment-displays on the CMDS panel into working state



As soon as the CautionPanel is done, I'll be able to start with the implementation of the analouge gauges.
More LEDs - and videos 28/04/2007
The selfsoldered LED-Controller are done at last!
One is already working inside the left console and lights up importand LEDs like the gear lights.



Today I tried to become a movie-maker - the results can be seen on youtube:


Functionality of the magnetic switch



Responsetimes of the DED-LCD
Report at t-online.de 25/04/2007
T-Online.de, one of Germany's bigges internet portals, published an article about my simulator :-)

T-Online Report (German)

Progress on the right Frontpanel 16/04/2007
The right frontpanel has been finished, as I intented to. MFD and DED are fully functioning and display the correct data out of Falcon:





Until I manage to build my physical instruments like ADI, RPM, and so on, these data will be displayed on the two MFD-monitors with FalconGauges.

Now all important data is available at one glance, without having to switch views in the simulation.
The DED Is Working! 11/04/2007
The DED (DataEntryDisplay) on the right frontpanel is working!
First I created the case to mount the LCD to the glareshield and now the data transfer from Falcon is running great!
New Simputer 02/04/2007
After 6 years a new simputer was obtained - the old one was not able to give a smooth flying feeling.

Since I don't plan to buy a new rig in the next years, I decided to get something more "high-end"ish.

  • ASUS P5B Motherboard (front left)
  • Intel Core2Duo E6600 2.4GHz CPU (front right)
  • 2GB Kingston DDR2-800 RAM (rear right)
  • Sapphire x1950pro GraphicsCard (rear left)


  • beQuiet StraightPower 500W Powersupply
  • Samsung SpinPoint P80SD 80GB HD (System and Programms)
  • Samsung SpinPoint T133 400GB HD (Simulations)
  • Samsung SH-S183SA S-ATA DVD/RW
  • Coolermaster Centurion5 Case






The new computer gives A LOT more performance than the old.
In comparison: The old is somewhere below the 25fps line, the new one between the yellow and green...
There shall be light 09/03/2007
The IOCards are fully funtioning and controlling the lamps on the frontpanel!



Sadly the pictures don't look as good as in reality
The left panel shows important information (HSI and RWR) with FalconGauges:



To finish the frontpanel, DED and the right MFD-monitor have to be installed.

First MFD functional 26/01/2007
At last something is working as I planned it!
The left MFD in "operational" state:



And from the "pilot's view":
Monitors for the MFDs 09/01/2007
Today I got my 2nd 6,5" TFT VGA Monitor for my MFDs! The package also included the missing inverter of the first one. I couldn't wait to test the whole thing.



I connected everything as seen above, turned on the power - NOTHING :-(
Just like so often, something didn't work ok (and which of the parts is making this "bbsssss" sound?).
Ok, turn of the power, check everything again...
After I put the connector on the inverter _COMPLETELY_ the next test: power on, no "bbsssss" anymore - PUUUUH...
Nevertheless, no picture on the monitor :-(

I tested everything with the 2nd monitor and equipment - everything is working perfectly!. After I connected the first monitor to the components of the 2nd package and everything worked ok, I thought again about checking all connections on my first attempt *G*.
Now everything is working fine!

Sine there is no MFD-Data available in Falcon:AlliedForce, I will either use F4Glass or FalconGauges to display the information which is missing on the HUD: RWR and HSI.

The first test with F4Glass' RWR was astonishing. Sharp and clear picture, thanks to the VGA input. Sadly the sharpness of the picture can not be reproduced on the photo:
Glareshield finished 30/12/2006
The glareshield has been finished!

Now I have a place to mount all the indexers, warning lights and the DED...
FAST page online 20/10/2006
To get Falcon data to my IO-cards, I wrote my own tool - FAST.
The page with some short information and download are available through the nav-panel.

Lights on! 28/09/2006
The indexer ligths, which give status info about Angle-Of-Attack and air refueling, are done. I got the housings from Dave Scott long time ago (thx, Dave!), and now I found the time to insert the leds:
New monitor stand 27/08/2006
The old 19"-housing occupied too much space. I built a new monitor stand, there's more space behind it now for the electronics - GammaRay and IO-Cards.
Wiring going on 27/08/2006
 The next panels are done: TWS PRIME, TWS AUX, GEAR, HUD, AIR COND, CMDS, SNSR PWR, ELEC, EPU, SIM1
Inputs!!! 09/08/2006
Now, since the "hardware"-part of panelmaking is done, I could start with connecting the panels to the GammaRay-Inputcard.

Both MFDs, the ICP and the MISC panel are working, and move the corresponding switches/buttons in Falcon:AF.

Until the end of August, I plan to have all panels connected an working.

