Spruce's Build

[fallen walrus]

I got into the OH work because I needed a seat for a Winwing-based sorta F/A-18C, and the entire 1800 sf basement is essentially a wood/metal/guitar shop, so making one up from the OH design made sense. As I went further down that road, it seemed like the rest of the pit might be an interesting project as well. At present, the woodworking and primer is done on the right console and lower instrument console, with most of the woodwork done for the left, to include the integration of the Winwing Super Tauras as an interim fitment. All of the MDF pieces are made from drawings pulled from F360, then routed or worked to shape using those patterns. Assembly is per OH practice other than where I wanted additional beef using glue/added bolts. I am using a Bambu X1C for the FDM work, and that has been a great learning experience. Other than the throttle, and Thrustmaster TPR pedals, I will likely continue to build to the OH standard, although the option is to fit my MIP is still available...but building up the upper and lower instrument panels seems like an interesting task.

[fallen walrus]

On the Winwing Super Tauras (WW-ST) fitment... Although I have seen the throttle integrated with case intact, I really could not fit that in without major changes to the left console, so opted to see whether removal from the case and stripping off the top plate and trim would result in an install with fewer impacts on long-term swap to the OH throttle. The shots below show a bit of the work necessary, with just the Left Aux Spacer and Left Sub-Console Rail needing some tweaks (0.200" trimmed off the spacer and the angled interior wall at front of the #2 throttle track squared to the vertical and fillet reduced to 0.25"), plus some brackets for the throttle. This mod to the ST (six 8-32 threaded holes into the 18mm square posts) is fuller reversible, but the friction lever will have to be modified to avoid a change to the inner console wall.

Full travel and freedom of movement with the current mods and rock solid mount. Had considered adding a sway brace to the mount system, but not needed.

A few more.

[steady hearth]

That’s a sweet mod. Dumb question, but do you know what type of connector that is at the base of the throttle grips for the wiring?

[fallen walrus]

RH grip is a three pin connector, but I don't have the nomenclature. Same as the Orion 2, as the grip is form/fit swap.

[fallen walrus]

Friction lever mod is close to wrapping up, and I will finalize how much I have to relieve the left console inboard wall for clearance on the Hall sensor for #2 throttle. After looking at options ranging from complete replacement of the old lever and cut/weld to fit OH, I opted for the middle ground. I measured and marked in place to get a cut line on the small horizontal section of the arm between the two 90 deg changes of direction and used a razor saw to make the cut. With so little material lost, it is a pretty quick job to weld the lever back together and reassemble for resale/repurposing. After carefully trimming the stub to dead vertical and parallel to the inboard edge of the console floor, I drilling and tapping the stub for 8-32, then used the OH friction lever as the model to fab the new upper lever. As the WWST friction assembly has no real adjustments on friction (those ports in the case adjust the mid-travel stops... something not used on the Hornet), I added some adjustment range on the bottom of the arm, and the spacer over the lower adjustment screw allows some angular adjustment with shims or substitute spacers. After milling the upper arm adjustment arc, the lower stub friction arm was drilled and everything bolted up. Still have to tap the upper arm for the 4-40 knob re-tension machine screws and final-shape that knob, but very solid at present, and no flex with aggressive friction adjustments.

[fallen walrus]

More shots of the Winwing ST integration...

And yet more...forgive the flood of images, but more info is better, right? These shots include the 1/8"/~3mm relief of the outboard (interior console) face of the LH Console Inner Wall for the #2 Hall sensor and mount.

Finally, a video of the throttle and friction function in action... obviously my career as a hand model never took off.

[fallen walrus]

So just to have some place to archive, here are the modified files for the left aux spacer and the left rail. These are modified OH components that SHOULD NOT be an issue, but all builds are different, so check the fit before committing to irreversible mods.

Here are the fore and aft mounts.... these are tall - too tall for some printers - but could be trimmed down to just two mounting points and still have plenty of stiffness. Another option is to cut in the slicer and reassemble post-print... the loads all transfer such that bending stress at a cut point between the uppermost and middle ST-to-bracket bolts is very low.

