It took some time to rebuild the cockpit so that it would fit the simujabs control column and rudder pedal mechanics. The whole construction had to be raised by around 22 cm which enabled placing the column and rudder mechanics under the “double floor”. The result is fantastic. See yourself …
Above images show the rudder mechanics of simujabs. They are linked and controlled by regular springs. The toe brakes are controlled by gas springs. One of the difficulties was to add both sets of toe brakes to X-Plane since X-Plane only has functionality for one left and one right toe brake (my guess is that this corresponds to how it works in a plane … toe brakes are linked as well?!). So the solution was to send their inputs to usbiocards() and send the max() of both left and both right brakes to X-Plane by TCP/IP and the xpserver() plugin.
Here it goes and the stuff seems to fit in my small unheated attic just below the roof.
The double floor construction raises the platform by around 22 cm and fits the rudder and yoke column mechanics nicely below the “hood”.
Connecting all the wires including the original Boeing 737 column buttons etc took some time and guess what … those original yokes are double wired everywhere (for safety), so I could add some more functionality like the 4-way hat switch replacing the 3 digit dial on the Yoke. This hat switch comes in handy for switching views without having to access the computer keyboard. The hat switch is an APEM HS1A14SA 4-way switch. Next time I’d order one with the included pushbutton.
The roll mechanism centers well enough although there is some slackness between the two yokes during rotation due to all the mechanical 90 degree connections between them.
The interesting fact is that I had to re-learn how to fly with those original columns and rudder pedals. I havea used a joystick and CH Rudder Pedals for years where small movements with each hand or leg or toe make the difference. With the originals mounted there is both force and physical movement needed to control the plane. Lot’s of fun.