Hello From Hampshire (building a Lightning Sim)

[chris32]

I just stumbled across this Forum and it looks great. I build simulators at a museum called Farnborough Air Sciences Trust as a volunteer. We built a simple Harrier simulator in 2016 which we ran successfuly at the Farnborough Air Show. We are currently rebuilding an English Electric Lightning Simulator at the Museum. It was originally built by Redifon in the sixties and once had a huge analog computer attached. That computer is now long gone; we will be connecting the sim' to a PC via USB port. The great thing is that the mechanics relating to the flying controls etc are not only intact but were beautifully made.

[Geremy Britton]

Hi Chris,

Good to have you here, I for one would be really interested in seeing some photos of this!!

[chris32]

Hi Chris,

Good to have you here, I for one would be really interested in seeing some photos of this!!

I have attached three pictures.
There is an outside view and a couple of pictures showing the actuators and some of the mechanics underneath.

Currently the Sim is used for children to fly as a Spitfire to shoot down ME110's. There is a simple pc joystick fitted inside the cockpit and an old CRT monitor wedged under the forward canopy. It's quite strange to walk past it and hear a Merlin engine!
Before we can get on with modifying it we need to get it off it's pallet and to fit casters to give us access. The thing weighs about the same as a small car, it seems, and the first casters we tried simply collapsed under the weight. We have now fitted two heavy duty Casters and the other two go on next week. We have a very sophisticated joystick and throttle assembly ready to fit into the existing mechanisms, more like a Grippen or Typhoon than a lightning.