Howdy everyone~!Some of you know me, others... not so much... I have built a B777 sim and frankly, I have been losing some interest in it. I'm not sure if this is a passing thing or....At any rate, I have my eye set on building another pit. The SR22http://www.cirrusdesign.com/images/avionics-b.jpg(...who couldn't love that interior?)At any rate, I may end up keeping the 777 sim I have, in addition to adding another pit to the collection.I am looking at changing interfaces as well... I have EPIC, but it is tremendously frustrating on long hauls, as it sometimes locks up, and various functions tend to come and go as they please.To build out the SR22, I am looking at [link]www.SimKits.com[/link]Which comes to the purpose of this post. Does anyone have any experience with these kits? As you can see from the pic, there's actually very little in terms of switchology and gauges, but still necessary.More specifically, I am concerned about:1. System Flexibility: The brochure states that "Plug X is for Switch Y". Can these hard-coded assignments be changed, or can other assignments be added?2. Company Support: Good? Bad? "fugetaboutit"?3. Quality and ease of assemblyOf course i am going to ask the company these same questions, however I would rather have input from the field, rather than marketing fluff.If anyone can provide any information, or even alternatives to the SimKits solution, I would be happy to hear from you!Thanks!(ps: the weblink in my sig is temporarily down)

>At any rate, I have my eye set on building another pit. The>SR22How are you going to simulate the Avidyne flat panels? Project Magenta will have the G1000-look-alike, which are pretty much the equivalent though (although the Garmin G1000 wont need the separate GNS430's since radios and such are integrated to the Garmin flatpanels themselves. But perhaps PM will do an Avidyne version too, who knows.. In any case, that's looking like a big issue to be solved.>(...who couldn't love that interior?)Agreed :)>Which comes to the purpose of this post. Does anyone have any>experience with these kits? As you can see from the pic,>there's actually very little in terms of switchology and>gauges, but still necessary.>>More specifically, I am concerned about:>1. System Flexibility: The brochure states that "Plug X is for>Switch Y". Can these hard-coded assignments be changed, or can>other assignments be added?Simkits "controller board" has inputs for a bunch of switches and such - basically what a C172 has. Plus landing gear I think. Basically could match a SR-22 quite well I think.They also have the new "multi-IO controller" that supposedly has a pointy-clicky-interface for defining a much more flexible system.In any case you can use Simkits with any other solution, as long as you are not binding things to the same FSUIPC offsets in two places of course..>2. Company Support: Good? Bad? "fugetaboutit"?>>3. Quality and ease of assemblySimkits tech support is awesome if you have to ask me. They are a company that is putting out quite a bit of new things, and our Cessna-sim was equipped with Simkits very early, they pretty much came up with the gauges when we had decided to build a sim, so we evaluated different possibilities (TFTs behind panel etc) and decided to go with Simkits. Sure, this was an entirely new approach with new technology, so we had some little issues here and there, but their tech support very well filled in where something else lacked. Mails were replied to very quick and we solved all the issues without much trouble.The assembly is quite straightforward, if you dont have a bad case of thumb-in-the-middle-of-your-palm - it shouldnt be too bad. The stuff is made of plastic, with Hitec servos (the radiocontrol stuff) inside etc.. they could be a bit more "heavy duty" and of course you might want to have something made out of metal etc - but there is not much else you can get for that price. They do their job very well anyway.What can I say? If I were to redo our C172 sim again from scratch, I'd no doubt use Simkits again.Of course a simulator is a combination of many things that together create the environment and atmosphere of flying, the gauges do their part very well. We use FSBUS for radios and switches ourselves, simkits for all gauges.//Tuomas

:-( Sad to know this site is temporarily down. Will it come back? I always thought this would be a good place to visit. Tell me one thing how did it get locks up sometime and get functions not to operate ons and offs? I have seen my neighborhood's simkit gauges, I'd say it's very nice and he's very happy withvit. So, I'd say go for it, give it a try. go and explore for something new. I might consider getting sinkit gauge for second cockpit after I am done building with B767.