I did not do a drawing for the trim lever, but slight mods to the OH lever will work. I printed it out and then measured, cut, and trimmed up the 1/4" aluminum and phenolic to do the job. The stub knob was through-drilled for 4-40 and the arm threaded.

[half igloo]

Thanks for this Spruce. Your build is perfect in that I too would like to be able to upgrade to the OH throttle in the future with minimal modifications so I really appreciate you sharing the files!

[fallen walrus]

Doing some dry assembly on the seat, with the frame drying in the box (we have a free-standing wardrobe converted to a ventilated booth). Had a bunch of actual aircraft rivets lying around, so sub'd those for the nails called for in the BOM. Gonna look nice painted, and the only mod to use them is to open the holes with a #30 drill bit. Waiting on some hardware to show, but plan on using AN washers (a closer tolerance fit) and all black hardware to get another layer of scuff protection.

[fallen walrus]

Progress on the lower seat frame, with parachute pack thrown on the frame to start fit-up. Thinking i will try the bed liner paint on the headrest, then topcoat if needed. Everything else get a final sanding and finish coats when it goes together.

[fallen walrus]

Seat is coming together... fitted the left side with right side to follow. I originally did the side plates for an OH-Lite version, and had to go back and put the bends in for the upper sides. Also found that the extra 2mm (8mm ply versus 6mm) of side thickness made the fit on the seat tight for a 21" width tub, so slimmed down the seat height and harness lock by .125" (old stuff shown - new is printing). The cartoon-shaped ejection handle is just a 3kg kettlebell to counterbalance the seat frame...

[fallen walrus]

More seat work, with the base going in and the right side waiting on the next MMC order to deliver tomorrow. Seat back skin is PETG, cut into bite-sized pieces and printed on the X1-C. Upper half finished after a 16 hour print of all three upper skin segments, and the lower is still running due to the extra level of support needed for tall, thin, close to flat shapes. 45% of the filament used is for support. I added additional blocking to the back, and will glue and pin nail the skin on with floxed epoxy. Tree supports always look very HR Giger.

[fallen walrus]

Still super-creepy looking... but does avoid a bunch of ripples in the prints.

[fallen walrus]

More seat progress in between a lot of PCB build-up. Got the Center Tub knocked together on this snow day, and identified an issue that I can work before my Bondo/acrylic filler/prime/paint stuff on seat and seat frame. Waiting on some parts to wrap up.

Finished fitting the MIP into the OH UIP/LIP per Ulu's mods. Easiest way to work the glare shield is fab for standard OH, then temporarily install to see where that 1" x 1" or so area needs to be removed for corner of the DDI screen. Cut, refit, and note clearance needed on the underside of the blister, then design/print and install. Fast and easy.

[half igloo]

Hi Spruce, I just wanted to say thank you for sharing the WinWing throttle mod. I just finished printing the parts and look forward to getting it installed soon. I'm also interested in your 3D printed sides for the ejection seat. I was thinking of doing the same thing but afraid of how much of a PITA it might be to glue all the printed parts together. Yours looks great!

[fallen walrus]

Last of the LED PCBs populated…

[final moat]

very cool I was wondering what did you use for the blister or that "bump on the visor"?

[fallen walrus]

Ulu's mod for using the Winwing Top Gun setup results in a corner of the left and right UIP displays protruding above the as-designed glare shield, so after cutting out that approximately 1"x 1" (25mm x 25mm) area of the as-designed glare shield to clear the display, the blisters are glued in place and faired up with the usual 3M acrylic body filler. The attached file produces a 9" long blister that provides plenty of clearance to avoid interfering with the display. if you have need for a shorter/longer/higher/lower blister, just adjust in Fusion or in your slicer.

[deft hatch]

Ha! Someone somewhere always has a solution you see @final moat ?

@fallen walrus would it be OK that I take your blisters and add them to the WW mod ?

[fallen walrus]

Absolutely… least I can do!