1. Introduction

PC flight simulator programs are getting better and better. Realistic flight models together with excellent cockpit instrument graphics and satellite photo-realistic scenery makes PC flight simulation a great hobby.

The interface for controlling the various cockpit controls leaves something to be desired. Using a standard joystick and keyboard is not very realistic. Making controls feel more like the real cockpit controls adds a lot to the total flightsim experience.

There are lots of commercial cockpit control setups available, but things can become quite expensive if more functionality is desired. There are some very professional flightsimmers around who have build complete cockpits of specific aircraft, with full functional instrument panels, controls, multi-displays, etc. But in general, those great setups require deep pockets.

Since I do most of my flightsimming (mostly VFR) in various types of light aircraft, I decided to build a simple generic light aircraft cockpit controls console, with the flight yoke and various levers and switches at the places that are most common for those aircraft. All components come from local hardware and electronics shops (lots of those in here in Taiwan) and stuff that I got at the local (household) junkyard.

With a little imagination, some basic wood- /metal-working and electronics skills, and the help of the great info sites on the net, you can build a nice cockpit setup for very little money. Just for indication: I estimate my complete setup (w/o PC and monitor) has cost me about US$ 200,-

(Based on Taiwan street prices, see the section Material price indications).

I have written this document for those flightsimmers who want to add something extra to increase the realism of their setup. My setup can be applied to basically any PC based flightsim program, since I used only standard interfacing methods. (keyboard, game port and USB joystick).

For my flightsimming, I use Flight Unlimited III . It’s a couple of years old, but still a great program. Therefore, you’ll find many references in the text to the keyboard functionality of this program. However, I don’t see any reason why the same principles could not be applied to Microsoft Flight Simulator or other simulator programs with only some minor modifications.

This document contains the full description of all parts (both electrical and mechanical), and some of the basic tricks and tips concerning components, PC keyboards and game ports you need to know in order to make things work with your PC. Except where I listed the source, the mechanics and circuits are my own design, but since they are rather straightforward, it is very well possible that somebody else thought of the same things earlier. In this case, please excuse for not giving credit, as I was not aware of it.

In some cases, you may find my designs somewhat crude. I have tried to keep things as simple as possible, while maintaining reasonable functionality. Since I don’t know much about PC peripherals specifications, many circuit solutions are based experiments, not specs. Things work with my setup, but I cannot guarantee that they will work with other setups. (A rather poor engineering practice, but hey, this is hobby, not work).

I wrote down pretty much everything I know on the subject. If you find any major mistakes in the text or drawings, I would like to hear about it, so I can make correction revisions of this document.

The content of this HTML document is also available in Word document format: DIY cockpit controls.doc. If you need more accurate graphics than this HTML format can offer, you can download it at http://ftp.avsim.com/library/esearch.php?&FileName=diy1_0.zip&CatID=Root

© Roland van Roy, March 2002, Chungli, Taiwan.

E-mail: rvanroy@ms42.hinet.net (Note: I’m running off a slow 56k modem connection)

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