Scrap-Build: Engineering the Flight-Rig - Part One

Hello STEM fans, yet again, my caring duties have kept me quiet, but not for long, I want to introduce the Allotted Introvert. That's me, by the way. With my hands on an allotment, I want to build and discover.

My Core-Rig!

As a keen 'virtual-aviator', I wanted to create a rig that would allow me fly with a stick that sits in the correct position, but also allows for it in VR. Having the Saitek X45 in a proper location will make the immersion into VR a lot better and not apply that confusion when we have to reach for the mouse  without our real-world sight. If you haven't tried this, I suggest you go into a headset and see how your orientation gets confused!)

Bits and Bobs!

The Build:
Taking the initiative of attaching the shaft beneath my office chair, I set about pulling an old bicycle maintenance stand, apart. The clamp would attach, I could then use my appalling welding skills to attach additional bits. The parts I used, were:

An assortment of parts...

• Upper section, and clamp, from a maintenance stand
• The top-pole and plating from a crafter's side-table
• The swing-bracket-plate from a satellite dish

Tools:

• Small arc-welder
• Matt-Black Spray-Paint
• Allen-Key
• Clamps

Fixed on and ready to weld...

To begin with, I placed the top sections together and clamped it to a parasol-pole, this worked great. I then welded the satellite bracket to the left-end of the horizontal pole. and added the upright table-post. (This is where my welding really shows its poor grace!)

Swing-Bracket...

Bringing it together, I drilled the new holes to offset the plate and sprayed it all up. It looks fine now, and at this point, I am ready to attach the flight-stick and throttle to it. I will post the look of this asap, and show it working on a vlog-post.

Check-out Part Two, to see how I have changed it, further, and get a better shot of the end-result.

Be happy, get building!

Gavyn, @beingSTEM

Scrap-Build: Engineering the Flight-Rig - Part Two

And.........we are back! Thanks for moving on to this part of the build. After testing it, I found that there were a few problems. The main one was that the throttle platform was too low. I needed to make a drastic change.

What I did:

I decided that I needed to add another upright column and fit a plate to its top. It took a while to work out what to do, but I came up with this:

TV Plate and Welded Upright Column...

Using another part of the crafter's table, I made it adjustable by using the stand that included a clamp-section. I then added the rest of the maintenance-stand's top-pole.

Using three holes will help with changing chairs...

The X45 has now been attached and it looks, great. The throttle is a little more twisted than I had expected, but once I try it, it might be a better fit for comfort. I will be adding the promised video as-soon-as possible. Once it is available, I will add it to the bottom of this blog.

The swing-plate will be used, eventually...

As an addition, I intend to also use this rig for Elite:Dangerous. With my VR headset on, this will be a great reason to stream my own despair. Watch this space for how this goes, I am hoping not to need  a redesign, let's see, and keep an eye out for the video, below. (There is also a few more images, too.)

(Amendment: Since this was written, and since video was produced, I have upgraded to an X52 H.O.T.A.S. Once this is attached, I will take a picture and post it the gallery, below.)

Stay safe, happy STEM!

As promised, the YouTube video...

Quick Gallery