Hi everyone! Advice needed for Cessna 152

[JimmyGerrard]

Hi guys,

I'm James from London, nice to meet you all. :D

I've recently started my PPL (logged one whole hour so far!) so I have decided to build a home simulator to practice navigation and basic flight training with.

So far I have set up dual monitors, a 26" LCD television displaying external view and a 19" widescreen LCD to display my intrument panel. My computer is pretty much limited to two monitors by only having one PCI-e slot, so my original intention of having a third monitor to display the radio stack has been dealt a blow. I am now interested in building a free-standing avionics stack identical (or close) to that found in a C152.

I was just wondering what parts you guys would recommend? I am not familiar with the companies that offer products or which parts I'd need.

This is the cockpit of the C152:

http://members.cox.net/timetofly/Cockpit.jpg
http://www.marksimages.co.uk/G-BOLV%20CESSNA%20152%20COCKPIT%20KM_1024.jpg
http://hampage.hu/repules/muszerfal/SJG2.jpg

What are the essential avionics that I'd need to re-create something similar? I don't really know much about the radio systems yet but it looks to me like I need a com/nav and an ADF unit first and foremost. Where would I go about getting these? I don't want anything too elaborate and am looking to spend as little as I possibly can! Second hand is also no problem to me whatsoever.

Thanks guys and I look forward to speaking to you soon.

James

[dodiano]

Congratulations on your first hour!! I still remember my first Hour!! And I still love the C-152 I hope to own one someday!! If you are going to make a C-152 for your training specially on IFR 2 VOR´s an ADF shoul cut it for you! Do not install a GPS or anything like that so that you really learn the basics of instrument Flying and oof course you will need the standard instruments!! That will be my advice.

Regards,

Roberto

[Trevor Hale]

Hi guys,

I'm James from London, nice to meet you all. :D

I've recently started my PPL (logged one whole hour so far!) so I have decided to build a home simulator to practice navigation and basic flight training with.

So far I have set up dual monitors, a 26" LCD television displaying external view and a 19" widescreen LCD to display my intrument panel. My computer is pretty much limited to two monitors by only having one PCI-e slot, so my original intention of having a third monitor to display the radio stack has been dealt a blow. I am now interested in building a free-standing avionics stack identical (or close) to that found in a C152.

I was just wondering what parts you guys would recommend? I am not familiar with the companies that offer products or which parts I'd need.

This is the cockpit of the C152:

http://members.cox.net/timetofly/Cockpit.jpg
http://www.marksimages.co.uk/G-BOLV%20CESSNA%20152%20COCKPIT%20KM_1024.jpg
http://hampage.hu/repules/muszerfal/SJG2.jpg

What are the essential avionics that I'd need to re-create something similar? I don't really know much about the radio systems yet but it looks to me like I need a com/nav and an ADF unit first and foremost. Where would I go about getting these? I don't want anything too elaborate and am looking to spend as little as I possibly can! Second hand is also no problem to me whatsoever.

Thanks guys and I look forward to speaking to you soon.

James

Hi James.

I would suggest you look into a couple of GF-166 Goflight modules.

I have 2 of these units. 1 unit is programmed as Nav1/Nav2/ADF and the other unit is programmed as COM1/COM2/XPDR.

They are each a great price.

Thats where I would start your radio stack.

Best regards,

Trev

[Bob Reed]

I agree with Trevor on this. Go-Flight is the way to go!

[JimmyGerrard]

Cheers for the reply guys.

I was due to add 2 more hours today but the usual British weather got the better of it! Typical...

Anyway, where can I get go-flight products in the UK, any ideas? Similarly, what's the best place to look for second hand stuff with regards to sim equipment? This is the first time I've really looked into all this stuff so I don't have a clue!!

Thanks,

James

[Bob Reed]

Cheers for the reply guys.

I was due to add 2 more hours today but the usual British weather got the better of it! Typical...

Anyway, where can I get go-flight products in the UK, any ideas? Similarly, what's the best place to look for second hand stuff with regards to sim equipment? This is the first time I've really looked into all this stuff so I don't have a clue!!

Thanks,

James

Best thing for Go-Flight would be to contact them http://www.goflightinc.com/order/index.php and see if they can recommend some place for you to buy it. Second hand stuff is a crap shoot.. Sometimes you can get a good deal but you have to watch and hunt!

[JimmyGerrard]

Best thing for Go-Flight would be to contact them http://www.goflightinc.com/order/index.php and see if they can recommend some place for you to buy it. Second hand stuff is a crap shoot.. Sometimes you can get a good deal but you have to watch and hunt!

I've found a couple of UK distributors but they are so much more expensive due to the strength of the £ over the $, it's really annoying! I'm looking at £129.95 per unit for the GF166 over here plus £49.99 for a mini rack, so the three items together would cost me £309.98, which works out at about $620! The same items in the States come in at $369.85, that's £184.69.

