1:1 Spitfire K9817 Cockpit Build

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Sounds like you've been busy Darryl. I've been thinking about my 47 a lot, but that's about it :lol:
Looking forward to the pictures. Must be nice with a big screen like that. Have you "test flown" it yet?
 
Yes Glenn, cheers, I've given her a few test flights. The view ahead can now be scaled to be exactly as it should be. The feeling of being "closed in" by teh windscreen is intense now with that solid block in front.
I do miss a little peripheral vision but on the whole it is an improvement. A side benefit is that teh screen completley blocks the sunlight from the window in front, which was always a slight problem even with two layers of curtain covering it.
 
Sounds like a great new set-up Darryl. And that P8 - thank God for the D.I. - if fitted!!
I often wonder how the compass was affected by other objects, carried by the pilot, or stowed in the cockpit, which weren't present at the last compass swing. I remember being told by Pete Thorn (son of Bill Thorn, Avro test pilot, and former BBMF Spit pilot), that the release knife on my (RAF issue) flying suit would affect the compass in the Chipmunk, so had to remove it, and its metal scabbard, from the leg pocket. Must have been a nightmare, having to fly IMC, in something like a Spit, with no outside help or ground control, across the sea, wondering if you were on the correct heading!
 
It's been 7 Months since my last confession and in that time I have.....oh, wait..no, wrong place....:oops:

After 7 months I have no video of the compass working or really any updated photos. I've been enjoying flying the Spit but with no startling stories to tell either.

The bigggest news I have is the arrival of an 900cm carriage lathe and a medium sized milling machine, which have allowed me to start to build what remains of the door latch (the completion of a project that fell through..)
and to build the primer mechanism out of all brass.

A small side project replaced a cracked plastic retaining block in the radiator shutter lever with an aluminium one and replaced the plastic button with aluminium also.

Slowly I am building the skills required to finish off the sim to a standard I can be happy with and this should lift my work up another notch or two!!

After the indefinite deferral of the A2A Spit Mk V, I am now thinking seriously about converting the cockpit back to a Mk I but with "some" updates. Actually these will be "regressions" from where I am now but will look like updates.
I plan to make "blank" covers for the second fuel gauge and button and for the flaps gauge. These will then look "deleted" even though they never actually made it to the cockpit in the first place.

The undercarriage control unit is tweaking my conscience a little....if the other upgrades were done, it is almost certain that the current powered hydraulic unit would have been fitted...but the Mk I hand pump is just SOOOOO damed cool and
I now have the gear to build it.

30050SHT16H.gif


MK1picture.gif


SpitfireMK1cockpitbroad.gif



Of course it would mean relocating the slipper tank tap/release but I think that is a small price to pay. I may relocate it to where the map box should be low and left or rear right ...

Choices, choices, choices....


Darryl




Oh, BTW Terry, I missed your comment before....yes, the real compass is susceptible to anything you have in your pockets, particularly leg type pockest in a flying suit....I can see why you had to ditch the knife!!
 
Unexpected time for a few photos:

Compass.jpg


The compass. The spider is mounted on a stepper motor and board hacked from a Flight illusion cessna compass that used to just be mounted in the main compass body. That compass was a whisky type and so the spider needed to be made to fit on top and the compass card had to be removed altogether.

The outer ring rotates to set course, the stepper turns the spider and it all works just like the original...which is NO compliment, I assure you!!! (see earlier post)


Cockpit and new screen also the extra Navigation Panel with ADF and the "second engine" panel on the right

Cokpit.gif




A small detail but it all helps..the Cabin heat label now on (this encoder actually controls oxygen flow altitude/rate)

CabinHeat.gif



The Primer mechanism...a slide pot which will use FSUIPC to send "open", "pump" and "close" codes to the sim via FSUIPC at different points on the axis. The brass rod is threaded so the primer lock can still be screwed closed/open. It will be tapped into the primer pump handle.

Primer.gif



The hardest job so far, really, the door latch. The latch handle and rods were made for me (swapped for some laser work) but I've finished them from the rough blanks. The latches themselves were a lathe/mill combination job,my very first!!! with the square hole of the latch guide being hand finished. The claws are made from round and square steel stock and threaded together (saving me using an independant 4 jaw chuck to turn them and mill them from a single square piece.

I'm quite happy for a first try at "fitting". Making things "mate" is not at all easy

The whole assembly so far:
Doorlatches.gif




The (front) claw and guide assembled... square holes are fun!! The finish is reasonable but not perfect..it does look a bit better "in person", the light of the flash does emphasise the ares that are not perfectly smooth....still, no excuses.


doorlatches2.gif




The claw of the rear latch..the second guide is still to be machined when I get some time.

doorlatches3.gif





Hopefully video of the compass this weekend?

Darryl
 
Last edited:
weetam said:
i want one!!!! how much for a custom built one for me?!!!
Click to expand...

You know the old saying...if you have to ask.... :lol:

However, we can certainly help you along to get started on your own !!

Outstanding work as ever Darryl :notworthy:
 
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