Sir Cedric VIAF

[SirCedric_VIAF]

 
Well it?s time to start.
After a pair of years of slurking, asking, apprehending, astonishing, it?s  the moment to introduce to me.
I?m a 57 y.o civil servant in Italian Governative Institution, i?m married and i?ve two daughters 24 and 19 y.o. and we live in Rome.
I?m a virtual pilot of VIAF ? Virtual Italian Air Force, the biggest ( may be) community of virtual flight in Italy. We have more than 1000 enrolled people and about 150 active pilots in 8 flight groups,wich reproduce the real groups in Italian Air Force, and, actually, in two academic courses (even they wich reproduce the real aeronautical course in Italian Academy in Pozzuoli ? Naples).
Four years ago we started our activity with the target to show the virtual flight to the people in public events.
To reach this target we started even to build our fast mounting and dismounting cockpits so we?ve built six Aker Barnes modified to represent an F16 pit and a MB339 pit even with interchangeable sides.

Sir Cedric VIAF

From 2003 to present we?ve organized many events in Fairs, Air Shows and beneficence events.
Now we are in project to let every our pilot its own pit, so we are prepared CAD files of panels to laser cutting ( sorry Mike, but from the USA it?s more more expensive) and we?re just starting the production.
In Italy we have less space disponibility, most of us live in apartments often built in centenary buildings, so we was thinking to let a semipit to the virtual pilots who would to have a pit but don?t have enough space to put in.
When I?ll have some pics of this ?Viperbite Mk III?, I?ll show you,
by now that?s me:

Me in business suite

Sir Cedric VIAF

Me in flight suit

Sir Cedric VIAF

My ?Viperbite Mk I?

Sir Cedric VIAF

My ?Viperbite Mk II"

Sir Cedric VIAF

Sir Cedric VIAF

VIAF to the Blue Day 2006 in Rivolto (313?s Italian Aerobatic Team home) We had about 70 PC equipped with SAITEK X52. That's only the VIAF staff (but they was about 140 Virtual Pilots of 13 Italian Virtual Flight Association) and location of event

Sir Cedric VIAF

Sir Cedric VIAF

Sir Cedric VIAF

a 313's Group Pilot try the sim

Sir Cedric VIAF

Here we had 25.000 visitors in the hangar and more of 1200 peoples tried the flight simulation with FS2004, IL2 and , naturally, Falcon.

VIAF To the Telethon (2005, 2006) A 313's Pilot Group try the sim into one of our pits

Sir Cedric VIAF

Roma, with the Italian Air Force HQ

Sir Cedric VIAF

We?ve organized this event in four italian towns (Udine, with the 313?s real pilots, Cervia, with 23? Gr. real pilots, Torino and Roma with Italian Air Force H.Q.

We?ve organized even the Blue Day 2007 in Pratica di Mare (Roma) the biggest Italian Air Force Base (by territorial extension) with the same result of 2006.


Well?.that?s all folks
Happy to be here

[Ka-Bar03]

Hi Paolo,,Very Nice Introduction post! Thanks for sharing the pictures of your events. I stop by the Italian forum now and again , so I have read about your squadron. Looks like a very happy group of youngters too. The pits look like they would be easy to transport too! Keep posting your event photos and cockpit updates, it's cool to see them!

[idekkers]

great post paolo

can you share with us your solution to the DSC (iirc that's what's it's called) switch - the 4 way one on the ICP ?

Ido

[SirCedric_VIAF]

Thanks Mike, your appreciation it's very important for me, you are one of the "Guru" about pit building, i'll post other pics ASAP. Now in Italy it's Holiday time  we restart the activity on september to partecipate the next Telethon.

Ido, i reached the target with this item, modified with cut, sanded and filed, into the "ViperBite III" i'll use another solution with a square aluminum tube. I'll post pics during work.
DCS:
http://www.rs-components.it/cgi-bin/bv/rswww/searchBrowseAction.do?N=4294799696&forwardingPage=browse&name=SiteStandard&callingPage=/jsp/browse/browse.jsp&BV_SessionID=@@@@1984744402.1185706698@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccddaddliilkhidcefeceeldgondhgf.0&cacheID=itie&Nr=avl:it

see ya folks

[AiRdAncE]

Paolo,

Dio mio ! Un buon lavoro ! Nice work, I understand you have been able to create a very manageable, entry level pit with amazing functionality and extremely low cost to produce, and thus available even to 15-year old enthousiasts.