If you look at the all round picture of what Simkits has to offer and how they do it, you won't beat it right now.Yes there might be more technically advanced stuff available,but it's twice the price.One thing most simbuilders aren't, is loaded with cash. Sure, I have had one or two little problems, but they have dealt with them, even to the point of being especially helpful when one of my returns disappeared in the post(not even their problem)I've never had one glitch with the software and as far as hardware goes,it's just the Altimeter that gives any probs.Mainly because it's so complex.I have to say though, that my first alt is still working after many hours, and Simkits are replacing my second alt( I have 2 in my panel) They're a bit rushed at the moment with a lot of work, but I'm looking forwards to receiving my next big box from them.DeanHttp://simflight.fotopic.net

>>How are you going to simulate the Avidyne flat panels?Let's just say it is my little secret for now... :-saeFrom everyone's response to this thread it appears that simkits will be the way to go! A lot of favorable comments, plus on Avsim's front page they just annouced some level of compatibility with Project Magenta. (It's almost like someone has been reading my mind!)On a whim I decided to email Cirrus and see if they have any spare interior trim parts or kits (hehe.,.. hey.. it was worth a shot!) You never know... maybe they have some blemished parts laying around. Otherwise it will be awfully difficult to mimic that leather interior.Thanks to everyone for your input. It was overwhelmingly positive!

>>>How are you going to simulate the Avidyne flat panels?>>Let's just say it is my little secret for now... :-saeBah :-) We gave you our secrets when you asked..>From everyone's response to this thread it appears that>simkits will be the way to go! A lot of favorable comments,>plus on Avsim's front page they just annouced some level of>compatibility with Project Magenta. (It's almost like someone>has been reading my mind!)Yeah. It's not *perfect* but for the price, it does pretty good job. For perfection it'd cost a LOT more I would think. Also, if you can find real gauges, the gauge electronics are very simple and you can buy the electronic parts separately - for the technical wizards an interesting project would be to adapt real scrap instruments into simkits servo control. I know people have done this to artificial horizons at least, but an altimeter would be pretty crazy, though might well be possible. Easy? Not for sure. But that's part of the fun for some of us.>On a whim I decided to email Cirrus and see if they have any>spare interior trim parts or kits (hehe.,.. hey.. it was worth>a shot!) You never know... maybe they have some blemished>parts laying around. Otherwise it will be awfully difficult to>mimic that leather interior.Not really - use something like styrofoam or flower foam to make a very crude "cubistic" version of the panels, then shape it with a very sharp knife, and wrap it with artificial leather or something equivalent. It shouldnt be too hard really.//Tuomas

Styrofoam and various urethane foams have been used by the experimental aircraft bunch for some time, but this technique has not, IMHO, been sufficiently capialized upon by our hobby. I think it's good that you mention it, Tuomas. It's a very useful approach for getting smoothly blended, complex contours. Used in a sim interior, it would be an incredible step up in realism.Burt Rutan popularized the approach in the 70's when he was selling aircraft designs to the homebuilder community (Varieze and LongEze). He used styrofoam cut using an electrically heated wire to form the wing planoform. Strength came from very careful fiberglassing. Bulkheads, seats and fairings made use of urethane foams of differing densities, also covered in fiberglass. There is a wealth of data on the technique in the home built aircraft literature, but the basics are pretty simple (as long as you're building a sim and not a flight worthy A/C). Floral foam is a crumbly urethane foam that can be carved and sanded to shape. A layer of fiberglass will provide some useful crush resistance. This can be filled, sanded and painted, or covered with vinyl fabric.It would look great!Mikewww.mikesflightdeck.com

>There is a wealth of data on the technique in the home built>aircraft literature, but the basics are pretty simple (as long>as you're building a sim and not a flight worthy A/C). Floral>foam is a crumbly urethane foam that can be carved and sanded>to shape. A layer of fiberglass will provide some useful crush>resistance. This can be filled, sanded and painted, or covered>with vinyl fabric.>>It would look great!And for a home sim, replacing the fiberglass / epoxy with newspapers and wallpaper plaster glue and laminating with that and sanding in between - that will make just as fine structure for home simulators, without the horrid smell and resin dust problem.//Tuomas

You are probably right. Both epoxy and polyester resins are pretty smelly. I did some experiments with paper and water based polyurethane varnish. Other than a long drying time and a tendency to make the paper swell, it works okay.Mikewww.mikesflightdeck.com

I wonder if the fiberglass resin is harmful to the styrofoam...I'll be trying a few different techniques. Luckily there's really only 2 interior trim pieces that I can see need this special treatment. I'm going to the local airport next week, as one of the flying clubs has a few Cirrus SR20's and 22's to take about a million measurements and pictures.Oddly enough, I am looking forward to the sheer simplicity that this project offers... It's going to be nothing like the 777 pit I built... which was maddeningly complex and not even close to being completely finished, as it is now going on over a year in waiting for vendors' fabricated parts to be completedI have started to make the parts myself but I found the work suddenly unsatisfying... maybe this phase will pass.. I hope so... there's a lot of @%$@^%$$# money invested in the 777 project.

Hi Ray,Can't say for certain that NO epoxy resins harm styrofoam. However, certainly there are some that absolutely do not. Mikewww.mikesflightdeck.com