Looking for dimensions of F4U Corsair instrument panel for 1:1 model(Flight Sim) (1 Viewer)

[Oldmopars]

I am starting to gather information on the F4U so I can build a 1:1 scale cockpit for a flight sim. I have found a ton of pictures, drawings, diagrams, etc. of the instrument panel, but no dimensions.
I can model from pictures, diagrams, etc, if I have some dimension to work with. Even if its not perfect, its OK. Anyone have anything? I have spent a lot of time on Google, forums, Military archives, etc. I am not finding what I need.

 

[SaparotRob]

Great handle.

 

[cvairwerks]

Spend a few bucks and join Air Corps Library and have access to the production drawings. The drawing you want, for the center panel is 10409. It's in the untitled section. Simply put 10409 in the search box and it will pull it up. Just to warn you, there are 4 instrument panels, 2 side consoles and both cockpit sidewalls used for instruments, radios, weapons, engine and wing fold controls. Busy cockpit..... That's from the F4U-5 series IPB....

 

[Oldmopars]

Spend a few bucks and join Air Corps Library and have access to the production drawings. The drawing you want, for the center panel is 10409. It's in the untitled section. Simply put 10409 in the search box and it will pull it up. Just to warn you, there are 4 instrument panels, 2 side consoles and both cockpit sidewalls used for instruments, radios, weapons, engine and wing fold controls. Busy cockpit..... That's from the F4U-5 series IPB....

Thanks, I had joined, but couldn't find anything. I guess I didn't know what to look for. This should help

 

[Oldmopars]

Spend a few bucks and join Air Corps Library and have access to the production drawings. The drawing you want, for the center panel is 10409. It's in the untitled section. Simply put 10409 in the search box and it will pull it up. Just to warn you, there are 4 instrument panels, 2 side consoles and both cockpit sidewalls used for instruments, radios, weapons, engine and wing fold controls. Busy cockpit..... That's from the F4U-5 series IPB....

So, that is the main instrument panel, any idea if there are drawings for the other panels and what those numbers would be? I really appreciate it.

 

[cvairwerks]

Here's a start for you. Find this book in the manuals list:
Parts Catalog for F4U-1, F3A-1, FG-1, F4U-1D, F3A-1D, and FG-1D

Part Number: AN01-45HA-4

Revision Date: 1-Dec-1945

Page Count: 1274


Open it to page 4 on the page counter at the top of the screen. Look down the left side page and find the Section labeled 6. Fixed Equipment, then find item A, which is Instrument Install, page 826. Using the page counter at the top of the screen, type in 856, which will take you to page 826. Top item is the 10470 drawing. Under that will be the 10411 reference earlier in the discussion. 10409 is the drawing for the board with the instrument cutouts.

If you go to the search box at the top of the drawing section, type in 104 and return and it will give you all the drawings with 104 in the drawing number. Some are pretty washed out and hard to decern details.

That's a very quick and rough walk thru on reading the IPB's and finding drawing numbers. There's a lot more to it, but that you get you started on chasing drawings down.

 

[Oldmopars]

Thanks, This has helped me a lot to move forward on this project. I have the instrument panel drawn up and I am working on designing the instruments.
I am also making a MK8 Mod 8 Gunsight. I thought it would be hard to do. However, as it is in a SIM, that does not move, the projected reticle can be static. I am laser cutting the reticle design out of thin plywood so light does not bleed through and projecting the reticle up. through a magnifying glass and onto an angled glass at the top. I had crazy plans involving a SSD1306 OLED and a Pi Pico, but in the end, old school simple worked just fine.

 

[cvairwerks]

It takes a bit of practice and familiarity with the various manufacturer's conventions, to get good and quick at following drawing levels and IPB's. If you want to play a little, pull up the L-5 IPB and chase a few installations into the drawings and see how they relate. Detailed drawings will show next assembly along with all the data required to build that part and what aircraft it's applicable to. The installation drawing will show the basic installation and list all sub assemblies required to preform the install as well as all the hardware.

We had a master drawing at work for the aircraft I started on, and we had to be able to read the drawings and all the Application List and Parts Lists for them. I ran onto a situation where I couldn't find the current a/c that I was working on, listed on the master drawing. I spent almost 2 hours decoding the bullet list, to verify if the aircraft was supposed to be on the drawing. Bullet lists, were used to code what area of the Application list applied. In this case, we had gone from a bullet code of "A" all the way to "AFZ". Finally got one of the Liaison Engineers down to my work area and had him go thru them all. He finally gave up and went back to his office and told us to wait til he came back with definitive data. Stopped all the work we were trying to get done until he showed back up the next night. His and several other engineers conclusion was that our particular aircraft had been accidentally been left off the bullet list and the Application List. Took a bit of rushed paperwork to get it added in, but by the time it went thru, we had already built and stuffed the section and sent it on to the next manufacturing area.

MiTasol started a great thread on blueprint reading and how things are done. Within it, are a number of linked sources that can help one understand and figure things out.

Aircraft blueprint reading

For those who want to understand aircraft technical drawings. During WW2 different companies (and countries) had different approaches. I do not have any Brit or Axis equivalent manuals on this subject. To develop a basic understanding of how to read blueprints you must remember that the...

ww2aircraft.net