wp79a64e3b.gif
wpa02cc22d.png

Find your way into flight simulator cockpit construction

wp3f700144.png

wpff68f246.png

wpdd04d1c2.png

wpda213504.png

wpd5668e1c.png

wp194e5702.png

wpf52761ff.png

wp14ce2be8.png

wp6e5db520.png

wp93819598.png

wp49241629.png

wp4ff9199a.png

wp496a802e.png

wpb2f8378b.png

wp88f0bee0.png

wp44007d4e.png

wp0f2c152b.png

wp32907e7b.png

wp8b5b4125.png

wp82eea3c4.png

wp5f447324.png

wp4de61fb8.png

wpd3c4be8f.png

wpc9831395.png

wp0bbe0c54.png

wpeeb0d022.png

wpf3cd619b.png

wp94b8c651.png

wpcc2a4aa0.png

wpe2bcd87f.png

wp495ee559.png

wp640e7a31.png

wp76837222.png

wpa7345e60.png

wpd27f4c7c.png

wpab21ab1e.png

wp4ef3d274.png

wp877b4945.png

wp29c9e306.png

wp93b8f035.png

wp2d022973.png

wpd89e40b8.png

wp7851a27f.png

wpe197c0ad.png

wpa494af00.png

6.6 Flight controls

 

The Microsoft Flight Simulator allows the control of several so called "axis" by means of potentio meters. Examples of these axis are: joystick (combination), yoke (Combination), pedals, throttle, mixture, etc. The amount of axis that you can connect more or less depends on your game card or the device (joystick). A standard game port has four analog pins to which a potentiometer can be connected. The game card translates the charging time of a capacitor (determined by the size of an externally connected resistor) to a value in a register. The driver for the game port translates this value to the game. In principle multiple game ports can be used. On the site The Stick Works special support for game devices is given.

 

There are various suppliers that offer ready made flight controls, see the supplier section. It is also possible to make the flight controls yourself, There are many examples on the various sites (see section 2). For parts you can also have a look at sites like Aircraft Spruce. To give you a start: Norbert Bosch, Project J, Mikkila, Trim device, Yoke.

 

Additionally there are very instructive tutorials on FlightSim or Digital Flight (the "Tech section / Cockpits&Controls").

 

Potentiometers can be obtained from many online sources. A nice place to start your quest is PotentioMeters.

 

A special area of interest is the use of flight controls with feedback. Using devices from e.g. Logitec the Microsoft Flight Simulator generates feedback. This can even be enhanced using a utility as FS Force that will allow for additional types of force feedback during flight.

 

Besides buying force feedback of the shelf you can create your own feedback. Doing this will give you more options to simulate real life behavior. It is important to make a distinction between vibration like effects (formally called tactile feedback e.g. turbulence, canon shots) and effects that simulate force (formally called haptic feedback, caused by speed and g- forces). With clasic aircrafts, like the DC-3, haptic feedback is very important, the higher the speed the more force is needed to handle the yoke. The most basic variant is to create contra force with a bungee, the more you pull the higher the force. A more advanced approach is to stretch the bungee with a device like a linear stepper motor depending on the speed of the aircraft: low speed becomes low force and high speed becomes high force. Similar issues play a role in aircrafts like the F-16 where more force is needed on the joystick when speed increases (also called actuated stick control). I could not find a real example of a site describing the implementation of feedback for flight controls for flight simulator cockpits, but it is a topic that occurs on a regular basis in one of the forums or newsgroups.

 

If you have higher than average ambitions with respect to flight controls, take a look at Universal Flight. They offer a stick shaker used in airliners for stall warnings.

wpa55cb1f7.png