DIY Cockpit

719: My New Flight Illusion Trim Wheel

| Tom Tsui

The HW-GEN003 Trim Wheel from Flight Illusion in The Netherlands belongs to a new line of products.  My first reaction after unpacking it is:  It’s HUGE !

No kidding.  I was actually stunned a little by its “huge” size even though I was prepared to accept that it would be big after reading its physical dimensions before the purchase.GEN003_01_resize_resize

Pardon me if I sound a bit exaggerated.

But it was true at that moment because the contrast was so big that this relatively huge unit was packed in a relatively small package — which is about half the size of the box shipping the Flight Velocity Trim Wheel, which on the contrary is about half the size of the Flight Illusion trim.

Frankly, I have never seen any other trim wheel for simulation bigger than this one.
– Continue reading →

706: Trim Wheel Pro Friction Mod

| Tom Tsui

Earlier today, I received an email from Nicolas Bouesnard in France who acknowledges he has the same flaws on his Flight Velocity Trim Wheel Pro as I reviewed mine in Post 701.

Instead of leaving them as they are, he applied some mods to the unit and now he gets friction while turning the wheel.

Nicolas said: Continue reading →

701: Flight Velocity Trim Wheel Pro Review

| Tom Tsui

If you have ever used any trim wheel circuited with an encoder before, you should have experienced that the last position remembered by it could be very annoying if you forget to set its position back to the center at the start of a flight.

TrimPro_01b_resizeSince I got the Cessna Trim Wheel from Saitek many years ago, I’ve been looking for a solution to this annoyance.   But search is futile.

So when I found out Flight Velocity was soon to release a new product called Trim Wheel Pro which would use new software last Decemeber, I was quite excited, hoping that it could be a remedy to my agony.

Unfortunately, after checking with the company, the new player is no exception.  The issue seems to be unsolvable. Continue reading →

700: My Cockpit Rev #30 – Trim Wheel Pro

| Tom Tsui

Yesterday, I got the Trim Wheel Pro from Flight Velocity, which I am planning to replace the Saitek Cessna Trim Wheel which has been in service for many years.TrimWheelPro_01S

A unique feature that distincts it from the Saitek one is an adjustable control knob on the unit, thru which users can vary and finetune the elevator trimming pitch during a flight.

After Logitech chopped the production of Saitek Cessna Trim Wheel since its acquisition, there aren’t similar trim wheels on the market one can find for a long time.

Is this Trim Wheel Pro a good replacement ?

How does it perform ?

Is the adjustable knob useful ? Continue reading →

Cockpit: Philippe aka 1L2P (LFPN, France)

| Tom Tsui

Philippe aka 1L2P in France spent a lot of time on flight simulators about thirty years ago.   He decided to come to fly again when he saw the early versions of MSFS 2020.  Followings are what he built so far.

Builder: Philippe aka 1L2P
Location: Île-de-France, France
ICAO: LFPN, Toussus-le-Noble Airport

21-0606_Chet_00
Project Notes: Continue reading →

Cockpit: Brian Goldsmith (KLNN, USA)

| Tom Tsui

Brian Goldsmith holds a Commercial Pilot Certificate with Instrument Rating and a CFI Certificate.  He recently decided to upgrade his flight simulator, which he uses for fun and to maintain his instrument skills in between real flying.

Builder: Brian Goldsmith
Location: Concord, Ohio USA
ICAO: KLNN, Lake County Executive Airport

21-0506-Brian_01
Project Notes: Continue reading →

669: My Cockpit Rev #29 – 11900K CPU

| Tom Tsui

I just replaced my few months old ROG MAXIMUS XII APEX motherboard and i9 10900K CPU with the new ROG Z590-E Gaming Wifi and i9 11900K CPU.  It was 11900Kunintentional and there’s a long story behind due to unrecoverable CTD from MSFS 2020 on the Apex system.

Anyway, I just want to say that Continue reading →

Cockpit: Mike Huggins (EGBW, UK)

| Tom Tsui

Mike Huggins started using flight simulators for instrument flying training and currency over one and half decade ago.  Now he focuses on a Spitfire cockpit with greater realism whilst retaining accurate flying instruments.

Builder: Mike Huggins
Location: UK
ICAO: EGBW, Wellesbourne UK


Project Notes:
Continue reading →

664: My Cockpit Rev #28 – RealSimGear

| Tom Tsui

I’ve been tied up with many things after the Chinese New Year.  As a result, there was not a single Post for nearly a month.   Fortunately, things are sorting out now and I hope to resume posting new stories as regular before.

Coming back to my home cockpit, I just received the GNS 430 and 530 from RealSimGear today after more than two months’ waiting.
Inevitably my radio cluster needs major revamp again.  I hope it won’t take me long to start working on it since the final appearance should look appealing.

Actually I’d been Continue reading →