Are modules that come from the US compatible with UK computer systems? If so I'll have a massive hunt around and find a company that'll ship them straight to the UK and bypass the distributor! Bloody currency!

[Trevor Hale]

Yes, anything you buy from the USA will work on your computer in the UK for sure.

Trev

[JimmyGerrard]

Yes, anything you buy from the USA will work on your computer in the UK for sure.

Trev

Thank God for that, I've been desperate to take advantage of the exchange rates for ages now but whatever I go to buy ends up being incompatible :D
I can get the whole lot off of PC-Aviator for $351.36, bit of a difference from $620 I'll say!

Before I commit to buy though, are you SURE that they'll work over here? :p

[Bob Reed]

Thank God for that, I've been desperate to take advantage of the exchange rates for ages now but whatever I go to buy ends up being incompatible :D
I can get the whole lot off of PC-Aviator for $351.36, bit of a difference from $620 I'll say!

Before I commit to buy though, are you SURE that they'll work over here? :p

Yup! Only thing is you will probably have to pay some sort of tax once they enter your country. Just be ready for that!

[Trevor Hale]

Also, if youu were to buy something like the MCp that requires some sort of power adapter, obviously, you will need to get a UK version for the power adapter. However USB is USB no matter what side of the planet your on :)

[andarlite]

James

Check this out on eBay (he's in France) .... he's selling other modules too:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Go-Flight-GF-166-Radio-Panel-gOFLIGHT-GF166_W0QQitemZ290212930795QQihZ019QQcategoryZ3677QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://search.ebay.ca/_W0QQsassZledjstyle

Regards,
Henry

[aviaparts]

If you really into building a cockpit, I would certainly reccomend a set of instruments from simkits. They offer all the instruments you need. This is the closest you will get to the real C152 instruments.

By the way, here is my favorite :

http://www.nzvc.be/upload/image/Vloot/OO-NZA2.jpg

[JimmyGerrard]

Wicked, added all of them to my watch list! Thanks Henry.



James

Check this out on eBay (he's in France) .... he's selling other modules too:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Go-Flight-GF-166-Radio-Panel-gOFLIGHT-GF166_W0QQitemZ290212930795QQihZ019QQcategoryZ3677QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://search.ebay.ca/_W0QQsassZledjstyle

Regards,
Henry

[blueskydriver]

Jimmy,

On your computer you say that you only got one PCI-e slot, so is the video card a dual head card? Meaning two monitors to one card? Does this computer have any other slots, like PCI or AGP?

If you have any other slots at all, you could get a cheaper PCI single video monitor card and thereby, giving yourself three monitors...

I use Go-Flight items; I use two GF166A's for NAV 1&2 and Com 1&2. They work great and are easy to setup, but you have the cost for them. Really though, you will not be changing them that much in a C150, where the third monitor could put the radio stack on a monitor screen and you just use the mouse to change frequencies for now.

Later when you do buy the GoFlight items you could use the third monitor to show another aspect of the cockpit... Especially, since you're just starting. out, so start cheap. Cheap video card $50-$70 or GoFlight $300-$600 (depending on where you buy them).

Good luck,

J.

[brynjames]

I have successfully bought GoFlight items from the UK distributor RCSimulations.com, from one of the US suppliers, and from ebay.

RCSimulations good service and support if there are any problems.

US supplier: cheap, but you have to factor in air post cost, customs duty (small), VAT, and customs clearance handling charge (can be £20) by whoever makes the final delivery. And the hassle of returning any faulty goods to the States at your cost doesn't bear thinking about :)

Ebay can save you some money, but GoFlight items are rare on Ebay and competition is fierce - I saved a bit on the US price, but not much.

Good luck!

--
Bryn

[JimmyGerrard]

God guys, you could've warned me that this hobby burnt such a large hole in the wallet! I asked Mr GoFlight for advice on what products would be best for recreating a 152, and he recommended 2 x GF-166, an RP-48 and a rack! Needless to say that now these are purchased I am already considering other modules that I might need! The GF-T8, GF-46 and GF-LGT are already on the radar!

Can someone cut off my typing/payment submitting fingers please?! :roll:

[JimmyGerrard]

Guys I've just come across these:

http://www.desktopaviator.com/Products/Panel/Model_1010/index.htm

Anyone got any experience of them, and whether they can be used alongside Goflight products? They look as though they'd make a nice addition to my set up...how many USB ports would it take up?

[blueskydriver]

Jimmy,

Looking at this box and my first thoughts are, it seems nice for the price and it's all complete in a sense. However, you say you're buying GoFlight and now thinking about more GoFlight items.

I used to have just about all the GoFlight Modules before I moved up to using FDS Panels and hardware. So, I can tell you that G0Flight is easy to use and is basically the same thing as this desktop aviator box.

My point is, when you start mixing items you are liable to get conflicts with FS9 or FSX, the Computer Hardware, the USB port numbers or many other variables. Thus, you would be safer to stick with GoFlight or...there is always an or.

