latest news

06.07.2010

The 777 Throttle quad is finished! See it in all its glory HERE

15.06.2010

Purchased the full Sim Avionics 777 suite from FDS. Now we're getting serious!

09.06.2010

Glareshield begins with the wings. Have a look HERE.

23.05.2010

Recieved two plug-n-play EFIS units from Opencockpits along with a second Master card in preparation for the 777 upgrade.

08.04.2010

Want to know how to cheaply and easily make your own backlighting? See it HERE.

Please note if you are having trouble downloading any files from this site try using Firefox instead of IE.

Tutorials

 

Building the Opencockpits COMM

COMM tutorial

Building the Opencockpits NAV

NAV tutorial

Building the Opencockpits ADF

ADF tutorial

Building the Opencockpits XPDR

XPDR tutorial

Radio Pedestal Circuit Diagram

Full Circuit Diagram

Backlighting the Opencockpits MCP

Backlighting the MCP

Simple and Cheap Home-Made Panels

Simple Home-Made Panels

 

December 2008 Builder of the Month

glareshield

In some ways the glareshield can be the capping stone of the project. The PC12 version is very simple by some standards, but my modifications make it very versatile and more useful than just a coffee cup stand.

Made from 6mm (1/4") MDF with aluminium supports in place to attach the plastic panels housing any instrumentation such as MCP, Audio controls, Master/Caution switches etc.

 

 

 

Closer view of the centre aluminium supports. These are spaced to house a full size 737 MCP to be purchased later (eventually!).

 

 

 

Left and Right wing bottom plates. Obviously these photos show the glareshield upside down for panel installation purposes.

 

 

 

Both bottom plates and Left & Right wing faceplates on.

 

 

 

 

Centre panel bottom plate. Doesn't make sense? Don't worry all will be revealed in the last photos below.

 

 

 

 

And main MCP faceplate installed.

 

 

 

 

View from overhead when installed on the main panel. The glareshield will be upholstered with black vinyl.

 

 

 

 

And the underneath of the fully panelled and installed glareshield. See, told you it would make sense :)

 

 

 

 

And the full frontal view of the main office. You can also see the centre pedastal in it's infancy along with the Aerosim Solutions throttle quad installed.

 

 

 

Glareshield upholstery handy-work. Black vinyl glued on the underside with contact cement.

 

 

 

 

Left & right side wings also glued with contact cement.

 

 

 

 

The rest of the upper vinyl is stretched and anchored at the back (i.e. not glued) using 6mm plastic panel board edging. It's cheap and effective, and once painted black, will disappear. This will allow me to peel back the vinyl to get to the mounting screws in the future should I need to.