Colibri Annunciator Panel

Below are some photos of a newly-designed annunciator panel that we recently made for a Colibri simulator.

This first photos shows the panel unlit.

With the Annunciators ON ...

A view from the rear ...

And finally the interconnection board (complete with 

post-production, silk-screening modifications!)

BK-117 Dummy Gauge

As one of a few customised projects that we've been working on lately, this is a (very) small dummy gauge that's destined for a local BK-117 helicopter simulator. The outside measurements of the gauge (not including the mounting bracket) are 36mm; a physical size that's not really conducive to its being made functional. 

Below is a larger-than-life photograph showing it in more three-dimensional detail ...

Kiowa Bell 206 Annunciator Panel

This particular panel has been designed for a Kiowa simulator (a military variant of the Bell 206) and will employ 14 specially engraved annunciators that we've already supplied to our customer. As a result of this panel being supplied separately however, this unfortunately means that we don't have a full set of the proper annunciators fitted. 

For purposes of illustration, we've populated the panel in these photographs with some spare annunciators that we had sitting around the workshop - the legends, of course, will not be correct (!) ...

This first photograph shows one of the indicators illuminated on our workbench. For the annunciators to be made functional, we're supplying a slightly modified version of our usual Annunciator Controller and LED Circuit Boards along with this panel (some modification was necessary to account for the annunciators here having slightly different dimensions and layout to those normally supplied with our Annunciator Hardware).

The panel again uses our dummy Dzus fasteners and the switches shown above are captured 'between panels' so that it becomes a stand-alone unit. 

As with all replicas of course, certain aspects just aren't viable to reproduce in exact detail, and so the glass window here is merely a dummy feature; there is no actual hinge for it to swing open. Our goal, as always, is to find (and hopefully provide) a good balance between cost, functionality, and appearance for our customers.

The dimensions of the entire panel are 230mm (high) x 55mm (wide) and the design was developed from the photographs below along with some measurements that were supplied to us.

Apologies for not attributing the above photos to the photographer - 

we're not exactly sure where they came from!

Bell 206 MIP

Here are the latest photos of the Bell 206 MIP that we've been developing in conjunction with our other B206 components. The MIP, the Overhead, and the Annunciator Panel will eventually all be interfaced with our own software/hardware and offered as a combined unit. 

The photos below show the MIP temporarily positioned (or rather, strategically balanced) in front of the 22" LCD monitor that it's been designed around, with the glareshield sitting carefully on top. This is essentially a mock-up as the separate parts aren't fitted together yet due to us still having a few small adjustments and finishing touches to make before it's 100% complete. Hopefully it gives a good idea of what we're striving to achieve though ...

The Annunciator Panel is fitted to the MIP in these photos, although the circuitry in behind it hasn't yet been fitted. As of this morning, however, we are now in possession of the new circuit boards we designed in support of these new products but it'll take us a few days to populate and program them. Once this has been done (and we get some time) we'll try to upload a video of the MIP actually in use. 

Although not currently on our website, all of these parts can be purchased now. Please feel free to contact us via here if you wish to find out more details or discuss your requirements with us. We'll be putting up some prices on this blog etc. in the next few days ...

PS. Also just received in the mail today are the real aviation circuit breakers that we'll be fitting to the Overhead Panel in preference to the operational replicas that we were originally going to supply. The real units - aside from the obvious tactile realism - also offer some advantages on the programming side of things!  

Bell 206 Overhead Panel

Continuing with our range of Bell 206 simulation products, 

we have recently completed the development of the 

overhead panel, which has just this afternoon been 

finalised and assembled as a complete unit.

These panels are fully populated and the appropriate functions 

(relating to DodoSom) can be operated via one of our 64Input 
Boards, which has been especially coded for the Bell 206.

The majority of the circuit breakers you can see here are 

dummy units, although there are also four which can be 

manually 'pulled'. You can see one of these in the photo 

below with the red marker on display. The two circuit 

breakers to the right of this are also operational, 

as is the Field CB on the lower panel.

These panels are supplied with all of the appropriate 

switches fitted and even where there is no specific FS 

uses currently related to them (such as the Heat/Off/Vent) 

we have fitted the correct componentry regardless - 

as they can sometimes come in handy for other functions. 

An example of this is the 'HTR Start', where we've fitted 

a rotary encoder that operates the Difficulty Level 

(which is displayed in a hidden panel on the MIP 

we are doing the final assembly work on). 

Hopefully the above photograph reminds you of the DodoSim panel...!

And lastly, a closer view of the operational circuit breakers.

We haven't finalised all of the costings for this panel yet, 

as there are still some details regarding what we will offer on the 
software side of things. We're expecting to have a price for it in 

the next week or so, but we can always be contacted through 
our website before then if you have any questions.

Bell 206 Annunciator Panel

As well as continuing with the fixed wing variety, we've also been doing a lot of work lately with some new products related to helicopter flight simulation. More specifically, our new range will be based around the Bell 206. Our designs for these products have been geared around the DodoSim FSX206 software and to enable actual encoders, toggle switches, buttons, and circuit breakers to be used instead of key-presses and mouse-clicks, we have written special code for our I/O boards.

This specially written code allows the use of one each of our 64Input Boards and 64Output Boards to interface to the DodoSim FSX206 software through FSX and FSUIPC so that all of the following controls work correctly :

• Annunciators (including press to test)
• Fuel Valve Switch
• TOT Button
• Warning Mute Button
• GPS/NAV Switch
• Altimeter (QNH) setting Encoder
• Course setting Encoder
• Heading setting Encoder
• ADF setting Encoder
• VOR setting Encoder
• Hydraulic Switch
• Anti-Icing Switch
• Dim Caution Lights Switch
• Generator Switch
• Avionics Switch
• Battery Switch
• Position Lights Switch
• Instrument Lights Switch
• Anti-Collision Lights Switch
• Dir/Gyro Switch
• Pitot Heat Switch
• AFT Fuel Pump Circuit Breaker
• FORE Fuel Pump Circuit Breaker
• Caution (Annunciator) Circuit Breaker
• Generator Field Circuit Breaker
• Difficulty Level (We use a Rotary Encoder)
• Audio Ident Switches

The majority of this work has already been done and we've had the programs running in our workshop over the past few weeks. 

Matters of the more external nature took something of a leap forward yesterday however, with the completion of our newly-designed Bell 206 Annunciator Panel (shown below). 

The annunciators we've designed here are individual replicas of a korry 

we've had in our workshop for a while: a beautifully engineered work 

of art manufactured by Les Modeles Francais. 

Below is a photograph of one of our early prototypes 

alongside the original LMF Korry.

The fact that these annunciators are built as separate units means that they
are readily replaced or upgraded as per the needs of each individual
customer. As our software has been designed around the DodoSim
layout however, that is the typical configuration that we would supply.

This annunciator panel fits the Bell 206 MIP we've been developing also,
which is being constructed along similar lines to the
King Air MIP panels that we already sell.

Below are a series of photos which show the annunciators under different
conditions. The first, as attested to by the 'glass'(!), is under the bright
fluorescent light above one of our workspaces. The legends are readable
(though barely), and it's obvious that none of them are lit; hence all is well.

Below, in the same bright conditions, we now have one of the annunciators lit.

And finally, we see how the same annunciator would likely appear in a 

darkened simulator. The light bleed at the rear, and the wires extending 

from the LEDs, would not be seen in the final product of course, 

as these photos are presently just for demonstration purposes.

Once we have this annunciator panel fitted to the MIP and interacting

with FSX, we'll upload a video to our YouTube channel.