Mobile Driving/Flying Cockpit with Motion and Tactile ( Build )

[DrRob]

I apologise, but I find them a bit cheesy. Well made though.

 

[RCHeliguy]

I apologise, but I find them a bit cheesy. Well made though.

Trust me, I completely understand and I'm still not sold on them. That said, if for some reason I fall in love with them, please forgive me for liking something cheesy But I'm not there yet.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Based on the feedback I've gotten on multiple boards I've jumped the shark with this one.

I'm seeing about 1:4 - 1:5 AGAINST putting tail pipes on a sim rig.

I've gotten "very tacky" but also "very cool". However the complements are in the minority by a margin.

I wanted to know and now I do

 

[NeoGrotesk]

Personally, I don't like them. Though it does look a lot better than I thought it would!

But to be honest mate, it's your rig and if you like it then sod what anyone else thinks!

Either way, it's a cool design so if you don't use them as tail pipes then I'm sure you'll find another use for them. Maybe cut out the bottom and stick a couple of fans in them for extra cooling?

 

[Atak_Kat]

Not that it matters, but I am 'on the fence'......

I think they are really neat and offer something more. I mean, how is it any different than RGB lighting, decals, or something else? It looks fun and for sure would get a lot of smiles from guests.

On the other hand, it has that sort of Logitech-lets-make-the-front-of-our-wheel-look-like-the-front-of-a-car..... sort of vibe. Which is fine, but a bit cheesy.

If the exhaust tips were real metal, maybe proper tips with some heat discolouring, that maybe would be quite neat.

But if you go that route, then you cannot stop, and a set of proper racing rims and tires will be needed to attach to the four corners (would also give decent vibration dampening to the floor, I think....)

 

[RCHeliguy]

A little Aluminum work this morning.

Cut 1/4" plate with my aluminum cutting blade.

I get a really nice edge with this blade.
The deburring tool is great to quickly take any sharp edges off.

Then I measure where the holes go and use an auto punch to create center points. You press the auto punch and it pops making a divot.

In this case I'm cutting 6mm and 8mm holes with my drill press using WD40 as a cutting oil which is perfect for aluminum. There is double sided carpet tape between the two pieces to keep them aligned.

Mark the edges to trim off.
You can see two additional holes on the drawing. They were just in case I felt this needed any additional strengthening. Fortunately I won't need them.

Take the corners off with my bandsaw.

Round and finish the edges using a 2" belt sander.

After a little hand sanding I have this.

Bolts holes line up perfectly.

Here it is installed.

I've been trying to redesign my flight pedal mount, but finally I just went with the existing design and just dialed it in. However I'm using metal stops in the back and just press it against them and tighten from the front.

The cable cleanup and reorganization was in part to make the transition to flight mode cleaner and faster. My flight pedals were just interfering with a power supply, so I raised them a bit for clearance and moved the flight pedal tracks deeper into the back. The resulting pedal position feels great!

Earlier, I had mentioned that one of the reasons I wanted to redesign my button box is that my last button box interfered with where I wanted my flight throttle positioned.

My flight ergonomics now feel the way they should for the first time since I installed a bucket seat well over a year ago. Which is one reason I haven't been using it in flight mode much. I've been sort of fighting things with flight for a little while.

This should be a lot better.

 

[blekenbleu]

WD40 as a cutting oil which is perfect for aluminum

My experience has been that Aerokroil works better than WD40,
but Tap Magic 20004A Aluminum beats either cutting aluminum.

 

[mechsicko]

+1 for Tap Magic... got to really appreciate that stuff in the machine technology program I went through as well as the machine shop I used to instruct at. Aluminun doesn't need a cutting oil so much as it needs a cutting coolant. I often cut it dry on my table/chop saw though, and on my bandsaw (get a Lennox blade for your bandsaw btw) I sometimes use one of those wax stick things in the push-pop tube but I forgot the name atm

Also -1 on the pipes but I wasn't gonna try to spoil your fun but since you seem to be courting public opinion I appreciate form a lot but not when there is no function.

 

[RCHeliguy]

I got both grab handles mounted. Here is the back view. These things work very well.

@Wmacky went another route and has a hinge on his flight throttle so he can walk through. Or at least that was the plan. At the moment, I'm sticking with the removable bolt up connection for my flight throttle so I still have something to step over. I'd love to see a picture of your final solution if you don't mind sharing.

