Cannibalizing FLightsimYoke USB

[Guest JTWhite]

Has anyone opened up the FLightsim Yoke USB to see if it can be cannibalized for a jetliner yoke?I thought it would probably be pretty easy to convert one, using some gears and pulleys.Also, what seems to be the best material for a panel?Im in the planning stages of building a CRJ cockpit, and was wondering.John WhiteNewburgh, IN

[Guest MikePowell]

Hi John,What's best depends on what you plan on doing with it. Metal is nice if you need strength. Plywood or masonite is easier to work with if you're not hanging heavy items from it. Plastics can be very nice if you plan on backlighting. A big part of the choice comes from what you feel comfortable working with.Excellent panels have been made from many different materials.Can you describe roughly how you plan to structure your panel?Mikewww.mikesflightdeck.com

[Guest PoRrEkE]

I used a Sidewinder Precision Pro joystick and pulled it open to remove the PCB and the potentiometers but in the end .. i feel kinda sad that I did this. There are other ways. I shouldn't have ruined a good working joystick for this. Also now I got only 4 pots. Rudder, Jaw, Bank & Throttle.There are easy schematics on the net to connect up to 8 pots to a gameport. This would allow separate throttle for each engine ... much better. And much less expencive.Then concerning the panels.As Mike said: many people chose different ways and come out with different but all goodlooking results.If you chose backlighted: use Plexy with paper or thin plastic sheets to mask it.If you chose no backlight: there is wood, there is PVC, there is metal .. whichever you find easiest to manipulate. Whichever is pissible for you.I found that I didn't have enough tools to work the MDF I chose first so now I use PVC-foam panel.This is 2 very thin sheets of PVC with 3 or 5mm PVC foam in between.Very smooth material though strong, easy to cut and easy to bend material. If you can find it and you don't want backlight .. this is a real good tip ! Just a stanley knife or a finer kutting tool and the panel and you're Go for building.

[Guest Ceawlin BSX029]

One thing to note about using paper for backlighting panels....That's the approach I'm taking, but it's less than perfect. Unless you're printing with REALLY heavy toner, you're still going to get light shining through. So what I did was get some tracing paper, and do a text negative on that (ie everything's black except the text whixh is transparent). If you can get it to line up, it's very good at blocking low light levels where it's not needed, but still illuminating the lettering etc on the panel. I also use a thin black card insert to really keep the light at bay ;)By the way, if you find that your tracing paper warps when you glue it, try laminating it... You should laminate all paper panels as they won't tear :) This does also mean you need plastic glue and not paper glue to bond them together!

[tigert 0]

>One thing to note about using paper for backlighting>panels....>>That's the approach I'm taking, but it's less than perfect.>Unless you're printing with REALLY heavy toner, you're still>going to get light shining through. So what I did was get some>tracing paper, and do a text negative on that (ie everything's>black except the text whixh is transparent). If you can get it>to line up, it's very good at blocking low light levels where>it's not needed, but still illuminating the lettering etc on>the panel. I also use a thin black card insert to really keep>the light at bay ;)You can print two paper sheets: one original and one blurred slightly. The blurred one will block the light on the large areas whereas the blur helps so you dont have to align it within micrometres from the other, a slight misalignment is tolerable.Also, you dont need some huge bright backlighting, when flying in dark, you need to have the cockpit lights dimmed, otherwise you will not see a single thing outside the window.//Tuomas