X-plane 9 Support

Last post was March, blimey...

This weekend I have managed to successfully integrate my Primary 6 flight simulator with X-plane 9.70. Everything now works using a few 3rd party plug-ins from the X-plane community and a beta plug-in from Simkits themselves. I use the following software to control all the switches and gauges within version 9.70.

Software - SVmapper - A free, simple to use, key mapping program that reads the switch presses and turns them into key stroke signals. You can tie a toggle switch to a key press or release (or both).

Get it here:

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2367911&fpart=5

X-plane Plug-in - TRCPlane-14-02-2011 - Simkits's free USB X-plane interface. This is currently in beta but works very well already. It controls the USB turn coordinator.

Get it here:

http://www.simkits.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1289382919

X-plane Plug-in - Simkits_XPL_3.1 - SuperDuif's free X-plane CCU interface - A fantastic plug-in that utilises the Simkits SDK to control all the (old) CCU2 instruments. Couldn't have done anything without this. Thanks SuperDuif.

Get it here:

http://home.kpn.nl/~superduif/simkits.html

X-plane Plug-in - XPSaitek.xpl - A free plug-in by floegl @ xplane.org. I believe this is a better plug-in than the one that Saitek has released. This allows the toggle switch to turn on the Saitek unit something I can't even do with their windows software.

Get it here:

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=10161

Hope these links may be of help to someone.

Smaller images for website distribution

Almost There!!!

After a year of development, my primary 6 project is almost complete. I say almost beacuse I'd like to add a new Primary 6 logo to the side of the case and have some decals done for switches acting as dummy circuit breakers. These photographs were taken with my own camera. However once it is complete I'm going to get some professional shots taken by our photography department.

This is the second time I have fixed the case and tightened all 36 screws holding the top panel on. The first time was a bit of a disaster. After putting it together I fired it up and after months of working perfectly fine with the top off, the altimeter failed to fire up. I had to take the case apart and the altimeter to see what went wrong. I have a feeling it may go again and run into some calibration problems but...well...we'll see.

Simkits Turn Coordinator

I've just ordered the last gauge that I need to complete the basic 6 panel. The turn coordinator will hopefully come soon (they said it's in stock and ready to ship) so that I can test it alongside the non USB instruments.

Soldering the switches and comms panel

This is asking for trouble! Soldering the switch panel on our dining room table. Thank God my wife is so...forgiving!

Electrical components

I recently installed the electrical components into the chassis. The Simkits CCU2 board, Simkits 32bit controller, PSU and USB hub are now all in place. I've been testing the Simkits gauges alongside the TRC software and FS004 on a spare computer. They need a bit more tweaking to get them correctly calibrated with the TRC software but I'm happy with them so far. I spoke to Peter at Simkits support to ask about compatibility between old CCU2 gauges and the new USB type. Fortunately he says they will work side by side with no problems. That's a relief since I am still missing a turn coordinator which I need to purchase fairly soon if I want to get this completed.

Powder coating completed

I'm very happy with the results. The coating company did a great job. The finish looks superb (better than the photographs can show) and it's extremely durable. The paint is RAL9003 Signal White.

Now it looks even more like a microwave..ha ha!

Alu panels being powder coated.

Dropped off the aluminium panels to a powder coating company in Cardiff. I will hopefully have them done by Wednesday at the latest. The only worries I have with this process are: if I flex one of the panels too much the coating will crack. The company told me that there was a bit of play with it. The other problem is that the coating adds thickness and the holes for the 3mm screws will get smaller. I have allowed 1mm for this by using a 4mm drill bit on all the holes but if the coating ends up quite thick then I will have to file them down for the screws to fit.

Some progress.

WOW...when work gets busy it gets busy! Finally restarted the project and made a phonecall yesterday to a comapny that does powder coat painting. How much!?!?!!? Well I kind of knew it was going to be in the ball park of £100 for setup costs but I thought as it was private work they may make an exception and charge me less. I may give another company a ring to see if it gets any cheaper. I doubt it though. It has to be done.