by Jody "Marvin" Levesque

  Introduction

"Viper 31 in hot!" A-G FCC mode, radar to GMT, STP mode, SP mode, slew radar a little to the left high, "Ahh there's some movers", expand field of view, a little less gain, TMS forward lock, switch to CCRP mode, 6 miles to target.

"Yes honey, I will do the dishes in a minute." Damn!! MUD SPIKE!! 1.5 miles to go, chaff chaff chaff chaff, "Bombs away, Viper 31 off!"

Sound familiar? Yes, as much as I enjoy Falcon, I found myself dancing too much on the keyboards and losing SA trying to concentrate on the deployment of weapons and radar modes. For one to enjoy Falcon 4 to its ultimate potential a HOTAS and even maybe some quickshot MFDs are necessary. If one wants to take on the challenge and excitement, he/she can build their very own home built sim cockpit.

Let's get started

Before anyone can jump into the building of a cockpit, there are many things to consider. What type of aircraft plane shall I build? How authentic should I make it? Transportable? Cost? Audio? Controls? 61" Screen, or 19" monitor? These are a few of many things you should take into consideration before designing your project.

I spent literally months searching for info on current cockpit builders. After talking with some of them, and finding many resources to get supplies from, I started my design.

The Platform

I have been a F-16 enthusiast since I was about 8 years old, so naturally I decided to build a Viper. First I needed plans. I remember as a kid, I once had a ESCI F-16 1/12 scale model kit which would have been perfect for measurements. Unfortunately I burnt it up along with my mechwarrior models.

While searching for plans, I stumbled across a URL called Derek's Cockpit Links. This was the key to successful INTEL gathering for my homebuilt. At this site I came across a man by the name Jeff Heeszel, who had designed an F-16 type cockpit from the 1/12 scale model and called it the "Hell Seat." Bingo! There's my link, I was luck to get a complete plan package of his Hell Seat for a low low price of 10.00 US.

Click to continue

When I received the plans, although the basic sizes were there, I noticed it was a more simplified version of the shell. ( The ACES II plans were very authentic.) So I than had to ask how authentic do I want it? Like many F-16 freaks out there, I wanted the real thing. At first this was my goal. After more research I had decided that due to my lack of knowledge of building, wiring sims, and money, I had to make some cutbacks.

So thinking of the future I started to draw out my plans and ideas. I had decided to make the ACES II, the cockpit base ( this included side console, aux. consoles, and center low consoles) as real as I could get it. I designed the main front console to house a 19" monitor placing it in front of me, with the switches all around.

The monitor actually makes up the front of my cockpit, with the MFDs ICP kind of shrunk down underneath it. Later, once software gets better, as well as more money comes in, I can rebuild the main console like the real thing with working MFDs and a HUD and maybe a 61" screen!!! For now, it is basically an enhanced Falcon sim, giving me total control of all switches and levers: no keyboard, no mouse!

Controls

There are numerous great HOTAS systems out there already. The SUNCOM F-15 series makes a great F-15 combo for the more practical rational user who doesn't want to spend a fortune for a F-16 setup, and sometime this winter their USB gear will arrive. Thrustmaster on the other hand makes a great unlimited programmable authentic F-16 setup ( F22pro/TQS/RCS ) I already had my hands on this setup, so I started to work with that.

As I built my F16 simulator, I realized in an F-16 the side consoles are very low, compared to the older sim cockpits I built. Now I had a problem; for the correct elevation for control, I had to bring the bases above the console panels. This was not acceptable: it did not look authentic. I also took into consideration that it will be years before a cockpit parts collector will get his hands on a late block model stick like the TM F22 represents.

Go to Part II