I am an idiot - and not a small one....

[notgotaclue]

Hi,
To take my mind off the trials and tribulations I recently had with my yoke I decided to wire up my overhead to a bodnar card.
I have a "real" overhead which came out of a business jet, as you can imaging the back looks a mess of wires so I decided to remove the old wiring and just leave myself all the switches to connect the bodnar card to.
So I was happily snipping away, removing every strand of old wire I could find, when suddenly the realisation dawned on me. I had totally butchered all the wiring for the overhead backlighting. It was all ready to be connected to a power source with no work at all on my part.
I stood and looked at my handy work, it looked like a badly shaved hedgehog with a skin condition.
I didnt know whether to scream or cry, but resigned myself to a sit down in the conrner rocking back and forth saying "no" over and over again. I had even pulled out some of the led's to "see what there were".
If there was a prize for "Muppet of the Year" I would surely win.......and dont call me Shirley.
I tried to see a way to salvage it but I am an expert at removing perfectly good backlighing wires so it was trashed....
On the positive side I now have a nicely wired up overhead panel with more swicthes than I know what to do with....it is just bereft of light..... I didnt know I would get so excited flicking a switch that says "No Smoking" and hearing the comforting Ding sound.
I can also start my engines whilst sat on my mouse...
Allan.

[Sean Nixon]

So that's how you got your username! ;)

[notgotaclue]

So that's how you got your username! ;)

Normally I am just clueless, hence the name...... but that is the most idiotic thing I have done.
What was I thinking - I thought the wires were just part of the switches so started to butcher them, I almost cried when I realised what I had done.
I am trying to convince myself that as I am relabling the switches for my use then the backlighting would be covered with the labels. Weak argument but I am sticking with it...
Allan.

[vidarf]

Dude, what the bleeeeeeeeeep-bleeeeeeeep-bleeeeeeeeeeeeeep do you think you are? Ya think ya better than me???? HUH??? Why should YOU be let off easy when I had to wire E_V_E_R_Y_D_A_R_N_T_H_I_N_G_Y up myself? Backlighting, annunciators, switches, encoders, LED displays, servos, 12v bus for overhead lights...

Stop your yappin' and get back to RETROFIT those old, dusty wires with shiny, new ones! Only you will know, but that is a detail.

:D :D :D

That's why we invented the slogan "**** happens". Too late now, just fix it. And become the (probably) sole expert on wiring up real backlighting. I don't think our "group" has one of those. :D

Hey, we've all been there. Just the other day, I was cutting parts for a oxy panel replica I'm working on. Was finished with a piece, just HAD to "straighten" a little with the plunge router on one edge (could've just as easily - and with more control - have grabbed the hand file...).
4-5 hours later, I had a brand new part made... :evil:

[mach7]

notgotaclue,

eventually you would have had to strip out those wires anyway and replace the existing bulbs with LEDs. This is exactly what i did as these lamps (in my simpit) run at 23volts, they get very hot, and i don't have replacement bulbs. With LEDs you face none of these problems, and you can usually rig the lamp assembly to fit into the existing annunciator slot.

[AVIATor-Olav]

My lightplates all operate at 5V. I use the real "bulbs" and wouldn't consider replacing them with LEDs, unless they start to burn out off course. Having said this, I had to wire up all the light plates in my OH panel as they had all been cut before I got it. notgotaclu; any chance you've been state side taring down 727's? Someone has been very eager with the snipper over there!! :) It didn't take long to rewire the lot though, and it all lights up beautyfully now!

I don't mean this in a bad way, but reading your posts with the yoke and now the OH panel has been quite amusing! I'm only laughing 'cause I know all to well what it feels like! :)

[notgotaclue]

I have spent all day yesterday putting all the backlighting back in using leds.
After my initial temper tantrum it would have been a crime not to redo it. It is coming along niclely, even though I say so myself and I may even post a picture or two of the overhead when I have finished.
Maybe a change of name is in order to gotaslightclue.
Allan.

