Today I flew from Cork – Toronto during the Cross the Pond 2011 Westbound on VATSIM.

Here you can see the full flight report.

Live flightpath can be found here: http://vataware.com/flight.cfm?id=7388942

Today I have activated a new domain for my homecockpit blog:

https://737cockpit.info

as the old free domain was not working for several days.

Please update your bookmark accordingly.

During the weekend I have completely reworked my script for the Overhead LED status and the CDU as well as the MIP LEDs.

You can find the script in the download area.

Nearly all LEDs are now configured via the TESTBIT Option of SIOC. With this option it’s possible to connect to one Byte 8 LEDs, each LED to a Bit.

Only the Window Heat and the Gear status didn’t worked, so I need to take one Byte for each LED.  Some LEDs (Smoke and Call) are triggered from other functions (SELCAL from Squawkbox and boarding completed)

You cannot just copy and paste those script, you have to adopt it to your device and output configuration. The script here is only for sharing some knowledge how I am going to programm the Cockpit with SimAvionics.

If you have questions or suggestions, feel free to contact me.

You will find an example of the script in the full post.

Continue reading “reworked SIOC script for LEDs (Overhead, CDU & MIP)”

First of all, I wish you a happy new year 2011. Initially we want to be at the new years eve in New York, but doe to the Blizzards in New York on the 26/27th December, all flight were canceled, so we were rebooked to Toronto and became a free upgrade to business class 😉 New years eve we spent with family in Montreal.

Now to the near future work in my cockpit.

1) I want to really start with the gear leveler during the next days

2) The APU start switch will be changed to a real one – Off – On – (Start), so that the start section is only momentary.

3) FMC Lights (MSG, DSPLY, OFFSET) will be wired – therefore I need 3 voltage converters, because the Opencockpit FMC is prepared for Master Cards and not for USB Output cards

More future: A throttle Unit to be built (non-motorized) – but I didn’t started the planning yet.

As you see, expect more frequent updates during the next weeks.

Yesterday I have bought the TOPCAT (Take-Off & Landing Performance Calculation Tool )

This tool closes the missing link in flightplanning and Performace planning. It can calculate also fuel requirements based on the loading and the route of the planned aircraft.

A great feature is to submit the Loading (Fuel and Cargo + Pax) via FSUIPC or aicraft.cfg file direct to the FlightSimulator. So I use this tool together with virtual dispatch on my dispatching station to get all the required info in a flight package printed out.

More information about this tool can be found on the TOPCAT website (http://www.topcatsim.com)

I started the Cockpit project now more than one year ago, in October 2009.

During the last year the webpage was visited over 6.300 times. WOW.

Beginning only with the idea of building an overhead panel I have now a “full” homecockpit in my room. Ok, full is not 100% correct, the pedestal and the throttle is missing. Those will be built in the next months.

The cockpit is ready to fly and made a lot of flights including an 8 hour transatlantic flight during the VATSIM cross the pond event 2010.

The Gear Leveler is delayed during some time issues, but all the required hardware is aquired and built. We need “only” build it together and connect it to the cockpit.

Today also all the controls were transfered from Windows Joystick inputs to FSUIPC control, that allows a much more accurate calibration to setup in FSUIPC. It allows also to configure the pedals as Tiller and Rudder function.

That’s all news for today :-).

Tomorrow, Saturday 30th, the yearly Cross the Pond Eastbound will take place on the VATSIM network.

Our route will be from KBOS (Boston) to LOWW (Vienna). The exact route will be published tomorrow morning.

We will also activate the Cockpit Cam for this event, but as it is the first event running with this cam, expect some delays or malfunctions. If it won’t work, we need to disable it again.

You can track our flight in this map. 2 friends will join me in the cockpit during our flight. The flight time is estimated with around 8 hours.

UPDATE: Cockpit Cam Site is setup and will be active – powered by PushTV from VACC-Austria

Read more for the full routing
Continue reading “Cross the pond — VATSIM online event”

Today I have added some new pictures into the gallery.

FMC Progress Page:

High Quality pictures can be found here.

During the next weekend the following VATSIM event will occur:

During this event I will make some onfline flight to be prepared for the next event one week later –> Cross the pond 2010

Facts about Finally Austria 2010:
• over 25 Controllers will meet in Vienna to staff the ATC station
• Vienna Schwechat (LOWW) and Innsbruck Kranebitten (LOWI) will be fully staffed! More Airports depending on availability
• hence, the whole Austrian airspace will be available at full service on the weekend from the 23rd until the 24th of October 2010
• find charts, infos and scenarios from LOWW and/or LOWI at http://www.vacc-austria.org

ATC:
Saturday, 23rd of October 2010 from 09.00am to 09.00pm UTC
Sunday, 24th of October 2010 from 08.00am to 04.00pm UTC

Also new pictures will be uploaded during the evening form the cockpit.