I thought I might print out 2 or 3 of these out of PETG. They are designed to use the 20mm wide velcro straps and countersunk M5 bolts I have in abundance.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Oh yeah! I feel faster already !!!!!

 

[LeeHetherington]

 

[Wmacky]

I got both grab handles mounted. Here is the back view. These things work very well.

@Wmacky went another route and has a hinge on his flight throttle so he can walk through. Or at least that was the plan. At the moment, I'm sticking with the removable bolt up connection for my flight throttle so I still have something to step over. I'd love to see a picture of your final solution if you don't mind sharing.

Now that I'm just wrapping up the final setup for racing, and setup up all the racing sim software, I'm just now about to return to finishing up the flight mode part. The hinged throttle will work out just fine, and is the permanent solution. I find that stepping around the joystick is a pain. I'm going to try replacing the m8 mount bolts with the knurled plastic knobs, so the stick base can be pushed forward along the mount support beam, then slid back into position once seated.

 

[RCHeliguy]

I have these nice 20mm wide velcro straps that don't fit any of my cable clips for my rig and I had a bunch of M5 bevel head bolts and T-nuts laying around. I thought these would look much nicer than the thin velcro strips I was using.

So I made this. I may end up printing as many as 10 of these.

40 series M4 and M5 Velcro Clip by RCHeliGuy

This is a Velcro strap clip for 40 series profile. Edit: 5/3/21 Added an M4 version. It uses an M5 bevel head bolt and is sized to fit the slot of 40 series profile. It has a single orientation. It fits the 20mm wide velcro straps I have and the M5 bevel headed bolts and M5 T-nuts I had laying...

www.thingiverse.com

 

[RCHeliguy]

Seems pretty boring after my last print From completely cosmetic to completely utilitarian.

I feel completely spent again and I can't think of a single thing I want to change on my rig.

I can't eat another bite

 

[RCHeliguy]

Of course I say I can't think of one more thing to do to my rig and I find out ProSim is nearing production on their hydraulic shift lockout system.

<sigh> So yes there is one more thing that my rig needs to be complete. I just don't know when I'll be able to get it.

 

[MaddogBC]

Of course I say I can't think of one more thing to do to my rig and I find out ProSim is nearing production on their hydraulic shift lockout system.

<sigh> So yes there is one more thing that my rig needs to be complete. I just don't know when I'll be able to get it.

View attachment 441234

Hahahaha, you ever watch Columbo? "Just one more thing..."


I want to take this opportunity to thank you for sharing in this thread. Your journey has been an uplifting inspiration in many areas other than just simcraft. I started a family early (and got lazy) and never took my education past tradeschool. This has been first class entertainment for me.

Ps, I think the tailpipes are bloody awesome and can't wait to see how you incorporate the firelights! I've been planning brake lights all along.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Ps, I think the tailpipes are bloody awesome and can't wait to see how you incorporate the firelights! I've been planning brake lights all along.

Thanks for all the kind words! Sorry to say I was just joking when I mentioned the fire lights. There is a limit to my capacity for silly. The fake exhaust pipes are about as far as I go.

 

[Brun]

USB plug holder with M5 hole by RCHeliGuy

I have a single USB plug connecting my Sim Rig's 10port USB 3.1 Hub to my computer and I wanted a secure way to hold it when I'm rolling my rig around. It uses an M5 Socket head bolt to a T-nut

www.thingiverse.com

Because the world needed another USB hanger and it only took 5 minutes to design the perfect USB hanger for me.

View attachment 438280

View attachment 438279

This worked, but it fell off at times. Now it won't.

View attachment 438281

You could lose the mounting hardware and make one that simply locks by tuning 90 degs. I made some cable tidies in that fashion and it'd be perfectly solid for something like this.

Will post the file if you'd like to check it out.

First time I've caught up with this thread in a while. Lots of very nice stuff, but I won't share my thoughts on those exhausts

 

[LeeHetherington]

By the way, the cable tie twist thingies that work on SimLabs profile and on 8020.inc profile are different, even with both being 40 series. The depth of the slot shoulders are different.

 

[RCHeliguy]

By the way, the cable tie twist thingies that work on SimLabs profile and on 8020.inc profile are different, even with bit being 40 series. The depth of the slot shoulders are different.

I ran into that exact issue and ended up using a layer of masking tape to make some work. It's one reason I decided to use hardware. I actually prefer it.