First pieces of the puzzle.

I've had much better luck today. These are laser cut acrylic panels (3mm) that I had cut this morning. I need to check that everything fits correctly according to my plans and then the next stage will be to have them painted and stenciled with some lettering.

Small design change.

After cutting the panel this afternoon I realised that 3mm acrylic is not quite as rigid as polycarbonate and certainly nothing like 4mm aluminium. I've added 2 new screw holes to the structure as well as a minor design change to where the radio panel bolts to. This will add some strength to front of the unit. I'm worried that with such a large hole on the right side, the acrylic may bend when you push it in the middle. When operating switches it may start flexing which doesn't really scream quality!!!! Hopefully this will rectify that problem.

Ooops!!!

Oh dear... So this is my first test using the laser cutter here at work. Unfortunately it hasn't cut through very neatly, we tried to cut it twice, to get this hole. I hope I haven't ruined the laser (sorry Tim!!!). It looks like a bit of a mess and it's £300 for a new replacement part!

So, I'm straight back on the phone to Amari Plastics to get some 3mm acrylic. We tried a test piece with some gash pieces and it cuts it very well. I should have listened to Tim in the first place. We also had a slight problem with the CAD file where it missed out an arc. I need to rectify that before we have another go again tomorrow using acrylic.

Polycarbonate Sheet

Bought this little offcut of 3mm polycarbonate (Makralon UV) today from Amari Plastics in Cardiff for the bargain price of a fiver! I was meant to do some tests today with our laser cutter but there has been a slight.... hiccup. It will be delayed till next Tuesday. I have to say that this polycarbonate material is a tough cookie! The panels are going to be nice and strong.

SVmapper program

Came across something called SVmapper the other day on the X-plane.org forum. It's a superb piece of software that allows you to assign toggle switches to keys on the keyboard. It's great for getting around X-plane's switch limitations when using toggles. This has been around a little while now and it is used with all sorts of simulators. A lot of DCS: Black Shark cockpit builders use it because they have nothing like FSUIPC to utilise.

Project Magenta Software Build 70

Project Magenta has uploaded an update to their General Aviation Glass Cockpit software - Build 70 now allows autopilot controls (highlighted) to be added to the G1000 unit. I have amended my project to allow for the new controls.

It's been a while.

Now that it's the summer months, my workplace has become very quiet so I am using this downtime to crack on with the construction of the primary 6 project. I'm also continuing with the design phase of the Cessna glass simulator and have made some steady progress. We are lucky to have a low to medium strength laser cutter here at the university and I'm hoping to do some tests with it tomorrow. I'm using polycarbonate which may be too strong for our laser but we'll see how well it works. I've been told acrylic is softer and easier to handle but I would like to use Polycarbonate to make the panels strong.

The MDF is being cut by a CNC routing company in Newport. They usually make signs but they are very kindly taking on this small job. Initially I wanted to get the MDF parts laser cut too but the bed size of 600m x 300mm is too small. I am hoping the CNC router will cut accurately because there are some fiddly places, especially with spar one where the warning indicator sits. Again...we'll see.

I've made some CNC drawings with our large format printer that I am hoping will help me with the design process of my larger project. It's nice to be able to physically see the project to scale for once.

Report back with some images once I have something to show.