It’s gonna look great on top of my mini motion platform.

Mini Learjet 45 Shell for Mini Motion Platform

That said, progress is still being made on the miniature 3D model of the Learjet 45 for the test motion platform. I’ll be splitting off the motion control software to a separate site on nine point eight one, but I’ll also link to it from here, so you won’t miss a thing. Progress on the full-size shell has stopped for now, but once the weather cools off, I’ll be back at it.

Miniature Learjet 45 3D Model for 3D Printing

I need to get back to finishing the shell exterior. One of these days I’ll get back to it.

Ideally, I’d like to include other interface card options (like Phidgets) as well, but that will be in later versions.

Early Version of Servo Settings Panel

An image of the Turn Coordinator on the Learjet 45 is shown below. The video illustrates what happens to the sim base when taking off. The angle increases as the acceleration rate increases.

Learjet 45 Turn Coordinator (white ball) shown above the Flight Display

Simulator motion is very complex, so to simplify it immensely, I will limit motions to just acceleration. You know, Newton’s action/reaction stuff that pushes you back into your seat when you hit the gas in your car, or throws you out of it when you hit the brakes. This can easily be simulated by tilting the sim base while the visual screen is attached and the outside visuals do not adjust for this tilting.

I’ve got the basic data I need out of Flight Simulator X using the FSX SDK SimConnect, some C# code, and MS Visual Studio. That is the easy part. The next step is getting a servo controller board, probably something from Phidgets, and hooking that into the program to talk to it.

Yea, I know there are a couple of proprietary software systems out there already built for this, but none of it is cheap. It can also be limiting if you can’t customize it, or you have to learn another home-grown scripting language to set it up.

Here’s a shot of the program getting data out of Flight Simulator…

Getting Data out of Flight Simulator using SimConnect and C#

I’ve been doing quite a bit of reorganizing and finishing up projects around the house. I’m contemplating a move, for several reasons, but one of them is to give me more room to play with my airplane. That said, I have actually finished cutting out the windscreen templates, but that’s about it for the sim right now. The basement is finally uncluttered enough now for the process of glassing the shell. I want to finish that mess before taking it apart for the move.

If you’re interested in panels for the Learjet 45, Hangar 45 has some great forum posts on progress with this. I have a set of Reversion panels on the way as I write. After what turned out to be quite the drama with my first attempt to get panels for the sim, I am extremely happy and grateful that  progress is being made. While I would love to jump in and get a CNC and laser engraver of my own, I don’t have the time or patience right now to walk that road.

On another note, I’ve been bitten by the RC helicopter bug as of late. I bought a E-Flite CX3 last year and have been having some fun with that. I even purchased a software RC simulator to practice when the weather is bad.

I apologize for the lack of updates lately. I had trouble getting bendable plywood for the windscreen templates, so I am using 1/8-inch MDF. I just finished tracing the pattern and will be cutting it in the next week. The weather around here lately has been crazy, so between all the shoveling and trying to keep warm, my motivation is lacking.

At least January is almost over. Happy February!