A Return to Genius

Well, I finally got back to finishing the Batjac Aeroworks Virtual Reality Control Line Training Unit.  After the first one I built a few months ago as a proof-of-concept, I went ahead and built two more.  One to address items I didn’t like in the first one, and then another to finalize and document how to build it.

For the documented build I ran down to the local Goodwill store and bought a used USB flight stick for ten bucks.  It had 14 control inputs, which is waaayyyy more than I needed.  I figured that I needed five at most. One potentiometer for pitch control, one pot for throttle control, and then three buttons for Play/Pause, Reset, and Smoke.





Pulling the base off revealed the internals I would use for the simulator.  I quickly removed the electronics and tossed the control stick and housing in the waste bin.







Then I set out what I needed and threw the rest in a baggie for later projects.  Besides the five above mentioned inputs, I also kept the tophat switch for a remote, as you’ll see later.





I also dug around in my supplies to see what I had to build the simulator.  A SIG 3” bellcrank for the handle to connect to and a 5mm electric motor hub to put it on, a spare motor shaft from an E-flight Power 25 motor for everything to mount on, a steering arm to rotate with the shaft, some bearings for the shaft to ride on, and some ball links to connect the arm to a horn on the pitch pot.  Finally, some wheel collars to hold everything in place.  I decided to use bearings for a smoother control, but they weren’t really necessary.  One could build a box without them.  The servo wheel is what I’m going to put on the throttle pot as a throttle wheel.





And the linkages all assembled and ready to mount to the box and electronics.





As I said before, I saved the tophat so I could use it as a remote control.  This is handy because with the handle a few feet away from the simulator box, it’s nice having the remote unit I can hold in the hand not busy with the SIG control handle.  I cut the wires between the tophat switch and its plug, and soldered male and female USB jacks between them.  I then cut some basswood for the remote, and hot glued the tophat switch to the basswood.  Lastly, I built a box around that.  It would be painted black afterwards.









Then I built a wood box for it all to go in.  It took more time than it was worth, and I’d just go down to the Michael’s craft store and buy a box next time. Since the bearings wouldn't have much pressure on the, I just made plywood bearing blocks for them to sit in.  With everything aligned, I hot glued everything together into the box.  The lip on the lower left side is so I can clamp the unit to a stable surface like the edge of a desk.  The P button is the Play/Pause button, the Start button is the Start/Restart button, and the Select button turns on smoke.  The USB jack at the bottom right of the controller is to plug the remote unit into.  The toggle switch on top isn’t connected to anything.  I just put it there in case I want to add something later…














And, now some videos of the final product! All three videos have me trying to fly the AMA Beginner's Pattern in the sim.

Flying the Extra 300 Control Line model in PicaSim on my computer:






Flying the Extra 300 Control Line model in PicaSim on my Galaxy S7.  You can watch this on your smartphone if you have 3D goggles:






Flying the Extra 300 in 3D using the cross-eye method.  You don’t need VR goggles, you just need to cross your eyes to see this in 3D:





Ans a quick tutorial on setting up PicaSim for control line flying using my preferred settings.  Feel free to play with the settngs to suit yourself:







The Simulated Mark