Throttle Quadrant construction for ATR72

[when acting as a wave]

Hi all

I've been a bit quiet in here lately due to a bad combination of both hectic work and a sick family! And now that I am here, I'm posting about the wrong type of aircraft for most users  Hopefully there's some useful techniques and approaches that will apply to all cockpit builders though ...

This project is actually my fathers too, but any questions you might have, he'd be only too willing to provide me answers for.

The throttle quadrant was designed from photos and other pieces of information he'd collected from a wide range of sources. This is how it looked at the start.



The throttle and condition levers are made from some aluminium extrusions, and although the dimensions are not quite true to the real aircraft, they're close enough to be used in a simulator. Most of this stuff is hidden below the top cover at a later stage and is barely seen.



The flaps lever and the gust-lock lever are made from some stainless steel tube, which was found just laying around in the workshop - or rather, awaiting its purpose. There's an inner and outer tube, which (as the outer tube has the axle pin going through the bottom) allows the inner tube to slide in and out over a short distance. Seeing as there are no great stresses put on these parts however, they could just as easily have been made from aluminium. The flap knob was carved from a piece of scrap wood he found lying around.



The park brake lever is a flat aluminium bar and there's a spring mounted on the axle which enables the lever to be moved sideways to clear the stops (a thin strip of plywood) for releasing the brake. The parking brake has a spring return when it's released.



Inside the condition levers is an aluminium bar, and attached to this is the pin that slips into the notches along the top arc of the quadrant. You will see that it protrudes out the other side slightly, which creates an attachment point for the spring return. The longer pin which you can see protruding (near the top of the photograph) is the actual release lever for the condition knob. The small cables are for Fire Warning lamps that one day will go in the head of the conditon knobs.

The brass pin in the flaps lever (which is a tight press-fit into the inner tube) slips into the notches along the top arc of the quadrant, and has a spring return on the other side in a similar manner to the condition lever.



Next is a view of the mechanism behind the gust-lock lever, showing its return spring, throttle stop bar, and the arc in which its latching pin travels and locks into at each end.



The next photo is from the lower rear and shows the notches that the various levers slip into.You can also see the return spring for the throttle reversers. The row of three small nails was a temporary stop for the flap lever, which eventually had a small wooden block glued and nailed into place.



And this is it mounted inside the throttle box ...



Righto, now I'll go and catch up on what else has been going on 'round here 

Dean.

[XOrionFE]

wow, that looks FANTASTIC!  Nice work.  I look forward to seeing more.

Scott

[Boeing Skunk Works]

That looks great! Nice clean work.

It doesn't matter what sim you're building as long as you're building something.

I can greatly appreciate what you had to do to get this far in your throttle build. Mine is scratchbuilt too.

[Trevor Hale]

Fantastic..  this really is what this hobby is about.  Making something that functions as the real counterpart, however has a bit of yourself built into it.

Thanks for sharing.

Trev

[when acting as a wave]

Thanks guys. It's always nice to be appreciated - some of the other sim builds in here (although very inspiring!) can also be pretty intimidating sometimes 

Dean.

[guran]

congratulaions. very very impressive.
it is depend for flight1 ATR or else software?

[Trevor Hale]

Hey Guran,  I believe that they are using the Flight1 ATR as a base, but I am not 100% Sure.

Trev

[guran]

thank you Trev.
i guess so.

maybe it is not right place for this question but...

how can we find this bird's fsuipc offsets. example engine rotate switch's(TO-CLM-CRZ)
(search criterias was unuseful).

[Bob Reed]

Wrong aircraft?? No such thing here! Looks great!

[Trevor Hale]

I doubt Flight1 Used any Offsets in their instruments.  The owner of this ATR is interfacing with an interface he built himself.  Extracting what data he can from Flightsim and "Imitating" the rest.

Trev

[Trevor Hale]

Wrong aircraft?? No such thing here! Looks great!

LOL Bob,      Is this post supposed to be in a different thread?  LOL

Trev

[Bob Reed]

Wrong aircraft?? No such thing here! Looks great!

LOL Bob,      Is this post supposed to be in a different thread?  LOL

Trev

No.... In the first post he says: "Hi all

I've been a bit quiet in here lately due to a bad combination of both hectic work and a sick family! And now that I am here, I'm posting about the wrong type of aircraft for most users"  So ha!!

[DarrylH]

Looks stunning! I'll be watching teh progress eagerly..well done!

Darryl

[Trevor Hale]

  LOL.  I am a nutcase that's all..

[Bob Reed]

LOL.  I am a nutcase that's all..

Yes... And?

[when acting as a wave]

Hi everyone

A lot of this is still beyond me I'm afraid, but I've asked several questions of my father and he's in the process of writing up some answers, which I'll respond with shortly. Sorry I'm not more immediately useful 

Dean.

[PaulEMB]

Dean,

Looks like great work, which you and your father should be proud of!

I started down a similar route with the DASH 8-300 before discovering the ERJ 145.
Its actually very nice to see builders thinking through how to replicate the parts of a different aircraft, and then experimenting in the workshop to make it into a reality.

Keep us posted with your progress.

Paul

[Trevor Hale]

Dean,  this is one of the best parts about this hobby.  It forces us all to enjoy learning.  I mean not to sound like we all need a hug here, but look at how much closer a project like this will bring you and your father together.  Its why we all enjoy this community so much.  We share and learn with each other.  I for one have wasted hundreds of dollars (Don't tell the wife) making errors that I have learned only to find if I had asked in a community like this before, someone already had wasted the money and had the answer for me.   