The last panels 09/08/2006
Except MANTRIM, all panels have been finished.
The UHF has some minor glitches, nevertheless it doesn't look bad:
Panels nearly completed 07/07/2006
Except of 3 (UHF, MANTRIM, FLTCTRL), all panels have the lettering mounted:



All the knobs which are not replicas of the original ones, have been painted gray. The black and white stripes are painted by hand, so it doesn't look very spectacular...
MasterCaution Switch 18/06/2006
Years ago I got a couple of buttons from my cousin (thx, Alex!) I wanted to use inside the pit. One of them was perferct for the MasterCaution switch. I also got a transparency used for tinting car windows, so the lettering of the button will not be visible when not lit.




When the LED inside is turned on, the lettering is visible:

Panel Redesign 18/06/2006
The panel update is going on quite well. I managed to install most of the lettering on the lightplates...
Panel Installation 13/06/2006
The last days I managed to redo my panels, to

1.) make them look as real as possible

2.) make them backlightable

3.) replace most of the mini-switches with "big" ones, to improve handling

I really like the result...

Linke Konsole

Gear Panel

OpenCockpits IOCards 31/05/2006
There's an OpenSource-hardware system, mainly for controlling Microsoft Flightsimulator. The whole system is modular and an easily be expanded. After some research, I decided to use this system also for my simulator:



In the middle is the MasterCard, the main part of the system: it gives 72 digital inputs (for buttons and switches), 45 outputs for LEDs and an expansion-bus to connect smaller controllercards.
On the picture there's already one Display-II card connected, to control 16 7-segment-displays. Up to 4 Display-II-cards can be connected to one MasterCard.
Top left is the USB-Expansion Card: the IOCards were intened to be connected to the parallel port - with this card up to 4 MasterCards can be used on 1 USB-port.
The 2 small card left under the MasterCard are 2 USB-Servoboard, each able to control 6 servomotors and directly connected to the USB-port.

Controlling the hardware is done with IOCard's SIOC software. To bring data from Falcon to SIOC I wrote my own program: FAST (FAlconSioc-Transfer). More info will be available here (as own menu item)

New Homepagedesign 31/05/2006
The page got a new look! By using a CMS, I hope to do updates more regularily.
Some reports are not converted yet, this will hopefully change during the next weeks.

2003/2004 03/03/2006

2004 A.D.

August, 18th - 8 months no news.. but the project is still going on - better than ever before. There were picture updates from time to time, now I've got the time to post some news, too.
    January:
  • Gearlever nearly done
    February:
  • the NoseSection is done, including the new Simpeds F-16+ pedals.

  • I found the missing backrest cushion for the ejection seat:

    March/April:
  • The hull has been done. I used 3mm foam infill panels, which are very easy to work with and very light.

  • I got some new original parts from a new, veeeeeeeery nice guy (Hi, Marc! *g*):
    • Original Aces-II ejection handle
    • Standby ADI
    • 2 HydPress gauges
    • Position lights and a throttlearmreplica

  • Since the real stick uses force transducer for input, WhiteEagle from the Frugalsworld forum posted a mod for the Cougar, to implement this feature.
    It took some time to get used to it, but it's more then worth the money!!!
    Now I can mount the stick on it's right position an height, without hurtin my knuckles on the sidewall ;)

    April, 30th
  • An important day - after months of planning/building/sweating/.. the simulator has been transported from my parent's house to our flat in Graz.

  • This is the time to give a big THANK YOU!!! to my girlfriend Maria. She suggested to convert our dining room into a sim-room for me!

  • First impression when the sim was "online" - phenomenal! It's an undescribable feeling to sit _IN_ the cockpit instead in front of a desk.

    June:
  • Since woodwork is nearly finished now, the electronics part is going to start ;). Cabling of the ICP is done and all buttons an switches are functional through the KE-72!

    Juli:
  • The AVIONICS POWER panel is done and connected:

  • I got a cheap and nice 19"-case, which will house all the electronics and also will be used as monitor stand:

2003 A.D.

December, 21st, 2003 - Things haven't completely gone like I intended them to, so I'm still doing the outer hull of the pit, instead of already installing the electronic components :-/.
Doesn't matter, the tube looks much better than I expected, and rework of the ICP is already done. As during the start of the project, planning of some components like the glareshield or the nose section takes more time than building it.
Real life (tm) also takes most of my time, so I'm looking forward to the following holidays, hopefully the hull will become finished.

July, 2nd, 2003 - No update for some time, but now I've done it again ;). Actually I'm doing multiple things at the same time (no, no real multitasking, just time-sharing *g*): the hull for the left console starts to look really nice, also the new gear lever, the throttle modification and a PDF-documentation about the project are in the works.

