P-51D cockpit build

[Tug002]

Looking good I wish that I had 1/4 of your talent and I would be happy.

Keep smiling
Tug

[Piper_EEWL]

Just a couple of days ago I was wondering how your project was doing. I'm glad to see it's going good!

Man those are a lot of wires! Almost looks like you stole the harness out of a 747
Amazing! Just simply amazing!

Thanks for posting this update!

[Raceguy]

Thanks guys

Tug, the best talent I have is hiding the mistakes!

Take care
Ed

[Raceguy]

Hello everyone

There has been a lot of activity in the shop just not a lot that shows. Here is a quick update on some parts from my last post.

I took the seat and seat base apart, cleaned it up and got it painted. Then I mounted the two controller boards for the in floor fuel gauges below the controls lock. Hopefully the buttons will be protected by the frame holding them in place. I’m still thinking about a flip up cover for more protection since I have to access these to turn on the screens each time. Ribbon cables fit into the white part and drop into holes in the floor connecting to the two 7 inch LCD screens. I’ll secure the cables to the bottom of the base and bring them up through a hole in the floor behind the center switch box and into the cowl area.





I’ve been working on the wiring harnesses and the USB boards. Just 1 or 2 wires to connect and it will be done!




Just kidding. The wires come up into the cowl area from both sides and the center switch box. Cable management clips have been installed (not shown) on the 2 white boards to help control (I hope) the 275+ wires.

Here I am getting ready to start plugging in the wires. I have asked Santa to fill my stocking with extra patience.



Have a safe and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Ed

[Tug002]

Coming along great, can't wait to see the finished project. You are going to have a blast when that baby is done!

Keep smiling
Tug

[Jacques]

You know, Ed, I may have mentioned this before, but you WILL need an authentic A-11 Leather Flying Helmet once this is done! The immersion is great and it adds a nice bass note to the engine!

[Raceguy]

Thanks guys!

Jacques, I know a guy that has one signed by Col. Bud Anderson and I took this picture as he was getting it signed. Maybe he will give it to me!



But, not going to hold my breath on that one.

[Jacques]

Haha, chances are...zero. Quite a few around, some in great to excellent shape and reasonably priced. I think Killratio (Spitfire cockpit) also flies with period headgear!

[NeverMiss51]

Amazing.
now, you WILL let all A2A Pilots come and visit you and take a turn....right?

[Raceguy]

Thanks NM!

now, you WILL let all A2A Pilots come and visit you and take a turn....right?

Hmmmm, I think I see where you are going with this. You want to take a flight and pay for the "gas & maintenance" right?

I would have let you fly at no charge but I guess contributions to pay for this pit would be OK.

Take care
Ed

[Lewis - A2A]

Hey Ed,

hope you had a good christmas and new year, Look forward to seeing pictures (and maybe videos? ) of the cockpit come alive!

cheers,
Lewis

[Raceguy]

Hello everyone. I hope your holidays were safe and joyous!

Thank you all for visiting this page! I am honored and humbled by the number of views and comments this project has received.

I got to spend a lot of time in the shop over the holidays but there is not a lot to show for the work. The wiring work was long and interesting. I wired and checked over 275 connections and it’s a good thing I did because I found some errors. One example, I had added 15 buttons to the Saitek panel and used one common ground for all buttons. This would have worked with the original board but I switched the buttons to a different USB board which needed a common ground for each PAIR of buttons. A little time redoing the buttons and they worked!

I have labeled each DB25 cable numerically and each of the 25 wires inside them A-Y so I could place the wires on the correct board and in the correct pairs. The side panels are removable so the pit can be moved into the house and reassembled. The DB25 cables will be connected and hidden behind a panel that covers the space between two ribs. You can just see one connection hanging behind the bomb salvo levers in image IMG_3364a. There are 4-5 cables on each side.

I also spent time researching the placards for the Mustang. This pit is NOT an exact match to any particular bird but a combination of what I liked. Three placards needed additional information so decals were made and placed as needed. Also some lettering was not in the placard kit I purchased so more decals were created. Yesterday and today I installed the placards.

While making the decals I thought I would take a shot at adding detail to the rudder pedals. The real pedals have raised text that looks lighter than the pedal due to wear on the raised parts. I can’t print white so I chose a light gray. The photo is darker than the actual pedal but you get the idea.

Thank you again and take care
Ed

Wires connected. There is a bundle of wires in the upper left corner not connected at this time. These are reserved for the radio which I will start next.



MIP



Rudders



Left side







Right side



The inspectors’ initials and numbers in the circles are the initials of my wife and I and the numbers are our birth years. As you can see she is 5 years older than me but she does not look her age and I don’t act mine so we are a great match!

[Tug002]

What a beautiful job. Glad to see that it is coming along so well.

Keep smiling
Tug

[Jacques]

Looks really, really good, Ed! You've just done an amazing job of creating something that looks , feels and behaves (save motion) like the real thing.

[Lewis - A2A]

Amazing stuff Ed. Hope you had a great Christmas and New year. Those rudder pedals are amazing, I'm sure if you made a mould of them you could sell them as an unofficial option for the Saitek pedals hehe

cheers,
Lewis