The original Spitfire had a semi-monocoque construction, ie. it gained its strength from a combination of the shell and the rib frames and longerons. The construction was complex with many formers and jigs required to shape the various aluminium components.
Our construction exactly duplicates the shape and size of the original, and spans from Frame 7 through to a point halfway between Frame 12 and Frame 13. This allows the Malcolm Hood to slide back to its full extent. The dimensions allow construction in a single garage or small workshop (or your lounge of course 🙂 ).
Our fuselage construction has been greatly simplified and only requires gluing of the pre-cut plywood. The frames are hollow sandwiched plywood, the outer panels are 6mm and the inner fillers are a combination of standard thicknesses in order to duplicate the original.
Today I thought I would share the design of the door. It had an important part to play, other than being an ingress and egress point. Note that the latch has two possible settings. In case of an emergency landing, the door would be opened slightly onto the second landing. This would block the canopy in an open position, very important if you had to get out in a hurry!
The current thinking is to make available the Spitfire Mk.IX Simulator Cockpit in the following formats:
Package 1:
Plans with water jet cutting patterns for plywood, aluminium sheet and mild steel plate.
Bend diagrams for plating.
Cutting details for standard extrusions.
Purchase electronics components and some of the more custom bits directly off our site.
Full assembly drawings and manual.
3D Printing components purchased on our site and printed and distributed through Shapeways.
Package 2:
Fully assembled, on site, turn-key simulator, without motion simulation platform.
Package 3:
Fully assembled, on site, turn-key simulator including motion simulation platform.
Details on this and costing is planned to be available by the end of the year. Before the products become available we will be thoroughly testing and doing quality control on the packages. This will be done through building and testing the prototype.
We will also gauge the demand for an interface with say the Spade Grip to the Thrustmaster Warthog Joystick and make that available earlier. Such an arrangement would not have the full functionality of the TM joystick as the Spitfire grip only has gun control (safety, cannon, MG and both) and brakes.
There is a surprising degree of complexity in the design of  the Spitfire seat support. It took nearly two weeks of work to devise an authentic mechanism that nevertheless will be simple to construct.
The seat itself is in plywood. The original had two versions, one made of aluminum and the other of a paper based composite. Our version is again simpler to construct but true to the latter style.
The Mk.IX canopy has been satisfactorily completed. The design differs from the early marks in that the bullet proof screen was moved inside the windscreen in order to reduce wind drag.
The sliding bubble hood mold has been designed to allow manufacture by vacuum forming.
The bullet proof glass is substituted by two layers of 2mm plexiglass with a wooden former in the shape of the original frame casting sandwiched in between.
It is our intent to provide a design which is accurate in the sense of where you expect to find a rib, control, panel or any other physical object found in the original Mk.IX, the item will be there. Building a replica cockpit using the complex aluminium formwork required as per the original is however too onerous and unnecessary to achieve complete immersion.
We have opted to water jet cut all basic shapes for the frame and seat from readily available and reasonably priced plywood, matching different thicknesses to achieve the exact required dimensions. Glued together this will provide an exceptionally strong yet light semi-monocoque fuselage shell.
Aluminium struts and tubes are based on sizes of standard modern mouldings. Some aluminium and mild steel plate is called for and will be waterjet cut and where required, bent to the correct form.
The flight controls are made up of standard extrusions, bent platework and 3D printed components.
Where specific detailed parts are required which on the original were castings, these will be made available as 3D-Printed components. An example of this are the parts that make up the Spade Grip.
Spade Grip Assembly will be 3D Printed using Nylon based on the Selective Laser Sintering method.
Electronics and electrical components are based on readily available modern equivalents.
Trim Wheels to be 3D Printed while modern switch lookalikes with engraved faces are utilised
Complete simulators will be built on order, with training organisations and museums having been identified as possible clients. These will include the necessary VR equipment and computer hardware and have 6DOF full motion simulation as an option.
The design will be made available in kit form, where the drawings for waterjet cut materials may be purchased in dxf format and cutting and bending (where required) can be done by the purchaser through his or her own appointed agency.
Example of waterjet cutting list for 15mm Plywood
3D Printed parts will be made available through a global printing agency such as Shapeways to save time and shipping costs. Detailed assembly manuals will be provided.
We are basing our designs on the Mk.IX as this model has been so beautifully replicated by Eagle Dynamics in DCS World. No doubt their association with The Fighter Collection of Flying Legends fame has contributed to the accuracy which can be found in their simulation.
As a basis of the design we have sourced over 3400 original Spitfire drawings in adition to collecting extensive research and reference materials.
In the coming months we will be sharing the build progress of our Spitfire Mk.IX simulator.
We expect the 3d cockpit design to be completed during May 2018. Design of the 6DOF motion platform will then commence and we target completing actual construction by the end of the year.
