Our Air Cadet Squadron is building a Flight Sim Based on a Grob Tutor (RAF's 115E)using a Projector, Simkits instruments and CH Flight Sticks and Rudder Pedals in a resonably accurate sized Cockpit. I was thinking of purchasing a CH Throttle quadrant and cutting it up to make it a Single Engine set up plus using one Stick to control the Flaps and one for the Trim Wheel. But it seems a lot of money to pay to cut something up. So as I have a Simkits CCU and a Simkits Multi Controller board with spare capacity is there any way that I can make a the Throttle, Prop and Mixture, Flaps and Trim for not a lot of money and use the Simkits systems to read the settings and relay them to the PC. Or is there another cheap alternative (We are a charity after all!)Any Help would be more than appreciated. Blakey

I bought a cheap USB joystick (10 Euro) with three axis and some buttons.I took board and potentiometers off and used the three potentiometers for my throttle quadrant (Engine 1, Engine 2 and Vertical Trim).You could set it up as Engine 1 (pot. #1), Flaps (pot. #2) and Trim (pot.#3) reassigning them in FS...in this way you will have the same (working) USB joystick but with another...dress (your self-made throttle quadrant)!!Regards,Bob

>Our Air Cadet Squadron is building a Flight Sim Based on a>Grob Tutor (RAF's 115E)using a Projector, Simkits instruments>and CH Flight Sticks and Rudder Pedals in a resonably accurate>sized Cockpit. I was thinking of purchasing a CH Throttle>quadrant and cutting it up to make it a Single Engine set up>plus using one Stick to control the Flaps and one for the Trim>Wheel. But it seems a lot of money to pay to cut something up.>>>So as I have a Simkits CCU and a Simkits Multi Controller>board with spare capacity is there any way that I can make a>the Throttle, Prop and Mixture, Flaps and Trim for not a lot>of money and use the Simkits systems to read the settings and>relay them to the PC. >>Or is there another cheap alternative (We are a charity after>all!)Any Help would be more than appreciated. >>BlakeyYou could ask the mechanics if they have any unserviceable spare parts you could perhaps use on the simulator?What kind of throttles does the Tutor have? Levers, or the "vernier" ("Cessna-like") push-pull things?The Simkits board can AFAIK take potentiometer inputs, so basically all you need to have is potentiometers that you wire into it, and have mechanical throttle levers to move them. It can be done in many ways really. Using a CH throttle for that is a waste of money since you already have the electronics you need.What I have done for my throttles is this:http://tigert.com/aviation/vatsim/cockpit-...tothrottle1.jpgIt's hardware-store parts and the white plastic is nylon - cut with a "circle-saw" from a white IKEA bread cutting board. It's a nice friction plate with the "winged nut" tightening the M8 bolt.Then drill a small hole on the other end of the lever and put a Z-bend in a piece of steel wire and put it in there (or use a model airplane pushrod connector) and connect the other end of the wire to your potentiometer - a slide pot works well in this case, but you can also use a regular potentiometer if you construct a similar "arm" on that too.You can easily "sandwich" this construction to have as many levers you need.http://gallery.tigert.com/tigert-albums/ho.../abo.sized.jpegNote the brass rods that are drilled through the L-brackets' holes and through the nylon discs - those keep them from turning along with the lever.//Tuomas

Tuomas Thanks for your Reply. Please could you supply some further details of how the potentiometers are connected and how they interface with the Simkits board (would they go into the CCU2 or the MultiController?)The Throttles on a Tutor are levers like the ones you have shown. Also what type/Size of potentiometer would I need If you or anyone else could help it would be appreciated Blakey

HiNice pics.Question: If you move one lever, do the othere levers stay in place? I can imagine that these are gomig to move a bit also.COuld you post a pic from the cables, connected to the pots?ThanksNorbert Bosch

>Hi>>Nice pics.>>Question: If you move one lever, do the othere levers stay in>place? I can imagine that these are gomig to move a bit also.No. See the brass rods. They go through the discs, keeping them in place.>COuld you post a pic from the cables, connected to the pots?Basically throttle link model airplane pushrod. It's straight from the handle hole into a slide potentiometer behind the throttles. The cables I had on the pic above did not work out too well, so I just replaced them wiht the pushrods.Basically there are many ways to do this.The simkits website has connection schematics for their controllers, also - simkits support is _awesome_ - they answer promptly and know their stuff. So mailing them is the best way to get the information about how to connect the stuff.//Tuomas

I actually found an illustration I did once to explain this same thing to someone :)http://tigert.com/aviation/vatsim/cockpit-...f/kaasuvipu.pngThe left lever arm is glued to the potentiometer shaft. The problem is, it does not move all the ~270 degrees a potentiometer turns, but if it is short enough and the throttle link arm has the right travel, it will turn almost 180 degrees, which is mostly just fine in practice. You just need to calibrate it - and how to do that depends on how you connect this to the computer. The USBAxis from iocards is configured in the windows game controller setup, since it is a "joystic" if you think of it from the MS Windows perspective.Another and perhaps even better way to solve the movement issue is to use a sliding potentiometer, then its just linear movement.//Tuomas

Hey Tuomas, as well as building great components, you take really fine photographs!Let's see a few of your complete pit :)--Bryn

Another option might be to try and pick up a cheap PC game throttle on eBay. I have a SunCom system that works well.Good luck on your project.John

Hi from Austria!We built this throttle, but it was not cheap and we spent many time to make it.Here we posted some pics of it:http://www.simhard.eu.tt/CUHermann

>Hey Tuomas, as well as building great components, you take>really fine photographs!>>Let's see a few of your complete pit :)Yeah, once it is complete. It's still very much a junkyard. Here's a somewhat overview:http://tigert.com/aviation/vatsim/cockpit-...el-aug22-05.jpgHere's what is on the base:http://tigert.com/aviation/vatsim/cockpit-.../kludge++-4.jpg(Flight Link pedals I got from a friend for a good price, plus a stick I made from a bicycle steering bar.http://tigert.com/aviation/vatsim/cockpit-.../kludge++-2.jpgMost of you probably have seen these already since I have posted them a while ago. But anyway - hopefully they are inspirational to someone :)Oh and here's a pic or two from yesterday, it was a crisp and crunchy minus 22 degrees celsius (about -7 degrees F)Enroute to EFMIhttp://tigert.1g.fi/avsim/DSC_1021.jpgOur Diesel Cessna 172 (Thielert Centurion conversion) at EFMIhttp://tigert.1g.fi/avsim/DSC_1015.jpg//T

Hi blakeyWhat ATC unit are you with, I'm interested as I'm shortly moving up to Cranwell in Lincolnshire, and once there i'll br taking delivery of my long awaited JP T5A cockpit section. I've got plans for converting this to work with a FS9 while maintaining its original instruments.Cheers Dave