New handles installed!
I was finally able to get the last of the work done installing the NOS ejection handles into the ACES II ejection seat. Most of the delay was due to the high temperatures in the area of late – it really limits the amount of time I can spend in the workshop, unfortunately.
Ejection Seat Woes, Begone!
Well after dithering about how to “correctly” solve the issue with the NOS initiator handles in my ACES II seat, I finally got off the dime and removed about 10mm of material from the front of the handle well.
With that done, I was able to re-install the spring mechanism that connects the handle to the torque bar. The torque bar spans the seat width and connects the two handles together.
There’s two things left to do right now – I need a spring compressor in order to collapse the spring enough that I can install the retaining pin at the top end of the guide rod. I’ve also got a temporary fastener installed on the bracket attached to the torque rod. That has to be replaced with the original 10-32 bolt. Once that’s done, I can repair the other side!
Next steps will include dumping the spring into rust remover and getting the latching/guide mechanism that’s under the seat pan cleaned up and re-installed. I’ll be posting a video about this soon.
Force Feedback & 3D Scanning!
In this video I cover the components of the VPForce FFB system I’m going to use and doing the 3D scanning needed in order to design the components for the system.
Update for February 12th, 2023.
This weekend saw a bunch of “non-F-15” work done in the shop. I spent Saturday working on the PrintNC project – I bought some “pcnpro” parts that consist of machined aluminum parts for the X & Y roller assemblies. I also previously purchased some replacements for the X & Y roller steel that weren’t cut as square as they needed to be.
In my rush to get the new parts marked & drilled, I got my X & Y axes mixed up and drilled the wrong holes in the X axis roller beam. (That’s a 90mm long bit of 3×2″ steel box beam.), so I had to cut a new one. In order to do that, I had to unbox and set up the new horizontal band saw that I bought. That was originally purchased in order to make parts that I needed for the new canopy hinge support. It took me a while to get the thing dialed in – I’ve never used a metal cutting bandsaw before. It started out making pretty bad cuts – thicker on the bottom than on the top. I sped up the blade and adjusted the force applied so that it cut slower. I got a good enough result after a few iterations that I was able to cut a new bit of steel for the X axis roller beam part. All three parts (2 Y axis roller beams and the 1 X axis roller beam) have been drilled, tapped, and painted. I’m waiting for some new fasteners to show up so I can install them. The “supplied” fasteners are socket head cap screws, and button head screws should really be used to mount them to the HGR carriages. There will be a rant about this when I do the “post mortem” video of the mechanical assembly.
I ordered a 14″ diameter Lazy Susan bearing today in order to build a multi-use platform. The first use will be to support the ACES II Ejection seat while I work on it. I’ve got it up on my main work table so having it on a Lazy Susan will make it easier to work on, and it won’t scratch the shit out of the table when I move it. 🙂
As to the ejection seat, it’s been positively identified as some kind of training device. I got some great feedback from an employee of the company that manufactures them. The number of real components leads the individual to believe that it was originally designed as some kind of procedures trainer for pilots. Investigation of its origins are still ongoing.
I’m going to try to update this site with weekly updates. We’ll see how well that works. 🙂
Finally got a real ejection seat!
Getting a real ACES II ejection seat for the F-15C has been a dream since I got the cockpit section. It took 23 years to do, but I finally got my hands on one!
Check out the “unboxing” video below:
Fortunately it’s not missing critical bits and should prove fairly easy to restore.
Project Re-Launch!
I just dropped a new video that covers the re-launch of the project. It’s time to get shit done.
Canopy!
St. Roger, the patron saint of wayward aircraft bits delivered unto me a windscreen and canopy last night!
As you can see, it’s pretty rough. We figure it was either ejected or purposely damaged for whatever reason. It CAN be salvaged however.
Finding a replacement glass section (lexan actually) is essentially impossible. That is ok however, because since I don’t have the part of the fuselage where the hinge mounted, I really can’t make it an articulating canopy anyway.
What I’ll do is remove the broken lexan parts and then mount the canopy in the closed & locked position to the F-15. Without the forward canopy glass there, you can just step over the rail to get into the cockpit.
The canopy is also bent a bit in the middle, but I’m sure I can straighten it out well enough to get it installed. I’ll have to fabricate a replacement trim strip as the one on the left is broken where the canopy is bent.
The good news is that the mounts for the compass and lock/shoot lights are still in place. The side handles are present as well. I can’t wait to get this thing fixed and installed! It’s gonna look kind of odd without the forward glass, but who cares!
Here’s a shot of the new windscreen:
The windscreen has a few gouges in it, but it’s actually in a lot better shape than the A model windscreen that came with the cockpit when I originally got it. I’m going to test some Novus polish I have to see how well it works fixing some of the lighter scratches. I think Novus also makes a fill that will handle the deeper gouges.
[Update: 20Nov12]
Thanks to Matt who sent me a link to a Craigslist ad for an F-15 canopy, it looks like I may get it. I’m working on making arrangements with the seller right now. How’s that for cool? 🙂
I also got the images resized thanks to a new plugin I found for WordPress called ImagePro.
Started the TEWS panel rework…
A couple of years ago I scored a nearly complete TEWS control panel from a gent in Cypress. The panel was scuffed pretty badly and some nimrod tore out two of the three FAIL indicators. However, there’s enough left for me to work with. 🙂
As you can see above, the panel itself isn’t in such bad shape except the FAIL indicators.
Last Saturday I started the artwork on the replacement edge lit panel for the TEWS control:
I go through an iterative process that involves measuring the original and transferring those dimensions to an AutoCAD drawing. Periodically I’ll throw an 8.5×11 sheet of printer paper into the laser and cut a test to see how it matches to the original. At the stage this picture was taken, the panel art is complete. The next step will be to duplicate the pocketing on the back of the panel in order to reuse the original circuit board that carries all the grain-of-rice lamps that light up the panel.
After the edge-lit panel is complete, I still need to find two replacement FAIL indicators, otherwise I’ll need to fab three new ones in a similar fashion to what I did for the REPLY indicator on the IFF panel.
