Spitfire K9817 Build

[Killratio]

One day recently my lovely bride of 50 years was chiding me on how much I have spent on computers to house flight simulator in it's various versions since I discovered I liked the program and decided to "invest a bit" in order to enjoy it.
Well, adding up all the hardware I've purchased from the beginning I came up with a total of $20K plus a few bucks here and there....................to run a program given to me at no cost by Microsoft.

Needless to say I've managed to keep this information more or less to myself. " It's been a few bucks honey....no big
deal really. You DO look nice in that dress dear. Have you lost weight?"

Dudley Henriques

Dudley, you are just TOO smooth...

Yes, even computer gear and basic controls can get expensive, when you start "improving the experience" as you have that gets ridiculously expensive..and cockpits, well....

Thank you Fido,
Yes, madness has a lot to do with it. But staving off madness has more....I work behind a desk in a high pressure job which can, if not monitored, take over your entire life. The sims are my way of getting "on the tools", something I love but which I do not get the chance to do normally. When the club sold the Aerobat, my reason for flying went with it...the cost of travel and return 90 miles, aircraft higher of better aerobatics aircraft like the Super Decathlon and Extra, adds up pretty quick. And then you need to think about how long you can keep you Av Medical...So, even though I have never quit flying for real, I have done very much less than I used to (and, unfortunately much less than I want to). The sims are the way for me to stay in touch a bit and also fly aircraft that I will never be able to in real life.

Taking on building one of these things is a longterm and very expensive commitment and in teh various different fora, I have seen many guys start anything from a Cessna to a B737 and then quit after a short time but a large number of dollars.

Anyhow, 3 out of 5 voices in my head tell me that I am still sane..... and I am inclined to go with the majority

[maddogmikey]

what a cool cockpit well made... wish i had the room for one myself.

well done if you built that yourself.

[Killratio]

Thanks Mate! Yes, the structure is all mine, the controls and some of the more "elegant" work is by Gwyn from Aerosim Solutions.



Well, after another long layoff..for which there are good reasons, I have now completed the conversion to Photo Recon at Mk V standard, adding Mk V controls, changing the seat to redish compressed paper etc, . I have done almost zero flying for the last several months (long and uninteresting story). However a bit of tinkering to finish off has got done.

I am currently awaiting an "airswitch" which will be fitted to the back of the primer pump..so that when you pump, the air pressure will trigger a switch. This comes upon suggestion from Chris and after a long and NIGHTMARE run at various mechanisms to simulate both PRESSURE and PRIMER. Obviously a switch is needed to trigger the simulator "pump" but any switch arrangement would not create pressure in the primer, so that pumping fuel was not like a bike pump, with "resistance" but was like a door bolt slide with no friction. Any system I tried that gave pressure did not have sufficient clearance to trigger a switch. The problem is now solved on a technical level but still needs to be installed. The "best" try at a switch arrangement has been moved sideways to become a "break to make" switch for the Merlin's slow running cut out, when pulled.

Also awaiting the final work on the door mechanism (hopefully soon) so that I can build the door and finish the whole thing.

I also wanted to maintain the "constantly upgraded/converted" theme and so I have left the Landing Lamp control in place, along with the Reflector sight switch and labels....but the sight is gone (impossible to see the reticle against a bright screen anyhow) whilst retaining the gunsight bulbs. Also, I added a gun camera footage unit as yet another "left behind" item. This gives the feel that a quick bit of work turns her into a fighter recon.

Also now added are a fake seat adjustment handle (right of seat), Gwyn's marvellous Drop Tank Valve/Release unit, the heavy silver braided radio control (TR 1143) cable and after a lot of brain and handy work by Gwyn, a new laser engraved face from Chris and considerable swearing and reprogramming by me, I have finally managed to get the ASI to work on a multi turn basis to read the outside scale first and the inside scale second time around. This will take some getting used to as upon entering hard manouevres from a high speed, it is easy to forget WHICH scale is currently the right one to read...! Not a big drama but one extra bit of skill needed to fly her!

The lights are all now functioning...Undecarriage, Low Volts, Fuel Pressure Warning and the PRU control lights...2 on the Type 35 and 3 on the Camera Selector. (unfortunately most are too hard to see in the photo as the flash washed them out) The Type 35 has also moved forward to the more "traditional" upfront mounting.

Another real item has been received, this time a Magneto Switch pair.

Hoping Tony can still source me a brass Mk V engine limitations plate but in the meantime a laser engraved plastic black and white one is in place.


Anyhow, the pictures:


Two views of the whole thing. Camera Selector Box prominant low and left.







The view "in the door"





The view from the pilot's seat:





Left wall froward from the seat.







Low on the panel, the twin "deviation" cards (with slipper tank and without) and the compass which now has a whisky compass inset ... at some stage I may hack this up to build a better representation of a P8 but lots to do first.






The Type 35 in place:








Camera Selector





The Drop Tank Control (and a good idea of as close as I could get to the seat colour). The "federation red" was "spotted" with a patchy black gloss overspray and then a fine mist of fed red on top This gives it a "particle" look.








Right, right rear and seat









Left rear, Seat and Fuse Boxes





Fake Seat adjustment handle and right wall detail.





Finally, the dual scale ASI. (and the altimeter and new Gyro laser cut)

[CAPFlyer]

Excellent work done. Will be great to see videos of it working with the Mk.V Spitfire when it's released.

[jossie]

great job


but were is the engine:P


jos

[mountainhighair]

To quote Sir Butthead, "This is the coolest thing I have ever seen".

