Work Update 20/02/26
I didn't get much hands on time on '609 this week, amongst other things the roof in our industrial unit is being repaired which will be better in the long term both for my day job and for working on the cockpit!
I did apply the weekly dose of penetrating oil to the pedals and controls and after a some 'percussive maintenance' I was able to get the Port/Student/Left hand side set of rudder pedals moving - this is the pair still fitted to the cockpit and they'll need to come out for disassembly and a proper clean up and lube but it was great to see them moving as they should!
I also spent a lot of time taking measurements and photos so I can design the trolley '609 will go on, I've attached very early concept image - in particular the position of the cradles is not final, I still need to measure the correct location for seat placement and other weight bearing areas. This needs to be well made and is likely to eat into a good chunk of my budget but I'm keen to get the cockpit mounted properly as soon as possible as it will make the remaining work a lot easier!
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Smiths Desynn Transmitter & Indicator testing
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Work Update 12/02/26
I'm still focusing on the controls and have now got what I'm pretty sure is the full range of motion back in the elevator run. The stick now moves more smoothly too! Unfortunately I've been unable to move the aileron input on either side and there's quite a difference in the angle of the forks that attach to the torque tubes, leading me to believe that the two aileron controls are currently disconnected. I need to get access to investigate the circled components in the attached diagram to check it out properly. I've applied yet more penetrating oil and will investigate more next week but I'm also considering applying some (carefully controlled!) heat to try and free up some movement.
The rudder pedals are also stubbornly refusing to move despite a long soak and regular spraying of penetrating oil. I did make a start on further disassembly, but have to work methodically and have limited time at the moment.
Background research continues, I'm still considering various wheel/trailer solutions and I'm talking to a few folk with a view to stripping and refinishing the cockpit. I have a couple of new parts due to arrive this week so I can continue on working on the instruments and sim hardware at home.
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U/C & Flaps Panel
This weekend I built up the first panel for XL609. I'm a long way off being able to install it into the cockpit but as I had all the parts and some time to kill I thought it would be a good weekend project.
The undercarriage switch had seen better days so after a good clean with some ISO and very fine wet and dry paper I did a quick repair, replacing the broken bakelite with some 'milliput' putty. Once that had dried I spent a little time mixing up some acrylic paint to get a colour match - bakelite is not a uniform colour but after some experimenting I found that a mix of black primer, a red leather model paint and some good old Games Workshop 'Balthasar Gold' (a brassy coloured metallic) gave me something I was happy with. I painted the red 'EM' button using 'plasticote' and then repainted lettering on all three buttons using a light grey model acrylic.
Wiring was pretty straight forward; using a multimeter in ohms (continuity mode) it was easy to figure out which pins did what. The gear switch was simple - just three push buttons that need to function as a 'momentary' switch (up, down and emergency lower) however the flaps control has nine(!) different positions but after some brain storming (and a quick consultation with ChatGPT) I had some code that would recognise each position and provide an up/down signal as appropriate. Once uploaded to the arduino and hooked up I was able to test it as a 'Human Interface Device' in windows and it worked first time!
I shot a quick video demonstrating the controls with the VSN Hunter mod in DCS World - I'm running a 'test' version of the Hunter and for some reason the flaps controls are only 'Up' and 'Up/Down Toggle' so they don't quite work as expected but I'm sure that'll get ironed out in the software - my hardware is working as expected!
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New parts 07 Feb 26
It's been a good week for parts!
Thanks to Adam for donating the trim inidicator (left) The flaps indicator, gear buttons and flap switch were all recent purchases.
I'm pleased to see the replacement 'Up' button I made recently is pretty close to the orignal. I now have the parts I need to build up the first panel so once these have been cleaned up it'll be time to bust out the multimeter and soldering iron to get building!
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