Please, no need to apologize.  What you are doing is listening to questions we are asking and 1 year from now, your going to be the one typing this to the next guy etc.  Like a nice round circle.

Now Before Maurice starts to beat me with his cane, I will shaddup now   Speaking of which..  Warvet leaves, and Mau is nowhere to be found...  Maybe the two of them are actually one in the same person..?  Pokaroo, Pokaroo..  Darn I missed him again..  LOL (Bad Canadian Joke)

Trev

[when acting as a wave]

Thanks Paul. I've actually got an update for this to add shortly (just have to organise the photos), which shows how it was all eventually finished.

And yes, Trevor, this has certainly brought me and my father closer together. Seeing him work on a project that he's so passionate about is great.

Dean.

[Boeing Skunk Works]

Another thing about this hobby is that there is seldom only a single way to accomplish something. I doubt anyone here has done, or built, something exactly the same as someone else even if it's the same part.

People like to engineer things differently, use different materials, and methods of construction. It's all good as long as the means will justify the ends...as long as it works!

I've seen a dozen different glareshields built, throttle, instrument panels, individual panels, indicators, you name it, and you can find a half a dozen different way of doing the same thing. Or you can find you own method using bits and pieces of others' methods.

When I saw what Ivar could do with a 2x4, I said to myself, I think I can handle that, and built a 2/3 shell out of wood and lined with plastic I formed and cut myself. He sent me photos of the sidewall construction of his sim and I used many of his ideas while adapting many to my specific requirements and space.

[when acting as a wave]

how can we find this bird's fsuipc offsets. example engine rotate switch's(TO-CLM-CRZ)
(search criterias was unuseful).

Hi Guran

I've talked to my father about this and here is his reply (in his own words too):

As far as I can tell, Flight1 ATR doesn't use fsuipc offsets for the Power Management Selector switch, and MS Flight Simulator doesn't support such a system.
I would like to simulate this switch on my ATR, but I haven't managed to get enough information on how it all works yet. I know the power levels produced for each switch setting, but if anyone has detailed information about how it all operates in regard to power and propellor control, I would be very grateful.
I think we should be able to write some code to use the switch positions for controlling power levels and propellor pitch to get a good enough emulation of the real thing.

Also, he's not using the Flight1 ATR software because he found it difficult to move the gauges and displays around the various monitors as he wanted - it was a bit restrictive in that it wanted to do things the way it wanted to and not how he would've liked.

He now uses a combination of various bits and pieces to suit his own purposes. The ADI and HSI were purchased from a company called Reality XP though, which he's found to be very good.

Another thing about this hobby is that there is seldom only a single way to accomplish something. I doubt anyone here has done, or built, something exactly the same as someone else even if it's the same part.
People like to engineer things differently, use different materials, and methods of construction. It's all good as long as the means will justify the ends...as long as it works!

Indeed, and this is probably what I find to be the most fascinating aspect to all this.

I used to think that my father and I were very different in our approach to things, because he's very technical-minded whilst I'm a bit more, what is it? artistical perhaps? Something like that. But this has shown me that the very same creative processes are actually at work - we just might find the answer in a different place.

The sim wouldn't be quite so far along without his extensive knowledge of course, because artsy fartsy only gets you so far and no amount of Photoshop will fly a plane!

Dean.

[guran]

Hi Dean,
thank you and to your father for detailed explanation.

sim.world need you people. because example atr cockpit info very very poor around the world, i think.

best wishes

[Boeing Skunk Works]

Dean, you can use MS Panel Studio to do anything you want with those guages. Build a completely different panel if you need to using the ATR's guages from the panel or the XP guages or both.

I'm still thinking about that Sandel 3800 or whatever number that is. I'd first have to create a bezel with all of the control buttons though. Not impossible, but pretty involved.

[when acting as a wave]

Thanks Mike. I'm going around to his place tomorrow to take a video of the simulator, and we'll be discussing the panels too. They've never been fully finished and I know he's wanting them sorted. Part of the hold-up, I think, is that they're on old CRT monitors which will eventually be replaced by flatscreens, so he's never fully committed to finalising them.

Also, here's how the throttle quadrant was eventually finished.

The first step in this process was to make an initial template of the throttle quadrant's cover from paper, which was done to ensure that all necessary slots were correctly positioned before any of the more complicated, time-consuming work was started.


Thin strips of MDF (approximately 3.2mm thick) were then cut and formed into the correct arc by wetting them with hot water and clamping them across the top edge of the side wall. Once they were damp they went soggy and could be formed into shape very easily. After this process, they were then left to dry and harden for several hours.


The notches in the sides, and the slot in the centre, ideally should be done after the correct shape has been formed as detailed above. If done before the hot wet forming, they tend to twist too much.


Below is an overall view of the unit once the document holders were fitted. There's actually an artificial bottom in the outer one because the smaller sheets kept disappearing out of sight!


This picture shows the clamps holding the rubber strips in place whilst the glue was drying.


Here's the almost completed throttle quadrant before the painting of the flap knob, reverser levers, and park brake lever.


And this is it with just the thrust reverser levers to paint.


Another view showing how the manual and approach charts sit in their pockets.


And the final photograph shows the completed throttle console fitted into place in the simulator. You might also notice the addition of two new pushbuttons, a red switch safety catch, and a black handle.

Note: The rest of the centre console with the radios and audio systems is not yet complete, but is sitting in place so as to make things look a bit prettier!!!!

[Trevor Hale]

Absolutely Beautiful work Dean.  You and your father must be so happy with the end result.  Great stuff, and congrats..  I can't wait to see more