[Killratio]

Thanks guys!!!

Yes Chris, the new videos will wait for the Mk V. By then the room will be set up for good light etc to take "full on" videos and I will probably do a "training" series.


Darryl

[MTFDarkEagle]

Thanks guys!!!

Yes Chris, the new videos will wait for the Mk V. By then the room will be set up for good light etc to take "full on" videos and I will probably do a "training" series.


Darryl

How much is a airline ticket to Aussie from holland!??!?!!!!

[Killratio]

How much is a airline ticket to Aussie from holland!??!?!!!!

Cheers Lukas,

Let's call it $10,000 and I'll throw in 1/2 an hour in the sim

D

[jossie]

@lukas

i have my diving gear ready and my electric car

WE ARE GOING TO Australie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E4q7p6R3Og

[Levkovvvv]

Well Killratio,when I start my "accusim addicts anonymous" support group you will be invited.Great work on the spitfire pit.

[Killratio]

Thanks again all,

One small bit of progress this week...an item which I had scratch built out of garden fittings as they are 150 UK pounds a set and for two little Bakelite guards an inch in diametre and an inch and a 1/2 tall, that cover the destruction buttons , that wasn't happening!! But I recently picked up a brand NOS set on evilbay for 14.50 Quid. A very pleasing result.

Fitted: a mere one hour job with drilling out rivets



Darryl

[Aerosim Solutions]

Hi all,
Just popped in to say hello again to all staff and A2A fans! After a long drought in my own flight simming adventures, (mostly caused by making Spitfire parts for Darryl hehe), I built myself a single seat 'fighter' type sim seat last week to be able to get back into some virtual flying again. My beloved B737 cockpit simulator is in many pieces and currently undergoing a major rebuild. I have put my flight sim business Aerosim Solutions on hold for a while to be able to work on the fullsize Boeing cockpit again. After getting my sim Saitek equipped simseat working, I eagerly jumped onto the A2A website and bought the Spitfire/Accusim bundle and I can't wait to fire it up tonight! I have flown Darryl's Spitfire a few times now and it is truly outstanding, I must say it is an absolute thrill to be a part of this stunning project and even bigger thrill to fly it. The A2A software is brilliant, well done team and well done Darryl! What's next mate?

Gwyn Perrett
Aerosim Solutions

[Killratio]

Grandad...is that really you Grandad????

Cheers Gwyn! She would not be half the job without your parts. What is next? Finsh the F-16 and then, probably, divorce...and only then one of your mate's nice GA panels!!!

I am glad you've FINALLY got something you can barrell roll (LEGALLY ).I'm sure you will love the Spitfire. The sim is currently enjoying a complete rewiring and THIS time, wiring harnesses are colour coded, tied together and DOCUMENTED. Previously they looked a lot like the rear of a MIP in a certain B737 I've seen (but I believe she is enjoying a rewire too).

The sim is always available when airworthy, and I still owe you a good bottle for that nightmare ASI job! Bring the lovely Bride down soon and we will fly and (hopefully by that time I will be able to join you to) have a drink.

In other news from the front, today the full externally wired D Type helmet arrived with a new microphone for the E* mask. That now updates the flying gear to include B type/D Mask for 1940, D Type / E* mask for 1941/42 (Desert and Tropics)and C Type / H Mask for late war, 44/45. The Desert helmet and mask will also be very much easier to wear in teh 37-40C heat we are having at the moment.

Pictures soon...film at 11.


Darryl

[Lodewijk]

I have just spent an hour reading about your awesome spitfire cockpit. I must say it is really an amazing project! I have been doing some research for a while now with the intention of building a Spitfire cockpit myself. I'm both happy to see that I am not the only crazy person on the planet and that my crazy dream is indeed achievable.

I do have several questions , but the most pressing for now is:

1) Do you know where I may find a list of drawings needed to build a Spitfire (cockpit)?

2) Where does one obtain the drawings?

I would like to build probably a Mk V or maybe a Mk IX including Frames 5 to 12. I would like to model everything that was found inside the cockpit between Frames 5 and 12. That is to say that anything found on the real plane, between Frames 5 and 12 that was NOT visible / part of the inside of the cockpit, would not be modeled.

I bought all the plans available from http://www.fighter-plane-blueprints.co.uk last year. This amounts more than 3000 drawings of all variants of Spitfire. Problem is that none of the planes seem to have anywhere near a complete set of drawings. I have figured out that on some later models of Spitfire drawings from previous versions would be used if the parts remained unchanged on the new designs. Therefore if I wanted to build a Mk V the drawing showing the Fuselage construction would be 34927-1. This sheet calls for the use of 34927-2 and 34927-6 for frames 5 and 9 respectively. All other details are said to be found on 30027-23 (which was not included on the dvd I bought) Generally there seems to be a lot of gaps in the information I have, but I have no way of telling since I do not know which drawings are required to have a full set for a Mk V Spitfire (or for any other model for that matter )

I have ordered the Haynes Spitfire manual and have been looking at ordering the book from Monforton Press titled Spitfire MkIX & XIV Engineered. Also, on ebay there is a set of DVDs, Spitfire / Airframe Fabrication / Blueprints Manuals WW2 including the ebook “How aircraft were made in the 1940s”. Looks good judging by the write-up.

Bottom line is I am trying to gather all this information needed to start with the project but the main problem I’m having is that I do not know exactly what I am looking for. Can anybody point me in the right direction to obtaining a list of required drawings and a reliable source from whom to obtain such drawings?

Cheers, Jan.