P51 cockpit seat12/7/2023 Today I painted the bezels and added screws to simulate the real units. I trimmed them to the correct depth and HEY, they fit!! I had also marked the locations in the oak flooring and cut the round holes for the bezels. Then I dropped a unit in to make sure I had left enough room for the wires. With the location determined I cut out the recessed areas with my router. Here you can see where I have identified the floor supports with masking tape and placed a drawing of the display and circuit board for measurement. So, I contacted DTA and asked them to order another one for me and it should be here in 2-3 weeks. I wanted to make sure they work the way I want for my sim and they do. I got the last 2 LCD units Desktop Aviator had for these fuel gauges. So now it was time to install them in the floor. Thankfully they are easy to set up with Air Manager and Windows. I played around a little more with the two 7 inch LCD displays I ordered for the floor fuel gauges and feel fairly comfortable with how they function. Oh well, as my wife keeps saying, at least I’m staying busy and out of her hair. When you start to get near the end of the project you see something new and say “Hey, I could add that to my pit.†Then you take the pit apart and figure out how to add the new part or feature. I think I have this sim building thing figured out. I'm considering tilting the screen since that should be easier and cheaper and will give me better access to the on/off button for the MIP screen. I am considering tilting the screen just enough so it will be viewed from a more direct perspective or looking for a small screen that gives a better viewing angle. For the O2 blinker and pressure gauge under the MIP they won't work since the gauges are below eye level and I will view them at an angle. This is OK for the fuel gauges in the floor as I will be looking directly down at them just like in the pic above. The display looks good when viewed directly but at any angle it "greys" out and becomes blurry. I have started on the bezels for the gauges and here you can see one in place. Here is a pic of a Mustang floor with red arrows pointing out the two wing tanks. I had been procrastinating on ordering small screens for the fuel gauges until I saw some 7 inch LCD's at Desktop Aviator for $35 so I bought the last 2 they had. Thanks BRC! Sorry about the slow response. The diameter was a nice fit but it could only be inserted 3/16 inch into the grip so I added bolts through the grip into the pipe. I took everything apart, extended the wires from the base, through the new shaft to the grip and reconnected everything. I then inserted the 1 inch pipe, checked the unit’s length in my pit and cut the shaft to length. These bolts went through the threads on the base. With the adapter inserted into the connector I slipped the parts onto the base and drilled holes for bolts and nuts to hold the adapter to the base. The connector fit nicely over the threaded base connection but its original length interfered with the spring mechanism. In this pic you see a connector, pipe adapter and 1 inch pipe (shaft). Here are the pipe fittings I chose to make an adapter for the lower connection. I have unscrewed the grip and with 2 more screws out the wires are accessible.Ī made a quick trip to my favorite aviation parts store, Lowe's. This is the stick in its original condition. Yesterday I modified a Saitek AV8R stick I bought because the grip come close to the Mustang. Take care and have a safe Memorial Day weekend. I still need to add the labels, run all of the wiring, do some final painting like the white area under the dash and install the skin but it feels like I am finally getting closer to completion. My wife has seen it in parts and pieces so I brought her out for a look and even got her in the pit! She has been a great supporter of this project. This is the first time it has all been in the pit at one time and it felt really cool! I did find 3 things that I need to correct but that was the purpose of this test. I put EVERYTHING in the pit today for a final check. I will mainly use this for FSX but I do own DCS. I thought I would share what I have been working on for the last year. We do have heat and humidity in Fla and severe storms are a possibility but I don't miss shoveling snow. I retired 2 years ago and we moved from Ohio to Florida since we were tired of the Midwest winters. I have been following this forum for quite a while and appreciate the sharing of information to keep our hobby flying.
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