You can get into FSUIPC software from Peter Dowson and buy your own switches, buttons, toggles, etc and make things yourself. Since you're doing a Cessna at your desktop and not building a replica cockpit yet (notice I said yet). It be best just to stick with one brand for now.

j.

[magicaldr]

Guys I've just come across these:

http://www.desktopaviator.com/Products/Panel/Model_1010/index.htm

Anyone got any experience of them, and whether they can be used alongside Goflight products? They look as though they'd make a nice addition to my set up...how many USB ports would it take up?

I have one of these, and I am very happy with it. It uses 1 usb port, and is based on a joystick USB interface. See my profile for pic of it removed from the box and installed in my panel (to the right).

Edit: Pic: http://www.mycockpit.org/forums/album.php?albumid=5&pictureid=26


Couple of points with it, make sure you get the one with all the switch points for the magneto's if you want to run checklists. See: NEW Model INTRODUCTION! The Model 1010B

I missed this one by a couple of weeks. Also this is a ligit company and will fill out customs forms properly, so expect to pickup a small import charge in the UK. It cost me more in the admin fee than import duty, so group a few things together if you want more than 1 item from them.

The switches use 1 channel each, not 2. So the software (FSUIPC) cant tell the position the switch is in. When you move the switch a quick pulse on the joystick button is sent. So you need to ensure the switches are in the right position when you load your plane or they can work reversed.

In practice this is not an issue, and its easy to correct by clicking on the switch in the Virtual Cockpit if its showing different to the 'physical' switch.

I also have Go Flight modules, but must admit to have not yet got round to installing them in the new cockpit so never ran them together. Cant see it being an issue as windows just sees this as a joystick with buttons.

[magicaldr]

Just read whole thread and as a PPL wannabe with 1.5 hours, 1 takeoff and 1 landing I know exactly how you feel wanting a home plane to practice on :)

Couple of other things come to mind, you say you only have 2 outputs on your graphics card, so this limits you to 2 screens. Have you considered a triple head to go? I have a 'spare' analogue one I was saving, but I know with a bubba on the way something got to give, ands it going to be me ever buying 3 monitors so feel free to PM me if you interested otherwise it will end up on the for sale forum and ebay at some point when I finally accept I wont get round to using it.

If you do look at them be aware the analogue ones and ATI cards dont get on as well as the NVidia based cards. Its all covered on their website if you know to look out for it. Basically ATI cards have a max width per screen, so it limits the THTG's abilities. Guess which graphics card I have :roll:

Still they work well, and are used by a lot of peeps here to give wide display views. Combined with 3 projectors (yes out of my league as well) they are simply amazing. However 3 screens gives a much better field of view than any single monitor. Oh, and as it uses only 1 output on your graphics card the other one can still be used to display instruments.

Or you can use it the other way around, giving 2 or 3 screens to instruments, and using your other port for outside... possibly better if you thinking IMC rating?

[JimmyGerrard]

Hi mate;

My only concern with the TH2G is the fact that I have 2 completely different sized monitors; a 26" for outside view and a 19" for the instrument panel. I assume that would make the overall picture somewhat distorted! Moreover, my resolutions are higher than the standard monitor setting, so I'm unsure of what result I'd get on a third monitor. That's the only reason I haven't bought one so far!

I have an 880GT so that shouldn't be a problem, it's just working out a configuration that'd work! :roll:

[magicaldr]

hmm, well the way a dual or triple head to go works is it takes one of your outputs, and fools the card into seeing 1 large monitor. This is then evenly split into 3 (or 2 in dual mode) outputs and sent to the connected monitors. So as you say you cant mix and match.

Does offer the chance to get around your 2 monitor limit , but with a nice 26inch outside view already it sounds like you pretty much covered :) Unless you wanted more 19inch instrument displays, which would of course work. To double up on a 26inch I am sure you would need the digital box with its larger resolution range.

I use a 19inch CRT for outside myself as the wife has threatened to kill me if I but myself a new TFT before her. My own THTG experiments with 3 x 19inc c CRT monitors didnt leave much room in the lounge, so back to just 1 for now.

[AndyT]

Jimmy,

Both Desktop Aviator and GoFlight are excellent products and they work together without a problem.

What I suggest is for you to take some time and just look thru the photo gallery here and see some of the sims that the members have built. Start in the General Aviation section and work your way thru. You will get tons of ideas and know just who to ask on how they did what.

[rottenlungs]

Your 152 sounds pretty flash! The 152 I last soloed in down here in NZ had 1 VOR and (for some reason) a massive EGT gauge that looked like something out of Frankenstein over on the instructors side! Pic attached - sorry the radio stack is clipped off.

Seriously, two VORS and an ADF would be a good setup. Flip/flop comm is nice so you can dial in the next frequency before you need it, though by no means essential.

Cheers

James