Some great questions were asked by a prospective client, I thought it worthwhile to share them here with their answers. I am sure they will help others too!
Q1. Are all electrical parts required to connect the physical controls of the cockpit such as wires, switches, hall sensors, encoders, potentiometers, interface boards etc. documented with part numbers together with retail sources? Ie. How will the builder know what part will fit, perform the required job or where to buy them?
A. Yes they are and while not definitive, as it depends on your location, guidance is given on where you might source them.
Q2. If one of the parts purchased via your available kits such as the 3D printed parts or the metal parts is accidentally damaged or lost by the builder, do you sell parts from these kits as single items in these circumstances to replace the original part.
A. Unfortunately I cannot break up existing kits as it would render the rest of the kit unusable. The exception to this is the HP MultiJet Nylon parts, which although printed as a bulk order can be reordered on an individual basis. They are very unlikely to break given the toughness but you never know and you could loose or misplace a part. For the metal parts you are given the drawings and CNC cutting patterns so they could be remanufactured individually.
The metal kits are great to reduce cost and there are regrettably very few CNC concerns who will lasercut the thousands of small custom parts required for the build, hence I invested in this for my customers. When the current batch runs out I am unlikely to tackle that again however.
Q3. Has the cockpit been designed with maintenance tasks in mind. Ie. How easy is it conduct maintenance/replacement of the moving parts and computer interface parts once fully constructed or will the builder need to dismantle cockpit shell to gain access to work on loose or worn parts?
A. You would never need to dismantle the fuselage shell to do maintenance. As with all aircraft however once installed some parts are more difficult to get at than others. The loose cradle design with the cockpit floor fixed to the cradle instead of the fuselage allows you to lift it out of the cradle and lie it on its side to access the bottom bits. There is also access from the top, the seat can be readily removed as in the original, the front panel is easy to remove and the rear is open, so yes, mainly things are fairly easy to get at.
Q4. Does the build manual contain details/instructions on how to or when to paint parts during the build? Are paint colour codes specified so builders can source paint reflective of authentic internal/external colours?
A. Yes and yes.
Q5. With regards to VR mixed reality, I would prefer to see my hands in front of the flight instrument panel instead of disappearing behind the virtual instrument panel. This would require that the VR pass through area be extended upwards of the pilots legs to include the physical instrument panel of the physical cockpit. This would require the builder to implement gauges/flight instruments interfaced via electronic/software to MSFS or DCS. Is there a reason why your implementation does not include working physical gauges/flight instruments? Would you recommend NOT pursuing this option based on any complications/incompatibilities you experienced that I may be unaware of?
A. If one ignores the complexity of creating realistic gauges, (and it is not impossible, you will find many videos and blogs describing the process), I still would not go that route. Here’s why:1. Lighting – When you are flying the effect of lighting, be it nightime or the sun moving over the panel as you manoeuvre, has a massive impact on immersion. I do not want to loose that with a panel that is no longer in the virtual world and keeps a constant lighting which is totally different to the virtual world.
2. When you are flying a WWII fighter aircraft you are not looking at your hands. You are looking outside, and scan the instruments regularly. When you want to look at a map, you look down at your lap where you have positioned the map or kneeboard. There is very little to be done on the panel of the Spitfire, other that adjust the clock (once, pre-flight if necessary), flip the flaps lever (once, when preparing to land), turn on the oxygen (if necessary) and check the fuel status (every 5 minutes or so?). All of these are done intuitively and as I can see where they are and the virtual matches the real, I have never struggled to find them.
So yes, for airliners I would want real gauges and panels and the VR world out the windscreen (if I don’t elect to go screens/projectors anyway) and for modern fighters I would want to see the MFD’s and their buttons. But for the Spitfire?.. not worth it for me in terms of additional work, programming and complexity.
Q6. In one of your demo videos, action is taken to close the physical cockpit door but the virtual door remains open until action is taken to close it within the simulation. Is there not a hall sensor or switch on the physical door to automatically trigger the simulation to maintain synchronization between the physical and virtual?
A. Me being lazy, I have a Hall sensor in the design but never installed one in the prototype. Easily done, thanks for the reminder 🙂
Q7. Do you provide information related to the configuration required of software interfaces for controls, VR googles, FlyingIron Spitfire, MSFS and DCS etc.?
A. Think of our Spitfire as a giant joystick setup. I have created software and preset controller files for:
1. MSFS2020/4 using the FlyingIron Spitfire and SpadNEXT
2. XPlane11 using the FlyingIron Spitfire (remember the FlyingIron Spitfire was a result of my request to FI to create it and it was a joint effort with them using my design. That was then ported to the magnificent version in MSFS2020 and soon in the much anticipated version for MSFS2024 which I have no doubt is going to blow the socks off everyone!)
3. DCS World
4. Presets and guidance for setting up Force Feedback and the gForce-Seat through the use Arduino code and Simtools.