In what is quite a milestone for the development of our Spitfire Mk.IX, we have published the plans for our G-Force seat.
The effect achieved with the pneumatic bladders and belt tensioner is subtle but adds tremendously to the overall immersion. It provides a cost-effective means of incorporating G-Force simulation into the HFS offering by way of pneumatic cushions and seatbelt pressure on the pilot. The Pneumatics Driver design builds upon that of XXPELLE, who’s build he shared on the xsimulator.net community site. I am grateful to him and to the various community members who pitched in with comments and assistance when needed. As such I have also made my upgraded Pneumatics Driver design available on that site and here for use by the community.
Download it here:
Heritage Flight Simulation G-Force Seat Design
We elected to use a G-Force seat rather than motion simulation due to a number of factors:
- A motion platform is unable to provide sustained g-force simulation, for instance when an aircraft is pulling constant g’s in a loop or steep turn. Instead it will provide an initial heave and then wash out gently when the actuator limits have been reached. This is not very convincing especially in combat aircraft.
- In VR any discrepancy between perceived and real motion leads very rapidly to onset of motion sickness. Hence a motion platform is less than ideal with VR.
- The cost of our G-Force seat is a fraction of the cost of a full motion simulator.
The full revision 2.4 changes are as follows:
Revision 2.4
- Added G-Force Seat Design
- Added section 4.10.5 for the optional G-Force Seat design.
- Added section 4.12.3.2 for the G-Force Seat electronics connection.
- Added Section 5.2.4 for the G-Force Seat software installation.
- Added G-Force seat custom Arduino code.
- Added custom SimTools presets.
- Updated the HFS MK.IX Spitfire Control spreadsheet to Rev10_4 to update G-Force seat inclusion.
- Added 15 new GA and Assembly Drawings.
- Drawing Register Rev7 updated.
- Added 33 STL files for self-3d printing of required components.
- Added HFD-100133 Seat Pattern Drawing v2
- Updated section 5.4.2 on Hand Recognition and Mixed Reality.
- Reduced pricing in 3.12 for HP Multijet Nylon printing shown.
- Updated information on Bubble Hood Plexi sect.3.13.1
- Updated information on Windscreen Top Plexi sect.3.13.3
- Total of 37 new pages added to the manual, now spanning 565 pages of richly illustrated information.