What did you guys start building your cockpits with?

[4EVERCooL]

The subject speaks for itself :). What were your first steps? Shell? MIP? Overhead or pedestal? Or may be just working MCP and everything else just wrapped it around? Please share your experience :)

[Efe Cem Elci]

Started (and still ongoing) with the MCP. Thinking pedestal next but MIP sounds enticing as well.

[AndyT]

MIP and Radio stack. Began adding to it later.

[TasKiNG]

I am starting with cockpit displays / warnings etc & switch inputs. when all this is working then I will start on brake pedals & throttle quadrant. The last stage will be to build the cockpit and put it all together.

[Michael Carter]

Overhead. Then throttle, yoke, center control stand, MIP, and shell.

Not exactly the accepted order.

[Trevor Hale]

I personally think the most important place to start is with your Main Instrument Panel, and build outwards from that. That is where your eyes are focused most of the time, and really once you have the MIP done, you in a way become flyable, which is important to be able to keep flying while you are building.

Trev

[Adino]

MIP, it is like Trevor said, fly while building keeps you motivated!

[mlscotti]

i started with the throttle where it still sits on my bench unfinished, then moved on to the shell, no i'm networking..... and gettin it all to run

[Crescent]

I think it depends on what you want...at the start and at the end. I personally am building an Avro Lancaster from the pilot forward, so I will have both the pilot and bomb aimer positions with computers for two people (multi-crewing). I will primarily be using Battleground Europe for my purpose as opposed to FSX etc. I have that as well, but if ur not getting shot at it just doesn't seem as exciting hehe.

But to me, most importantly it will look exactly like the front end of a Lancaster from the outside. In the end, the inside will be as close as I can get it, but the main point is that you feel as though you are flying in one during your bombing mission (or when you're getting your *** shot down). S!

[tomenglish2000]

I think logically you should start with the base. (Which is what I did). This allows you to setup dual controls which would be difficult to retrofit afterwards. Then I worked on the MIP and MCP. The MCP is nearly complete and the MIP is 50% complete. Then im moving backwards down the Pedestal, so FMC, Throttles, Radios etc. Then side walls and windows so that I have support for the final part which is the Overhead.

[spiro]

hello to all i have orded a sheet of aluminume and i am going to start with the mip i am abit confuzed with making the mip because i can not get proper mesurments i have from opencockpits the 737 mip but i can not understand the coners in degreese where themain panele and upper du is also the rounded curve how to do that if i could find a 3d panel whith dimentions i think it whould help:D

[phil744]

For me I started making LED displays for the MCP, then knobs then panels, Ive just finished the design for the MIP and tommorow will go shopping for screen's, switches and other bits and pieces for the MIP.

Then followed by the glare shield and MCP, then pedistal, throttles,floor, controls,shell, overhead, and onto interior linings, well thats the plan anyway then rip it all to pieces and do it all again:(

[Per Berge]

First of all I wanna introduce my self. Im a simmer from Norway, with abpout 1 years experience by now.
I also wanna take the chans to thank everyone in here for all the good help and tips Iw received after I reg, my acount.

Cheers everyone.
Well, back to the tread. For me the idea of building my own CP started not long ago. But now after alot of studys I started my first prosjekt.
I found out that TQ was a good start for me that is. Its not as teknical hard and theres alot of good plans out here. I thought that this would give me a simple but important experience for further instrument building.
Its a kind of budget prosjekt for me as much as its gonna be fearly close to real. If I find switches and stuff in an old scrapy buss its okey for me. Same about the led lights around. As long its corectly spotted on the OH for an example and have the function from real world its okey if it comes from an old stereo system for that matter. :p

I spent alot of time study the plans and peoples experience around on the web before I get on with the practicle part of the job. Hopefully my TQ will be ready some time this month.

After that my plans are to either go for a yoke or the pedestals with the radio/com/nav system. I have the stick from saitek and plan to use the interference and potmeters from that one. Just make it looks and function like the 737 style. I see most folks uses steel and aluminum for the yoke, but I plan to use plastic tubes thats leftovers from last bathroom restore job I did ;)
I dont welding my self but Im a racer with Araldit rapid
I must also have in mind that its gonna be stuffed away every now and then (apartments are a living **** for a simmer) so the weight are a kind of isue as well.
Anyway Il probalby put out some picks after a while.

Yet again, thanks alot for all the great plans, ideas and help Iw got from you guys.


Per Berge. Oslo-Norway.

[starmarky]

Hello folks,

I have decided to begin with the Overhead of my 737-NG800. My aim is to simulate the system of the aircraft as close as possible. The OH ist the brain of the whole thing and really a challenge to weld and make it work (with pmSystems). If I can cope with this part, then the rest will be childsplay (well, nearly ;)). If I should realise that after the OH-experience the rest is going to be too complicated to carry on, I could sell the whole overhead or use it alone with my desktop-sim.

Mark
from Germany

[nax228]

Per
You should consider to join Oslo Flysim klubb (thas Oslo flightsim Club for you english ppl)
You know me as Mr. Østtveit from flightsim.no.
We are some few cockpit buliders and regular flightsim geeks gathering once each month to talk flightsim, building and aviation.
I'm also starting to build a TQ as my next task in the 737 project. Just got to finish up the yoke and the gear handle first. I guss its a few weeks off still.

Check out www.ofkl.org

[peter1b1]

Well at this time I am sorting out the displays, I have a TH2Go for the outside view and am setting up the MIP on a second computer. My setup is on a table at this time with a CH yoke and pedals and a seat on a box. I am regularly flying the sim while I sort out the issues. I have not settled on a cockpit to build as yet but once the computers are sorted the rest should be "easy".

Peter

[Buddym]

I began building, and I am still building, the TQ. Since this is for me a complex assembly I am also working on the MIP and FCU. I agree with being able to fly while I build. The MIP test-fitting is complete, and the FCU is ready for assembly. Probably not "final" final assembly though......... I hope to build an over-the-dash shelf for external view monitors this weekend, and maybe get the general assembly of the pedestal together as well. The mechanical portions of the build are the most difficult for me, so I cherry-pick the other stuff, avoiding the hard parts until I become less intimidated and more capable.

BuddyM

[Goldmember]

737 MIP with MCP and EFIS, 6 weeks ago. I'm only flying test rounds: take off, turn and land again. My planning: outside view (3x 32" flatscreen), FMC, pedestal, overhead, throttle, dual linked controls. Somewhere down the line the shell, haven't decided yet when is the best time.