My Boeing 737 Dual Yoke Control System Finished

[sluyt050]

Hi all,

I just finished my 737 flight sim dual yoke system. I am quite happy with the result inspired by many of you. The bare dual yoke system I bought from a friend, I believe it came from a dismantled Belgium Flight Sim. I modified the bearings to improve mechanical stability and added a stick shaker, potmeters & gears, spring systems for roll and pitch control. Very useful information on realistic forces I found on http://www.flaps2approach.com/, thanks Iain for that!

See a photo impression below and a short movie:

My Boeing 737 Dual Yoke Control System

[tennyson]

That's a great engineering job you've done there, Edward.

Like you, I've just finished my yokes as well. The difference being, my frame is out of timber and we went about the centring devices differently.

It doesn't really matter in the long run, as long as it works.

Here's a vid I did yesterday, when I finished mine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE_inKqkrTc

Hope you enjoy,



Frank Cooper

[sluyt050]

Here's a vid I did yesterday, when I finished mine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE_inKqkrTc

Hope you enjoy,

Frank Cooper

I particularly like your your gears and the bottom part of the yokes: the hoods. They were not included with mine unfortunately. Ok, heads up is the remedy here  .

[Ridgenj]

Very nice work and units. Is the clearance I your base 16 cm?
Cheers

Luis

[sluyt050]

Very nice work and units. Is the clearance I your base 16 cm?
Cheers

Luis

It's about 26 cm!

[Buster99]

Hello Edward,

Thank you so much for sharing!
I have also been browsing all the sites and trying to read up and figure out the best approach for my own yokes.
Great to see all this helpful information, I hope that I will manage to make mine worth sharing as well.

Best Regards,
Marc

[sluyt050]

Hello Edward,

Thank you so much for sharing!
I have also been browsing all the sites and trying to read up and figure out the best approach for my own yokes.
Great to see all this helpful information, I hope that I will manage to make mine worth sharing as well.

Best Regards,
Marc

Thanks Marc, you will succeed!

Cheers,

[tennyson]

Gee, Edward, I'm not sure where you would buy those boots. You might have to try Nick at APHS or one of the other aircraft part re-sellers.

They are made from aluminium and a queer shape, so making them would be a nightmare.

I hope you have some success,


Frank Cooper

[Flying_Fox]

Excellent and very compact design, Edward!

Nick

[mickc]

Nice job Edward

With regard to the boots at the bottom of the yokes, I have seen a few people use a small steel mixing bowl, and cut a hole in the middle, then trim the sides flat.
Kjeitl - Norwegian 737 Project did it this way.

Also, on your yokes, how much motion do you have on the aileron axis?  it looked to be around 45 degrees each way in the video, is that the full travel in your setup?

[sluyt050]

Nice job Edward

With regard to the boots at the bottom of the yokes, I have seen a few people use a small steel mixing bowl, and cut a hole in the middle, then trim the sides flat.
Kjeitl - Norwegian 737 Project did it this way.

Also, on your yokes, how much motion do you have on the aileron axis?  it looked to be around 45 degrees each way in the video, is that the full travel in your setup?

Thanks for the info Mick and yes, it's exactly +/-45 deg. max.

[Nat Crea]

Nice Work Edward!

Nat

[Aerosim Solutions]

Good work Edward, I particularly like the roll centering mechanism utilizing a single spring!

Well done,

Cheers Gwyn

[sagrada737]

Hello Edward,

I'm impressed with your design for linking the Boeing Yokes.  I like the low-profile configuration and how you have integrated the various components.

I am just now considering how I would like to setup my Yokes.  Would you be willing to share more detailed information, photos and/or dimensions on what you have done?  I would like to follow your lead in some of what you have done with the Yoke system.  Thanks.

Mike

[sluyt050]

Hi Mike,

I'm willing to help you were i can. The main structure + coupling parts like sprocket wheels, chains etc. i bought from a friend and that is not on drawing. The spring systems and potmeter readout construction I designed myself. I closed the flight deck now and mounted the J-rails. Unfortunately, not everything is on paper as i said. So it is impossible to give every dimension. The same applies for extra pictures, the whole thing is out of sight now. BTW, most of them I already posted here.

Kind Regards,

[Flying_Fox]

Hi Edward,

I also work on my yokes now, generally following your design of the bottom part.  I have to make the columns and upper gear part myself. Instead of the rods you have it will be the chain drive from top to the bottom inside the yoke column. I think I will be using linear pots instead of round ones.
Thank you very much again for sharing your ideas!

Nick

[sluyt050]

Thanks Nick that you appreciate my bottom 
I was wondering if you plan to use a chain only for the vertical parts how you will be able to adjust the tension?
As you may have noticed, there are 3 chain + rod parts in my columns each having 2 tensioners (one tensioner in the horizontal part is somewhat hidden behind the spring mechanism). Very handy for making adjustments. I did not invent that myself.

[Flying_Fox]

Hi Edward,

I am going to install the same kind of tensioner (called turnbuckle here) into chain somewhere in the middle of the column. Since the chain is long enough, the tensioner should never reach the sprockets. And I will have a "door" on the side of the column to reach the tensioner. I ordered these sprockets:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0045JJVRU/ref=ox_ya_os_product
but they will be delivered only in a couple of weeks at the earliest. But I still have plenty to work on

Nick

[sluyt050]

Hi Nick,

Ya, Patience is a quality every cockpit builder must have. Just a hint here from my experience, always use 2 turnbuckles for every chain circuit (3 in my case). This allows for chain tension adjustment preventing unwanted rotation of the yokes. It's also quite easy in this way to align the 2 yokes and maintain chain tension in all circuits.

[Maurice]

That is one true work of art!  Great job Edward.

Maurice

[sluyt050]

Nice job Edward

With regard to the boots at the bottom of the yokes, I have seen a few people use a small steel mixing bowl, and cut a hole in the middle, then trim the sides flat.
Kjeitl - Norwegian 737 Project did it this way.

Also, on your yokes, how much motion do you have on the aileron axis?  it looked to be around 45 degrees each way in the video, is that the full travel in your setup?

Gee, Edward, I'm not sure where you would buy those boots. You might have to try Nick at APHS or one of the other aircraft part re-sellers.

They are made from aluminium and a queer shape, so making them would be a nightmare.

I hope you have some success,


Frank Cooper

I found a way to overcome the queer shaped boots. I used 2 mm PVC plate in RAL 7011, not much work: see pictures below. Thanks to to flexible material i had to make one thin saw-cut to get them on (hidden on the photo). So this is the finishing touch  .

[Maurice]

Just as a side comment, when I built my sim, I too was looking for a way to make or buy these boots. Reluctantly, I gave up searching.

But as soon as I started flying, I never ever noticed or cared that they were missing. You are hard pressed to see the bottom of the column once seated in the flying position. Nor were any visitors horrified to see a hole in the floor instead of a boot. 

But I know...rationality & common sense is not rampant among flight deck builders. Been there, done that 

Maurice

[sluyt050]

Just as a side comment, when I built my sim, I too was looking for a way to make or buy these boots. Reluctantly, I gave up searching.

But as soon as I started flying, I never ever noticed or cared that they were missing. You are hard pressed to see the bottom of the column once seated in the flying position. Nor were any visitors horrified to see a hole in the floor instead of a boot. 

But I know...rationality & common sense is not rampant among flight deck builders. Been there, done that 

Maurice

I am just scary that in the heat of the battle something precious will disappear through that hole and in the worse case will jam my yokes.  . Okay, it's no common sense, just a mix of fear and fanatic perfectionism...

[Andrew 737]

Magnificent - well done Edward