May, 2nd, 2003 - At last! The base for the pit has been finished today. During some "research" at the cellar I found a 3x2m chipboard :) - more wood to work with.

April, 20th, 2003 - Wow, 4 days of constructing ;) Both instrument panels are finished, just painting needed.
I'm already working on the 2nd MFD for the left side. The first selfmade instrument (VVI) has been finished except the needle, I'll post an "Instruments How-To " during this week.
The center console looks really ok now, 80% of the InstrumentSelect and FuelQuantitySelect panel have been finished, so only HSI and AOA are missing...

March, 29th, 2003 - Last weekend was a very productive one. The ICP part of the center console has nearly been finished, also the small glareshield is done, but sadly I couldn't mount the airvent yet.

March, 24th, 2003 - With the help of a friend of the family, Mr. Walter Schmidt, the airvent part of the center console looks abolutely brilliant! Thx a lot!!!
I was also able to mount the ADI - pics will follow next weekend.

March, 4th, 2003 - At last the middle console looks like intended, even the T-handle and airvent from AGT have arrived :-). The first cardboard prototype of the ICP is also ready, the wood version should be finished as soon as possible.

January, 20th, 2003- Bad news :( - my father had a strokelet 2 weeks ago, but he's already getting better :-).
2002 03/03/2006

2002 A.D.

December, 4th, 2002 - A lot of things have been going on through the last weeks:

I tested the Ferrettronics chips and the first servo did all the movements, I wanted it to do *g*.
During the next days I will do an update to the techbook page, with an overview of my network config and a description of my way of building the instruments.

After my experiences in the Drakensimulator, the "feeling" of the plasticmade joystick just wasn't right anymore - so I decided to purchase a Thrustmaster HOTAS Cougar. Completely made of metal, it feels quite more realistic then the old one.

Ebay had quite a lot of great items during the last weeks, so I really couldn't resist *g*:
An original F-16 checklist! :-D
An original F-16 Instrument/Panel
The eyeballvent of the middle console

As I told you in the last update, I'm doing a new middleconsole construction - the instrument console are already available in a raw version.
At Conrad Electronics I found the right buttons for the MFDs.

November 1st, 2002 The ejection seat itself has been finished at the beginning of October (except the backrest), now I'm doing all the small details.

I decided to work on the instrument- and middleconsoles after finishing the seat. The consoles will be made again from scratch, to make them more stable and also more accurate.

September 23rd, 2002 Today has been the BIG DAY *g* - a visit to AFB Zeltweg. You can find a report about the trip here - Zeltweg

September, 7th, 2002 The ejection seat is beginning to take shape. Today my father and me finished most of the backrest, so hopefully the seat will get its complete shape next week.

UNBELIEVEABLE!!I got an invitation of Austria's DOD to visit Zeltweg AFB for a day, and do some flying in the military's Draken simulator! Here is the article (german), that started everything.

August 2002 - At least - the seat pan of the ACES-II has been finished up to 75%, just the sitting plane and small details are missing.

Again my project got the attention of the media: Austria's 3rd biggest daily newspaper "Kleine Zeitung" did a 2sided report. scan will follow.

July 2002 - Finishing the ejection last longer than expected. I received some metal parts from a friend, and he also made me a good offer for bigger parts.

MiHi did it again on Ebay *g*, the original ACES-II seat cushion.

July, 5th - 12th - "Camp Nassau" of the 1st Guns Richthofen
A great party, one week of flying Falcon 4.0, and I met A LOT of new friends!
Camp Nassau Homepage - a lot of pics.

June, 2002 - "Am Schauplatz" was broadcasted... 2 min 20 secs for 5 hours work *g*, but at least it was a big advertisement for my project.

The Austrian Air Force did an info campaign about the new Fighter in Graz, and I had the opportunity to sit in the ejection seat of the Saab "Draken". One of the guys there also saw "Am Schauplatz", and maybe I will be able to fly with him in a Saab Saphire some aerobatics.

The first of the redesigned panels has been finished - the combined "SNS PWR/NUCLEAR CONSENT".

May, 2nd - A lot of things happened during the last months, but I just managed to update the homepage right now.

It's nearly impossible to remember all detailed things, so I'll just give a short overview, what happened till now.

Electronics
In the middle of July 2001 I decided to order a KE72 Keyboard Encoder Module. This card lets me map 72 digital inputs to keystroke macros, which should be enough for the most imporant switches and buttons. More info on the KE72 can be found on the homepage of Hagstrom Electronics.
August 2001- JIPPPIIIEE, I actually managed to get hold of an EPIC!
Although it's just an older "C" version, I do have 256 digital inputs, which should be enough for all switches and buttons in my cockpit. More info on R&R Electronics' homepage.

