Bell 206bIII

[carrnflight]

well guys here i go!!! i have really enjoyed reading many of your post and found a few inspirations in some of the simpits i have looked at via links on this site.

there is a link on here that will take you to a web page of a canadian computer repair shop owner that has built a Bell 206 simpit using a real airframe as many of you have. http://http://www.computerrepairs.ca/Simulator.htm this simpit has been my basis and most inspiration for my own simpit. i have emailed jess the owner and asked a few questions and now have started research and production of my own Bell 206bIII simpit.

i have made a couple of panels to mount switches in and fabed up a set of anti-torque peddles based on pics from jess's website. also i downloaded realstart 206 payware from http://www.dodosim.com/ and have began to learn to fly in a more realistic Bell helicopter in FS9.

Questions to the forum:

Jess uses a beta innovations I/O board, does anyone else?

and if anyone has any links to other Bell simpits or real Bell206 info could you please post them here or email me?

thanks guys for putting up with a newbie

[spitfire9]

I have a Plasma -Lite card and Ace expansion card.

I like it . Very easy to wire if you get the ribbon cable kit ,, and the card seems to like 100k linear pots.

The software is quite easy to use for pot calibration, and especially for rotary encoders and calibrating switches to do what you want,, ie,, an on/off rocker instead of having to use a momentary on/off.

[W9XE/Project777]

John

I may be able to help you out on a few things here omn the Bell 206. This was my first planned project including some real parts. I also have some manuals on CDROM that might help as well.

On the controls I know he used Beta Innovations but I am not sure they are what you want in the future. I havn't checked on them lately but the last info was they were not going to support FSX. We used to host there forum here but they decided to created there own.

Phidgets may be a great alternative for flight controls. Thats what I was planning on using for my chopper controls. Simkits for the intruments, exspensive for the whole package but WOW what a realistic cockpit with working analog guages.

If you don't have an instrument panel I might be able to stear you in a direction for that. Annunciators, have a source that may be able to provide you with some idea's.

Drop me an email and lets see what I can help you with. Your not all that far from me here in Warrensburg, Missouri :D

[carrnflight]

well thanks to all the support i have found a collective from what looks like a uh-1h or a uh-60. should have it in hand in a week or two, then i'll work it over to make a sim collective out of it. hope it works like i plan for it to.

[W9XE/Project777]

John

Sorry so late in getting back to you. Have the CD just need to ship it out to you.

If your collective looks like this then its from a UH-1

[carrnflight]

larry here is the pics i have of the collective

http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee248/carrnflight/120603.jpg

http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee248/carrnflight/120601.jpg

http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee248/carrnflight/120602.jpg

would this be a twin engine collective setup? i'm not that up on twin engine helicopters...

[W9XE/Project777]

John

This is from a Bell 212 or UH-1N helicopter. I got to work on a few of them in Cold Lake Canada during Maple Flag. My assignment from from England was to Hurlbert Field Florida to work on UH-1N's but they diverted me to Det 9, 37 ARRS here at Whiteman AFB, Missouri.

We first had UH-1F's which is where this collective came from. Later we got the HH-1H ( Bell 205) Rescue helicopters from Davis Monthan AFB, AZ when they closed that detachment. Really like flying in them.

I have about 200 hours as a Flight Engineer in Huey's and a few hours full control. No landing or take-offs. The USAF prefers pilots for that. Still a lot of left seat time.

I hope you can find the head for it, if not I may know where you can get on made. Or do you plan on stripping it and converting it to a Bell 206?

[Jess]

John,

Good to see you are pushing ahead on your simulator. BTW, the Plasma Lite looks to FS9 and FSX as just another joystick and will work with either. If you plan on having all the switches and buttons needed for a realistic 206 start, run-up, flight, and shutdown you will need to use an interface controller that can handle 20+ switches.

-Jess

EDIT: for a bunch of things:-)
After looking at the Phidgets and Simkits, boy, if money is no object, that would be a great way to go.

[carrnflight]

thanks jess now i know who to look for both here and on HC. i'm still shooting to emulate you simpit. thanks for the panel file but, as it has been a week without power at home i've not been able to work on the simpit setup. i have managed to get a set of anti-torque peddles working but still need fine tuning. will post pics both here and on HC when i get home and have power. mother nature has dealt OKLAHOMA a very rough past week. power went out between 0030 and 0400 on sunday 9 dec, and i still don't have power at home. and the hilton (aunt and uncles last name where i am staying) is not home with my sim.

[Michael Carter]

Hope everything starts getting better for y'all down there. We mised the major stuff here in Southern Illinois only getting about four inches and little ice, but folks slightly north of here didn't fare as well.

[carrnflight]

John

This is from ...........................................................
I hope you can find the head for it, if not I may know where you can get on made. Or do you plan on stripping it and converting it to a Bell 206?

larry will try to make it as close to a 206 as possible i think. thats what i like flying and kinda my dream bird. i only need one throttle control and then the pitch control for the main rotor. although if i left it as is and decided to fly a uh-1 later (one is in the making see link)...........

http://64.34.169.161/cgi-bin/ib3/ikonboard.cgi?;act=ST;f=46;t=11985

anyway i figured that this collective would make an easy set-up to build having the gear driven levers on the bottom of the unit that would be much easier to connect to pots to input into FS9.

[carrnflight]

still waiting on the collective to come in and in the mean time i'm starting the planning phase of the I/O hardward. also need to find a design for the cyclic. i know that most of the folks here are fixed wing but i'm a rotorhead.

just been reading a thread by "uncle henry", thats not his screen name but anyway, i think i'll try his avenue on ebay for the I/O devices. and i think that a dedicated computer to the sim is in order as well. i really don't want to do the networked computer thing so if you guys have any suggestions send them my way.

[W9XE/Project777]

John

The CD went out to you yesterday so it will give you some details you may need.

It's really busy till the end of the year at work but when I get a break to pull out my FS boxes I think I have an extra 206 cyclic tube I can let go.

Let me know when you get settled back in your house. If you have Skype I can show you the cyclic tube and a game controller grip that might work on it. Grip is more like a UH-1 but would work better than a true 206 in FS.

[carrnflight]

larry this is a pic of the cyclic grip from N118TV a local news heli (bell 206biii). this is what i think i'd like to have.

http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee248/carrnflight/n118tvcyclic.jpg

[carrnflight]

John

The CD went out to you yesterday so it will give you some details you may need.



larry got the cd today thanks.