The Main Instrument Panel (MIP) panels are vacuum formed plastic which attach onto the Display Unit (DU) monitors with screw fasteners. They are manufactured in cathode tube EIS1 (rounded display corners) or LCD EIS2 (square corners) versions. EIS2 has now become the prevalent standard and is seen in most Airbus A319/320/321 series aircraft. The DU … Continue reading
For realistic airbus operation and training, it is essential to implement control loading into the simulator. BFF Control Loading Drive Boards can provide rudder feedback and autopilot rudder flight following with one engine inoperative function. Unfortunately due to Brexit and COVID-19 pandemic, sales of the boards have ceased indefinitely (since 2021). Interested users should write … Continue reading
Korry annunciators on the Airbus flight deck operate on 5 volts – this voltage allows for bright illumination and good visibility of the korry switches during daytime operations. However, when operating the aircraft at night, the korrys at this intensity can be overwhelming and distracting. With continuous usage the incandescent bulbs can also dissipate a … Continue reading
For accurate display management it is important that each display unit monitor (LCD) is controlled by the appropriate aircraft power bus. This allows for correct simulation and power monitor (on/off) output behaviour. Avionics software such as ProSimA320 and Jeehell FMGS are able to manage the screen displays but this is done at a software level. … Continue reading
Sound can provide important sensory cues in a flight deck environment. The avionics software ProSimA320 provides satisfactory aircraft exterior sounds, but the interior cockpit sounds is much to be desired. Ambience environmental sounds of the cockpit, such as contractors, gyroscopes, static inverters and subtle alert tones are missing from the suite. A look at the … Continue reading
The many components of the flight deck – korry switches, incandescent bulbs, panel backlighting, AIRINC 429, flight controls inputs – must be connected to an interface boards to communicate with the avionics software. Connectors on on the original aircraft usually takes the form of a canon plug and receptacle. Interfacing with circular plugs would be … Continue reading
The Arduino interface board is usually wired up with a common ground with switching perform on the outputs (+5 VDC). When working with OEM equipment this arrangement can be the opposite – korries on the panels are wired up with a common anode (+5 VDC), and switching performed with ground. With incandescent bulbs this does … Continue reading
The following is a tutorial on how to setup a motorized trim wheel using a Pololu hardware feedback interface board and ProsimA320. Alternative avionics software such as Jeehell FMGS does not have native Pololu compatibility and will require additional driver support, such as FSUIPCtoPololu from TNS-Systems. Hardware trim setup can be reviewed over here. Wire … Continue reading
Using an Arduino with FMGS is a relatively inexpensive way to setup the inputs and outputs of your flight deck. An Arduino Mega 2560 R3 board can be purchased for AUD 20.00 or less – one board has a total of 54 input or outputs which can be configured to your setup. With the Output … Continue reading
You no longer need expensive hardware solutions to perform intercom functions in your flight deck. FMGS includes an Intercom application which allows you to interface your headsets and speakers with your online Vatsim or IVAO client and an Audio Control Panel (ACP) – either using the supplied virtual software panel, or configured to your specific … Continue reading
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