I also thought a lot about connecting the PC to servo- and steppermotors for the analogue instruments.
Although there are some homebuild solutions around on the net, I decided to use the Ferrettronics chips for this task. As soon as I have news about this topic, I'll publish them here, of course.

To drive LEDs for warn- and indicator lights, I will use a chip, which can drive 35 LEDs and is quite simple to control through the parallel port. A very BIIIIG "Thankyou" to Rob Favre, who offered me 2 of this chips for free!!

Panels & Consoles
At least I finshed the frames for left and right consoles with the consoles mounted. Again, my father helped me a lot, accomplishing my goal :).

The panels are the same as before, but I already designed the new ones, to make backlighting possible. Construction of the new panels is one of the main tasks now (April 17th, 2002), together with the construction of the ACES-II ejection seat replica.
The ICP has been reworked, to nearly fit the original measures.

I got the first of two 12" monitors, which will be mounted behind the frontconsole and display MFDs, RWR and DED.

Reportage about my Cockpit! The ORF (Austrian Television) found my website :) - the reportage series "Am Schauplatz" themed "People and Aviation, focused on FastJets" will also include a story about the construction of my cockpit.
Doing the filming was quite funny, actually it was also very insteresting for me, to see "professionals" doing their job. As contribution, the ORF paid the materials necessary for building the ejection seat replica, after I found the original ACES-II parachute container on ebay.
2000/2001 03/03/2006

2001 A.D.

July, 7th - Today I put together all parts, my cousin already tested the pit.

July, 1st - My pedals, which I got at ebay, have arrived.

June, 20th - My father helped me to lengthen the TQS shaft.

April, 10th - The new pics are online, I also changed the layout of the site a bit.

March, 31st - After a longer break, I finally managed to get on with the cockpit. The right console looks really nice now.

2000 A.D.

June, 8th - I registered my own domain today: www.michis.net
June, 7th - Today I started with the new design of the website.
June, 1st - "Lock On No. 2 - The F-16" from Verlinden Books arrived today - a great source for all people interested in the F-16

May, 15th - A lot of time has passed, but I was able to finish theWarning Lights Panel

January, 10th - YES!!! The left console is complete, I also had time to finish the middle console, too.

January, 4th - The left console is nearly complete, I decided to include the "Electric" and "EPU" panels, should be done shortly.

1999 03/03/2006

1999 A.D.

December, 28th - Seems like work isn't going on as I expected. The construction of the console lasts nearly a week now and I have only finished the panels till now.
December, 20th - I'm trying to finish the left console this week, during the holidays.
December, 13th - I haven't been lazy for the last weeks, although the last update was in November. The left front panel with MFD, TWS and RWR has been finished and I'm still working on a solution for connecting the switches.

November, 23rd - At the last two weekends the middle console has been finished, and the site got a new look again *g*
November, 7th - The whole website is now also available in German.
November, 4th - Another update today... new design of the navigation bar and more details of the electronics plans.

October, 31st - The first console is done!!
October, 18th - I updated the layout of the site again.

September, 28th - Since I got the plans from LM I have been redesigning my panels, so woodwork has been stopped at the moment.
September, 23rd - I got my Thrustmaster TQS Throttle by mail!!
September, 6th - Today I made some scans of the cockpit poster and put them together to one big picture (4100x6500 pixel *g*). I resized it and posted it at the "PLANS" page.
The site got a new structure, I hope it fits your taste ;-)

August, 13th - I read an article about the AMD K7 "Athlon" - seems like I'm going to get one in 2000 *g*
August, 10th - LM sent me a roll with a 3x1 m poster, with both, F-16C and F-16D cockpits! GREAT THANKS, LM!!
I will try to get some scans of it to post it here.
August, 2nd - At ebay.com I won the auction for a TM TQS!

July, 31st - I purchased a TM F-16 FLCS at a local hardware store for 70$ - that's been a third of the price I saw at the store 500 m away, so I took the chance ;)
July, 23rd - I emailed Lockheed Martin and asked for interior plans of the original F-16C 50/52 cockpit.
July, 11th - Project stopped due to holiday working till August, 29th
July, 7th - Pictures of the seat and the consoles (very raw :) added at the hardware page

June, 29th - The MFDs have been finished, I just have to paint them, pics will follow
June, 24th - Trevor and I met today, we shared our experiences and infos about homebrew cockpits
June, 22nd - Today I bought all switches and buttons I will mount at the panels... about $180- puuh
June, 20th - I cut out the front panel today.. :) looks good, and I can't wait to mount the selfmade MFDs
June, 5th - Today I cut out the polysterol panels

May, 27th - I found another guy in the town I live, Trevor, who also wants to build a cockpit himself

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