Good to meet you all

[gdzeek]

I wasnt sure if this was the right section for introductions, but since its for first time builders I figure may as well introduce myself and ask for pointers on where to begin

My name is Luke and I'm a current student in Mechanical engineering, Glad to meet you all on Viperpits, I've heard this is the place to be for anyone interested in Pit building, specifically for F-16's

I got a used body for a F-16 Cockpit and have been working at restoring it and upgrading it to be more realistic. when I started It had the body, one moniter panel , and space for a Thrustmaster Cougar joystick and throttle.

Since then I've been working on a keyboard emulator to install buttons and switches into the dashboard so I dont have to have a regular keyboard present. maybe off to the side when booting up software and such. and thats about where I've left off.

I'm drafting up control panels to install switches  and beginning to look into how I can draw information from the simulation program so I can begin working on making working instruments such as the HSI, ADA, warning lights, possibly a decent HUD to couple with a projector up front so the user doesnt need to worry about looking around too much on a tiny little monitor.

So if anyone can point me in the right direction That'd be great, otherwise I'll be here and there looking up everyone's projects and looking up previously discussed tactics around here

I'm currently using Falcon 4 Allied Force  but I'm going to get a copy of X Plane 10 soon as well

[henkie]

Welcome Luke!

Your introduction bring one thing to my mind :  PICTURES  !!!   

Have fun, the long journey just starts here  ... 

greetz,
- Henk

[JJ]

Welcome Luke, make your own progress topic and share your building progress with us ..(as Henkie writes : Pictures !!)

JJ

[Lemmi22]

Welcome luke!

If you like Falcon AF, you should try FalconBMS, too.
I guess most viperbuilders are using FalconBMS now, because there are a lot more additional features, especially for cockpitbuilder.

 

[Taipan]

So if anyone can point me in the right direction That'd be great, otherwise I'll be here and there looking up everyone's projects and looking up previously discussed tactics around here

Some may disagree, but I don't consider there to be a "right direction"... Just read every thread here a million times, ask some questions, and work out what is best for you... Given you have a used cockpit, you may want to go authentic, and there's been a lot of work here getting the real stuff working, but thats damn hard work.

However - you really do have to post some pictures of this cockpit of yours...!

And as Lemmi22 said - try BMS. it will work much better for MFD extractions using Lightnings software
t

[AKaye]

Welcome!  Looking forward to some pics!!

[Kukki]

Welcome Luke, and happy building.
Go to the pit Progress thread and make you progress thread and then post all your progress here +  A LOT of pictures.

 

[gdzeek]

Thanks for all the welcome

I'll definitely post pics soon