hc625ma's cozy hangar

In the process of building another cyclic, I have taken some photos of improved cable management in the base – this way everything can still be detached for repairs with ease, yet looks cleaner than the old variant. I have also uploaded a pic of what goes where to the rates control panel manual – with it its much easier to get it right from the 1st time.

If you feel that something can be made better – and e.g. you can contribute some photos or a description of the part you found to be hard to understand / badly described in the wiki – please let me know, we will improve it together =)

I am happy to say that Simchair MKIV cyclic base now has its lid separated from the mounting system, and supports different mounts, e.g. 40mm extrusion profile mount. Of course, as a default option, there’s a new twin-rail GUNDE chair mount which is totally awesome! It’s rock-solid, as good as far more expensive aluminum extrusion profiles.

It’s been a while since my last post, mainly because I have been working on the project wiki, which is now filled with documentation! Some stuff was just copied from MKIII manuals, but a lot more has been written from scratch. I am happy to say that we are nearing the point where each of the released components will have a detailed building manual.

New hardware piece is coming soon – the MKIV simple collective.

It’s an awesome thing in its own way – beautiful in its minimalism, inexpensive, compact device that still supports all MKIV features, sporting 2 physical buttons and a momentary switch, which are extended to a total of 12 buttons when used with MKIV base mode switch. It supports advanced throttle features (software idle-stop detent) and can be operated with or without the pneumatic mod. It’s also very portable and can be used with motion platforms. You can also fit MKIV base extensions (pedestals at the moment) onto this lever, enabling you to control switches and knobs in your virtual cockpit with your left hand, which is especially useful in VR!

This is a perfect device for helicopter enthusiasts that have limited space in their sim pit or want an inexpensive but feature-rich device.

The latest software update contains the following changes:

• MKIV simple collective support added
• fixed a bug in tactile detent mark handler function, that was affecting all collective levers; If your lever does not press joy button 3 after you have pressed the IDLE REL button and closed the throttle, or advanced functions do not work – install this update.
• cyclic/pedals filtering is now disabled by default; It really doesn’t affect anything but input lag. The hardware is definitely precise enough to fly without filtering.
• a few other less significant special throttle functions related bugs fixed.

Stay tuned!

The final version of Bell 206 style collective head is now available for download, along with a special version of the lever body with a 104-degree throttle turn range! I have also added its assembly manual to the wiki and updated the firmware to support the new head =)

This one looks really good, and, although simple, has everything one needs to fly helicopters – as its starter button and GOV RPM switch support MKIV collective mode switch functionality.

If you want something scale-looking, this one is definitely an eye-catcher.

If you’re using MKIV software, please update – this version has some important fixes related to throttle operation in ALL of MKIV collective levers and related advanced functions:

• throttle stabilizer works properly now for all collective levers
• button press on throttle cutoff and DCS Huey compat mode now work correctly with inverted throttle axes

I am happy to show you yet another Simchair MKIV device – the Bell 206 style collective head. Its made from photos with measurements, so it should be almost exact 1:1 scale.

To make GOV RPM switch look scale, I’ve made a special adaptor for MTS-123 E1 switch. Another option is to use a regular 12mm spring-loaded SPDT switch for GOV RPM control. Small parts need to be printed at the highest possible quality and have built-in supports.

I will also be releasing a scale 206-style version of throttle frame part 1 with 104 degrees throttle grip travel range, as per information from an IRL 206 pilot.

This head is best to be used with MKIV collective with a physical throttle latch. Will release firmware for it in a few days =) You can find it in simchair4_models repo on GitHub.

Finally, after months of testing, all problems are addressed, and the new cyclic is here – and it feels great! Here’s the video which shows the new base up close – and then there’s a test ride in an epic freeware Hughes 500 for XPlane11 by Brett S – which is a pure joy to fly!

I have been able to calibrate my printer in a perfect way using a micrometer recently, and found that some clearances between certain parts may be too wide. That made me think that maybe we need to adjust models for a perfectly calibrated printer. Right now it seems that everything is tuned for a slight over extrusion.

There are a few problems that worry me:

1. How to reliably calibrate any printer? – We can use a method of calibration that assumes using a micrometer to measure the wall thickness of a calibration cube model printed in vase mode.
2. How will tuned extrusion affect durability? What needs to be changed in print settings? – This requires testing.
3. Is there a problem with an average factory-made printer at all?

So I decided to make a poll, if you’ve built something and used PLA for that, please select one of the options and write a comment about your experience. The comment part is important – because otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to distinguish real builders from bots.

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I am happy to tell that our nice documentation wiki grows every day. Our awesome DIY community helped me to port MKIII docs, so now we finally have MKIV collective build process completely documented! The first lever body added is the most advanced one – single collective body with a physical throttle latch. If you need other lever bodies, just use this one as a reference.

You can find all of supported (and planned for now) MKIV hardware modules on the modules list page of the wiki. If you’re here for the first time and want to know more about the project, please visit the start page.

I have adjusted MKIV menu on the site accordingly.