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Yesterday I was flying an online flight on the VATSIM network from Lisbon(LPPT) to Zurich(LSZH).
Some nice pictures were created.
For HQ pictures see the Google Photos page.
Author: Markus
Yoke research
Current I am in the phase of searching for a Yoke. The last part that makes the Homecockpit complete.
I am not in the need of a dual link yoke system, as 95% of the flights are done alone.
I have found a nice comparison of the yokes, that are available on the market. http://www.my737ng.com/what-the-yoke/
Only the Opencockpits one is missing, so I created a new one, removed the PFC and added the Opencockpits.
| Features | Simujabs | Opencockpits | AGRONN | ACE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost inkl. Shipping to Austria | 1003€ (direct from Pedro) | 1364€ (direct from Opencockpits) | 1896€ (via Aviationmegastore) | 1621€ (via Aviationmegastore) |
| Country of production | Spain | Spain | Turkey | Canada |
| Yoke Material | Fiberglass Resin | Resin | Aluminium | Aluminium |
| Yoke Finish | Painted | Painted | Powder-coated | Powder-coated |
| Yoke Rotation Limit | ~180° | ~180° | ~180° | ~90° |
| Yoke Neutral Position | 0° Vertical | 0° Vertical | 7° Forward | 0° Vertical |
| PTT Switch | Single | Single | Single Two-Way | Single |
| Column Finish | Powder-coated | Painted | Powder-coated | Powder-coated |
| Tension Loading | Spring | Spring | Gas-Damper | Gas-Damper |
| Sensors | Potentiometers | Potentiometers | Hall Effect | Potentiometers |
| Clipboard Included | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Lettering | already attached | stickers included | Laser Engraved | Silk Screened |
| Real Aircraft Buttons | No | No | Yes | No |
| Yoke Position Units Label | already attached | stickers included | Yes | Yes |
| Website | Simujabs Yoke | Opencockpits Yoke | Aviationmegastore | Aviationmegastore |
I will continue my research during the summer. The goal is to have a decision late August / early September.
MCP changed
I changed my MCP from a v2 to a v3 from Opencockpits, as a guy sold a nice v3 MCP. The v3 has some new features that are very useful:
- fully backlit (warm white)
- SPD_INTV:Pushbutton speed intervention (not available in V2)
- IAS/MACH: It shows the selected speed and warnings of excess or lack of speed (no warnings available in V2)
- BANK SELECTOR: Pressing it select the maximum angle of roll or bank angle (not available in V2)
- ALT_INT: Pushbutton of altitude intervention (not available in V2)
- Indicator of CPT Flight Director armed (CPT F/D, no available in V2)
- Indicator of FO Flight Director armed (FO F/D, no available in V2).
I changed the 7 segment digits from my v2, as they were white with the v3 ones.
As the v3 version is a non box version I had to slightly modify the Glareshield to be able hold the new MCP.
Therefore I am now selling my v2 MCP. If you are interested, drop be a short message.
Side windows and monitor
As proceeding with the curved screen and the visual setup we also closed the side windows to match your Field of View (FOV). The “interesting shape” of the windows is the result of the Point of View (POV), when sitting now in the captains, first officer or jump seat you don’t have any visual reference in the room anymore. Only the visual view from the flightdeck. And believe me, its absolute amazing and a disorientation starts to build up when rolling on the ground or banking in curves.
Also the last monitor that was needed and was standing in the captains side windows was now mounted in the second side windows from the outside.
Audio Selector Template
My old Audio Selector Panel, which I purchased second hand years ago, was lacking on the button decals. Those looked used and started to peel off.
Therefore I have now created new decals. In case you need it, you can download it here. Audio Selector Decals (2601 downloads ) .
I printed it on a sticker paper and cut them manually. So a nice and simple fresh look for the old fake buttons.
Preview below:
Visual Setup 2.0
During the last weeks I was working to refine the visual setup. With one projector it was not possible to achieve the wanted result.
Therefore I bought another Optoma GT1080 Projector and built a ceiling construction where the projectors are mounted.
After hours of understanding the Immersive Display Pro Software and a help from a friend we got the following result.
Not bad. With the applied blending you can not see the overlapped projected pictures. Its not perfect right now, finetuning is still needed, but a good way to go.
Curved Screen update
During the last days I was extensively working on the curved screen.
First all the 5 holders were placed. Those are from Ikea, called Stolmen.
Then a white strong fabric was placed on the holders. Thanks to my wife who supported me there a lot.
After the fabric was placed the new projector, an Optoma GT1080, was placed into position. Around 2m away from the screen.
Then the hard part started. The calibration.
As you can see below the testpattern from the projector itself is of course on fitting to the curved screen.
Therefore you need a picture wraping software. I took the trial version from Fly Elise, called Immersive Display Pro. With this software you can do a mapping to any kind of a screen. In the picture below you can see a sample of mapping points, those can be extended to 64×64 roster.
After couple of hours you an see the difference. Not quite perfect now, but better as I started.
During the Vatsim Cross the pond event 2016 (Westbound) I took a short hop from Montreal to Toronto with the curved screen and I can tell you *wow* thats a nice feeling. Still not perfect aligned, but flyable.
The only lack is, that the picture is of course not as sharp as on a Monitor or a plane projection screen. But this seems to be normal…
Curved Screen Visual Setup planning
Current I am in the phase of planning a curved screen setup.
The goal is to have a nice view from the Captains seat without the windows on the left and right. Maybe this will be added with a second projector later.
As projector a Optoma GT1080 is planned.
I found a very nice guy who is helping my with the calculations so that I can continue with the plan. During the calculations we came to the conclusion that this goal can be archived with one projector.
Next step will be to realize the curved screen. I will keep the updates on the blog here.
Checklist reworked
As I found in the ProSim Forum, that my old Checklist from 2011 was really used by some guys, I have published my newest version on the download page of my blog.
F/O EFIS
This is the first modification done in 2016. Back in 2015 I bought an used and modified EFIS to be built into the First Officer side.
Now I had the time to built it into the cockpit. Sounds simple, took nearly 2 hours… Because I had to modify the First Officer’s six pack section, this needed to be cut. But to cut it, it had to be unmounted and the wires needed to be soldered to a connector to allow unmounting from the glareshield.