[fordgt40]

Allan

If you are doing a straight swop of LED`s for incandescent bulbs, have you included resistors to limit the current? If you have, then great! It was just that I would hate you to find that on power up that there was a big POP after your earlier trials and tribulations:)

David

[notgotaclue]

Allan

If you are doing a straight swop of LED`s for incandescent bulbs, have you included resistors to limit the current? If you have, then great! It was just that I would hate you to find that on power up that there was a big POP after your earlier trials and tribulations:)

David

Hi,
I bought some off ebay already wired with the resistors. I would not have the patience to solder (or as the Americans say "sodder") 100 resistors. As it is they just connect togther easy, peasy, lemon, squeezy.
Allan.

[fordgt40]

Allan

That is fine then - I was just being cautious, having blown up LED`s myself:p

David

[notgotaclue]

I have finished wiring up the overhead, looks pretty good - better than the photo ;)
I am now in the process of wiring up the TQ, which is another pig of a job to tick off the list.
Allan.

The Overhead....
6802

How my pit looks at the moment...
6803

[bas_v]

Looks great, Allan.

[notgotaclue]

Looks great, Allan.

Cheers me dears...
It is coming along brilliantly. It even make people motion sick and they have to leave...How cool is that....
It is now getting so real that I was messing about buzzing control towers as you do, and my wing clipped the ground when I did a steep turn. I actually screamed when I heard the grinding noise... :p
I also did a short night flight, and when it was over and I left the sim it took me a while to realise it was still daytime and Mrs Notgotalue was cooking lunch.
Allan.

[mach7]

That is an amazing piece of work...very impressive!

[Neil Hewitt]

Fantastic project, Allan. You've achieved great things in a short time!

One quick question, if you'll indulge me again, about the seats, since yours are very similar to mine. From the photo, it appears as if the seats are resting / bolted directly to the sim floor - that is, that there's nothing between the floor and the seat rails to add extra height - is that the case? Or is that just a visual illusion?

I'm agonising over the same thing at the moment. My seats are pretty deep because they've from an MPV and have a rotation mechanism as well as the standard rails. But from what I could read, the distance from floor to the seat pan in most jets is around 500-600mm (in a neutral position without adjustment). Were I to put the seat rails directly on the floor I'd have about 350-400mm height, so I built a plinth for the seat to go on - but the slightly closer-to-lying-down position you're in when driving a car feels more natural to me for getting at the rudder pedals than a sitting-up-straight position. Not sure which way to go :-(

[notgotaclue]

Neil,
The seats are attached to the plinth that came with the aircraft, I did have to cut the plinth down a bit as they were too high for the car seats.
I think people get far too focussed on getting the measurements to the nearest millimetre, with mine I just kept cutting away until it felt comfortable and I could reach the yoke and rudder pedals. I did have a problem with the yoke as it was far too high and I had to sink it into the floor, what fun that was. (especically when I had my recent problems and had to take the floor apart to get at the yoke).
There is not much point in using any of my measurements as they are nowhere near real, as I said I just went with what was comfortable.
I have attached a few photos of the layout.

Allan.

PS> notice the dog bed in the back for when my little friend joins me for a flight to Spain. :razz:

6815681668176818

[Neil Hewitt]

Got it, thanks Allan!

I'm going with a smaller plinth than I had at first intended, to get a seat pan height at about 400mm. I think that will be about right, and if not, I'll just play about with it until it is :-)

Mind you, there's a bunch of work still to be done on mine before it's approaching the seat installation point. Better be getting on with it...

[flEyedot]

I opened this thread expecting a laugh or two. After reading, it's just dawned on me I did the EXACT same thing two days ago on my 727-200 sim. Bugger! (I guess that makes me an even bigger idiot for not realising it!)

edit - Apologies, I just realised I also seem to have dug up a fairly old thread, on my first post too! :(

[notgotaclue]

Update - I have not posted here for ages.
I have now ditched the business jet shell and am building a 737 shell. I built the sidewalls using a plan I found on 'tinternet and it is all enclosed. Still got to build the overhead enclosure but that is on my todo list for next week - I don't know why I didn't build the overhead enclosure before I put the seats, yoke and TQ in place - Now I have to take them all out. Is it a part of the home cockpit builders brain that don't function correctly and we enjoy re-doing work we have already done.
Allan.
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