Very good... this hobby can use new blood that lasts 

Glad to finally see you coming out of the shadows Hope you enjoy your revelation

[Icy Knight]

Sir Cedric,

amazing work!!   

what would it cost for a set of cad plans of those pits?

[SirCedric_VIAF]

Kim, thanks. You're right when you say we need "young blood" in this hobby and that's the work we all (all virtual flight communities) are doing, may be building a pit, flying with sim, talking with people of other countries during a game like flight simulation, will being the next generations just a little "mind open" than our generation.

Icy Knight, we are thinking to share the plans without cost (only with pray to mantain our logo on panels) here  on Viperpits, we ask to the Admins (and Mike in first, even we aren't alternate to his own work) if it could be possible.
Just the time to receive the file from our designer and i'll upload it.

Well, we are a NoProfit Association and we don't sell anything, but we could give the complete panel's set at the same cost wich our pilots could buy, but it's would be competitive only in European Union, otherwise postal fees and custom taxes will overshoot the total value of set, but this is another speech.

I'll upload even the CAD file of wood structure but it will be only indicative, because every builder will choice its own solution (i chosed to use 8 mm (0,3 inches) plywood for the sides, 3 mm (0,03 inches) lexan sheet for all parts wich don't support weight or efforts and 18 mm (3/4 inches) for all floors on wich i'll put the cougar and throttle. The "L" aluminum profiles will be similar "Dzus rail" support and will be the connection within structure's sides.

But it's more easy to see than to say, so, i'll post pics during the work.

Thanks to all
Cieli Aperti

[Strale]

Heil? !!! Tutto bene ?
Grande POST ed ottime FOTO !!!!

un caro saluto !

Guys .. just few words in our own language to greet Paolo and appreciate his post and pictures.

Ciao a Tutti

Davide

[SirCedric_VIAF]

Well, thanks to Mike KaBar and Kim Airdance, the ViperBite III cad file was uploaded.
We're proud to share with you our own project. We hope someone would be enjoyed building this pit.
In few days we'll upload even the indicative structure's cad file.
Ciao Davide, yes all ok, grazie dell'apprezzamento ( immediate traslating : thanks to appreciate  )
Well...now i'm in, so...i introduce to you my third daughter : Lola

Sir Cedric VIAF

she's an half blood doberman (other half i think is deutsch sheperd ...the same of Rin Tin Tin)

in this picture it's my personal ACES II, when she sit down the appearance it's more impressive, but it wasn't no way to put her down from his chair 

Sir Cedric VIAF

Cheers
Paolo

[SirCedric_VIAF]

Well, too much time from the first post here, during these monts i learned to fly ( and i left my ViperBite III in a corner but it will be back soon), so now i would share my results with you:
preparing the flight test:

Sir Cedric VIAF

after the test now i'm a (half) pilot:

Sir Cedric VIAF

in flight with my flight's instructor, Marcello

Sir Cedric VIAF

above the Bracciano's lake, turning left to hdg 300, 800 feet, 60 knots :

Sir Cedric VIAF

I hope to post some video as soon as possible, i have only two hands and if one is on the stick and another on the throttle it's just a little complicated to shoot a video 

Thanks for your attention (as always) 

[TOR]

Heil? !!! Tutto bene ?
Grande POST ed ottime FOTO !!!!

un caro saluto !

Guys .. just few words in our own language to greet Paolo and appreciate his post and pictures.

Ciao a Tutti

Davide

What else could I possible say.... my italian skills would have to be the above - "tutto bene"... thank?s Strale 

Excellent post/article to say the least.

Love the fact that "youngsters" can still be distracted from their cell-phones, I-Phones and what have ya`!!!

I?d love to give you an award..... but I haven?t got a clue how to do it 

Cheers,

GUN

[Ka-Bar03]

Congrats Paolo   looks like lots of fun!

[SirCedric_VIAF]

Well Folks,
i wish you all Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
i wish you all to complete your pits and start to fly them.
i wish you all to reach every goal you want.
I wish you all to stay in healt and serenity with your families.
Throught theese crisi's times it could be enough to smile.
Oh, i hope to let you see my ViperBite III progress (one day or another)
See ya Folks

[zypo]

Hi Sir Cedric,
I hope I'll meet you on the VIAF Teamspeak tonight, we have a rendez-vous with Mix to fly with your team, a kind of exchange program...

Cheers
zypo

[spinter]

Ciao Sir e bello vedere un po di foto italiane!!
Stai bene !!!!