[Ltbear]

I have here and there hintet about my project with FFB cocpit and actualy got a few qustions about it. I will answer what i can at the current time, please be gentle With me im not native English speaking.

(Pictures will be released when mount and platform are around 90% complete. There will be alot of pictures of all part of creating it)

What is it you are making?

Im making the base mount for a FFB chair.

How do you do it?

Well I dont have alot of money so i thought from the beginning it should be cheap and simple and avoid to mutch fancy electronics. I als wantet to avoid complicatet install and running of it.

The main idea came from a broken FFB2 Joystick. I looked at it dismantlet it and had a good look inside. As a “handyman” it didnt look to complicatet and i took the pieces over to a friend who are a electronic mechanic. I asked if the basis design could be upscalled and if i gave him a few numbers if he could calculate what power was needed to run it, and what weigh it could handle.

After a few weeks he came back to me and in general if i welded a strong steelbase and steel brackets etc. It would be more than posible to copy the basis design from the FFB2.

With this info i made my ovn calculations about the size of the base mount and the weigh of it. At the end I had an idea that atleast was possible, now I had to figure out the cost of the darn thing. A trip to the local junkyard have provided me with engines(from a electric wheelchair) most of the wires needed and steel enough to fabricate the mount and brackets.

How will it work?

Just like the FFB2 joystick. You plug it to external power source, plug it into USP port, game thinks it’s a FFB2 joystick and it should work. “The test bed worked like a charm” To imagine it think of a FFB2 joystick where the base is 1 time 1 m with the stick in the midle. The stick is “cut” in half then the chair and base is installed then you prolong the stick to it can be used sitting in the chair. You are actualy sitting on a gigantic vibrator controlled by your stick movements (that just sounds soooo bad lmao)

How long time will it take to make?

The planning and junk ghatering have taken around a year. Im not in a hurry and have 3 kids, so things take time. The mount are completet and I have moved on to the base where the chair is fittet, and then another idea have come to me, why stop here why not a cocpit J

What is this about a ME-109 cocpit?

As statet before, or above, it recently came to me maby to build a fiberglass cocpit of the ME-109. I always have loved looking at the die hard simmers who have made there fancy cocpits, but im not into to much electronics and that have put me of, to now. If I want it easy, plug and play style I need to manipulate the software to think on hostas controlls to make everything to work. Again I have looked on old joystics and throttles and dismantlet a X45 stick and throttle. If you keep the print boards etc and just prolong wires, attach other switches the software stil thinks it’s the X45, it cant se if it looks right, it only feels if it works right)

I don’t want to go replica to the nut and bolt, but if the cocpit, guage panel and layout are close enough, I realy don’t care where each guage or lever is placed. My test panel (no guages) have a flaps lever, ignition button landing gear lever etc, all made by manipulating the X45 butttons and hat switches to think it’s the X45 throttle control and then I did a simple key remap in the controller software and all of it works.

I tore the X45 apart, prolonged the wires, made some cardboard mounts and fittet them on a plywood panel. So it is using all the bits from the throttle, but they are placed where I want them. (crude testbed, but prove concept)

So I know how I can create levers and buttons in a sample way. The garage sales and the electronic junkyard provides the replacement switches and levers, and those I can rework abit to make them more like ww2 style.

The cocpit it self will be modeled in fiberglass, I made a row boat once in fiberglass, and exept the sanding and dust its fairly easy to model it using woden spars and some foam.

Is it realy that easy?

Actualy I think so. Space and weight are the biggest isues with it. It will be the fuselage cocpit section that will be the biggest hurdle, the rest is just a giant puzzle. But you realy need to make sure that you have one who are electrical educatet as a supervisor, we are talking about 230V some converters to 24 V, but there is a lot of amps in the base mount, and you need to make sure its safe. The “helper” can also asist with the few print boards needed, it is just “copy and paste” to alow for it to run higher powers.

Instead of reinventing the wheel I just put some other rims on it. I use software already createt. I use basics from one of the best FFB joystics made and upscaled it to heawy duty. The chair/cocpit will be plug and play, and the game will think it is game controllers installed. I have done a lot of testing (realy would hate creating something like this to end up with it not working)

Main mount for chair/cocpit works by USP. The mount are reconised as a FFB2 joystick by windows

The levers and buttons works by USP, windows se them as a saitech X-45

The rest is just fabrication and and assembly (the worst part lol)

FFB, why not full simulator?

Again. I thought about it, but it stil have to be simple and cheap. I have an idea to a small electrical operatet hydrolic system, using two hydrolic pistons, 1 for horizontal movement and one for vertical. Many say HA! that will be complicatet, well those who have a real street rider will know that its actualy not that complicatet and it can be a low presure system because of the limitet workload. I actualy have a 360 actuator that works by a elecromagnet, and im pretty sure that with abit fifling etc you would be able to create something that should have 8 axis of movement both vertical and horizontal.

But here weight becomes a huge factor. Weight of the mount alone are around 200KG(hardware and ballast) add 100 KG ontop of that with a fully installed cocpit + screens, canopy etc. Then you add me 90KG about a 10 KG hydrolic system…well se what I meen…it will be heawy.

What do you think the total costs will be?

The FFB2 was a broken one I got for free, the same with the X-45

Electric motors and a lot of the stuf needed was free from the junkyard.

I bought some new wires and switches, but that could have been salvage to, but I have used around 35 USD on that. Steel for mount and brackets was junk yeard, but I rentet a spot in a metal shop to work with it and that is around 100 USD..

Out of memory I think the mount is around 300 USD, the platform for the seat is around 250 USD, including a racing seat and brackets(will be able to move seat so all fit in)

The cocpit will have the estimatet cost of 500 USD with all parts. This will require some plywood and other stuf to make it look and feel good. Most hardware(Levers, buttons etc) will be junk yard salvage I will overhaul.

If dreams comes true and I can get all what I want, I will install a hydrolic system, but that have to be either restored used parts or a mix between restored and new, don’t cut any shortcuts with that, biiig trouble can come out of that. Total budget (the one the girl friend knows about) are 1000 USD total over time. I count on 1200 USD total but with some fancy gizmos I could hit 1500. But then we talk about full motion FFB ME-109 sim combat cocpit lmao…

Here at the end I know I have left some more detailed parts out of it, but I cant explain it on English. Im not a mechanical wizard, so I needed this project to be simple. Im sure there is some great guys or gals with great ideas out there, but I need to create something I understand lol….kinda like a cocpit for idiots J

Im making a FFB2 on steroids with a jumping car syndrome nicely covered in the shell of a ME.109. All bits are plugged into a USB port, in with the 230V external and of of and awayyyyy…lol…..

LTbear