Hi fellow flightsim dudes.I'm still in the planning phase of the B747-400 cockpit project. After working out most of the costs of having it built to replicate the real thing, it became clear that I needed to pause and take a reality check if I wanted to get airborne within the next 5years. I've ruled out using authentic controlls so I'm currently looking at all other options.Ideally controll yokes need to be linked, however I'm not confident that I have the shaping/moulding/casting skills/equipment to make these from scratch. I noticed that a guy in Japan is using the Fly PFC floor standing control yoke, however they are not linked with the F/O side. Also they seem to be available only in black. Still this may be the way to go. Anybody else have this?Has anybody else given this any thought? What other options are there that would offer a good alternative to buying the real thing?Cheers,

I've given it some thought, but let me say up front that I haven't carried through with them as yet so feel free to disregard.The best approach from my perspective is to build a yoke "armature" of either copper plumbing or small diameter thin wall electrical conduit. Mount a small box on the top of one or both of the arms for the eventual installation of switches. The box can be pretty ugly as long as the front surface is nice looking and easily removable. Cover the tubing/conduit and all but the front of the switch box with several layers of automotive body filler (Bondo being one of many tradenames). Make cardboard or sheet metal templates for the yoke. Cut or sand down, or fill up to match the template. Paint.(I can't claim credit for this approach. I just can't remember the name of the worthy simmer to properly give credit.)Few of us have the skills at the outset to do this. Fortunately the cost of materials is low and the project lends itself to on-the-job training. The really outstanding examples of homebuilt flight decks show the finished product or the "finished intermediate product". I don't doubt that there are a number of less photogenic steps that never make it to the web site. Don't be concerned about early versions not looking quite as attractive as desired. There's also the next version. Two and a half or three inch thin wall electrical tubing seems a reasonable material to consider for the column. Two such columns can be linked through an under floor torque tube of the same material. Although it is possible to weld this tubing, using a metal filled epoxy such as JB Weld" along with some good gusseting will likely do. The gussets can be cut from the same conduit, though admittedly it's a pain to do by hand. This conduit is not terribly expensive, about seven to ten dollars per ten foot length.Some sort of bushings are needed to support the assembly. Early thoughts here are to use ultra high molecular weight polyethylene, a fancy name for the slippery kind of plastic food cutting boards.Linking the rotation of the yokes appears to be possible through use of small diameter wire rope or cable. Home Depot carries a selection in the US. It's also available mail order from Wicks Aircraft and Aircraft Spruce and Speciality. Rather than using aircraft pulleys, replacement parts for garage door openers look promising.There are only a few dozen other details to attend to like loading springs and installing potentiometers, but this should give you an idea of a possible approach. (Check Roland van Roy's write up in the Avsim library for potentiometer installation ideas). Probably the best thing to do is to try something and be willing to improve upon it with another model.Best of luck.Mikewww.mikesflightdeck.com

http://www.wcm.at/vb2/showthread.php?threadid=68648http://www.wcm.at/vb2/showthread.php?threadid=65151http://www.wcm.at/vb2/showthread.php?threadid=64213all in german so you'll have to use the fish to translate:http://world.altavista.com/trregards, andreas

For the control yoke handle, thick multi-layer wood board is an good alternative to the tubing method. You'll need a jigsaw and sanding tools, but you'll have lots of flexibility for the size and shape of things. If you use two layers of board, you can cut out the space needed for wiring inbetween the boards. With several priming paint layers and lots of sanding, the final gloss paint finish will look very good.Good luck!Roland