Warbird Control Stick

[jsfboat]

Hi Guys: I've been away, busy with my airline job. I'm wanting to build a warbird cockpit (p-47 or such) and after seeing the ACES shop with the simulators in the Mall of America here in Minneapolis (I'm here for Saab 340 training) I'm inspired to try to build one once I'm done and am back home.

I saw that they use sticks from Flight Link (http://www.flightlink.com/hardware/rotorwing/gs3plus.html) but they cost almost $1,000 and that's a lot considering my paychecks. I was wondering if someone has plans, or ideas of how to make something similar. I was thinking of hacking a joystick (extending the wires), putting a length of tube inside of a box. But that's as far as I got. I'd like to have self centering springs and be able to mount it underneath a platform. I want to build a full cockpit, so I was also thinking the tube should be threaded to facilitate mounting and removing.

[gokhotit]

Iv seen some people take the stick out of a Saitek X52 or similar and extend the pst between the handle and the base so it can be used off the floor. Just an idea.

[jmig]

Full length control sticks offer greater realism, if set up correctly. If the springing on the stick is too light, you tend to over control and find it hard to fly smoothly. You can do wonders with auto repair mixes (Bondo) in shaping anything you want. As mentioned above, you can use the grip from an existing joystick. If you want to retain the joystick's electronics, you will have to extend the harness, or incorporate the electronics board within you new control stick.

I went a different route. I gutted the grip and rewired the buttons to an external controller board and used FSUIPC to set up the controller.

[jsfboat]

After a few weeks of thinking and drawing, this is what I came up with. I don't have AutoCad, but I managed to do it with Microsoft Paint. Some details were omitted for clarity. Ask any questions if something isn't clear. What do you guys think? I think it would work and if I could get someone to make the parts.
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn64/jsfrazier747/controlstickF-1.jpg

[geneb]

Dude, drawing that in Paint is pretty hard core. Excellent work! :)

You might want to check out DraftSight. It's basically an AutoCAD made by the same folks that do Catia and SolidWorks. Free CAD software * for your DWG files: DraftSight - Dassault Systèmes (http://www.draftsight.com) is the site - they have versions for Linux, Windows and MacOS.

I don't know that you're allowing enough room for large enough springs though. Having a long stick on a gimbal gives you a huge lever advantage that would result in a weak feel if you don't have strong springs.

I did this design a few years ago: Assembling the Jentron Gimbal (http://www.geneb.org/pitkit/jentron_mk2/) - since that was built I replaced the pots with my DIY hall effect sensors and it works very nicely.

g.

[jsfboat]

I like your idea. I had seen it before, looked for it, not having found it and gone into the store in the Mall of America that had simulators, I was inspired to draw this. There was no intent to put dimensions in it, just to show the general idea of what I came up with. I'm flexible on the size.

[Shawn]

I built a gimbal for a control stick using a small U-joint. The aluminum tabs are where I mounted the hall effect sensors, the magnets go onto the u-joint itself. I used the Leo Bodnard board to interface the stick with the computer. It does require grinding of the u joint to access the spindles but otherwise its pretty straight forward.

YouTube - cyclic gimbal (http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YeV4A-XZ--A)

Shawn