Author Topic: 270deg flight sim cockpit  (Read 3083 times)

270deg flight sim cockpit
« on: 16 May, 2020, 07:27:02 am »
This guy has built a replica of the A10 Warthog cockpit complete with 270deg wrap round curved screens.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJq3cq9N6xYF0fAvTgpwoBg

Its amazingly realistic and all the witches and gauges work and interact with the flight sim software. Check out the cold start video and the 270deg screen one.
The cost was relatively cheap considering that this would be a military garde simulator setup a few years ago.
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #1 on: 17 May, 2020, 08:40:32 am »
A Boeing 737 home cockpit.

https://youtu.be/xRaiCEzDFKA

A little less fun than a Warthog simulator I would have thought. Unless he has the 737 recoilless cannon mod.
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #2 on: 17 May, 2020, 08:42:43 am »
And an Airbus A320 one just to keep up the European side.

https://youtu.be/B0eSLEevK1I
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #3 on: 17 May, 2020, 11:20:10 am »
This guy has built a replica of the A10 Warthog cockpit complete with 270deg wrap round curved screens.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJq3cq9N6xYF0fAvTgpwoBg

Its amazingly realistic and all the witches and gauges work and interact with the flight sim software. Check out the cold start video and the 270deg screen one.
The cost was relatively cheap considering that this would be a military garde simulator setup a few years ago.

How many witches does it take to fly an A10?
Move Faster and Bake Things

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #4 on: 17 May, 2020, 03:13:29 pm »
I once watched an A10 doing strafing runs at Holbeach, I think it was, would not want to be on the other end of that!
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

Beardy

  • Shedist
Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #5 on: 17 May, 2020, 06:03:06 pm »
I believe they used to fly A10s out of one of the two airfields hereabouts (RAF Woodbridge and Rendlesham) just before we moved here as a family in ‘94. The local story of them being shipped back to America is that they were dumped over the side mid-Atlantic because no one really knew what they were going to use a couple of squadrons of short range ground attack aircraft for back in the US of A
For every complex problem in the world, there is a simple and easily understood solution that’s wrong.

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #6 on: 17 May, 2020, 08:04:17 pm »
After moving them out of here, I thought they'd gone to the ANG?
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #7 on: 17 May, 2020, 10:50:36 pm »
I believe they used to fly A10s out of one of the two airfields hereabouts (RAF Woodbridge and Rendlesham) just before we moved here as a family in ‘94. The local story of them being shipped back to America is that they were dumped over the side mid-Atlantic because no one really knew what they were going to use a couple of squadrons of short range ground attack aircraft for back in the US of A

There isn't a RAF Rendlesham1 - the other base at which A-10s were stationed was the nearby RAF Bentwaters - the USAF operated the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing across the two bases:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Woodbridge#Twin_Base_with_RAF_Bentwaters

After moving them out of here, I thought they'd gone to the ANG?

A trawl through Wikinaccurate confirms that was the case for A-10s operated by the 78th, 91st and 92nd Tactical Fighter Squadrons, but doesn't say anything about the A-10s of the 509th, 510th and 511th Squadrons, apart from noting the squadrons' transfers to Alconbury or Spangdahlem near the end of the Cold War.

I very much doubt that they were dumped at sea, which is what happened to a lot of kit at the end of WW2, for example. I'd have thought it more likely that they were transferred to the ANG or Air Force reserve units, mothballed2 or stripped for parts to support the remaining A-10 fleet.

1 There is a Rendlesham Forest near RAF Woodbridge, which was the scene of a notorious UFO incident: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendlesham_Forest_incident

2 The current Gargoyle Maps satellite views of the boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB show a lot of C-130s, S-3s, P-3s and KC-135s, but nothing looking like an A-10, though...
"He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." ~ Freidrich Neitzsche

Beardy

  • Shedist
Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #8 on: 17 May, 2020, 11:26:49 pm »
Correction: It’s RAF Bentwaters which just happens to be at Rendlesham.

 I knew this at the time, but couldn’t recall the name and thought I’d be lazy as no one would know  :facepalm: Bentwaters hosted the World Human Powered champinonships a few years ago.

Edit to add
I live in Woodbridge and have friends who have their studios on the Bentwaters airfield which is now a light industry estate. I’ve had the odd beer or three.
Rendlesham forest is a beautiful place. The UFO incident is variously put down to Orford Ness light house, stealth bombers before they were public, drugs, and Several combinationS of thE three. There are even some nutters that believe it was a ufo.
For every complex problem in the world, there is a simple and easily understood solution that’s wrong.

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #9 on: 18 May, 2020, 12:44:39 am »
Bentwaters is still a (marginally) active airfield. A number of light aircraft and preserved aircraft are kept there. There's also a very good Cold War museum. Woodbridge is now Rock Barracks and the airfield is being left to decay, but it is occasionally used by the Apaches from Wattisham for training. When the A10s left, most were indeed transferred to the ANG, but a fair few were redeployed to the Gulf and, later, Afghanistan.

Beardy

  • Shedist
Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #10 on: 18 May, 2020, 01:43:22 am »
The used Woodbridge last summer for rough landing strip testing and training. Rock is the home of the airborne engineers and they had the task of 'building' the rough airstrip parallel to the main drag. It was a bizarre sigh to see A400Ms landing on dirt next to a mile and a half of concrete.
For every complex problem in the world, there is a simple and easily understood solution that’s wrong.

Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #11 on: 18 May, 2020, 10:02:43 am »
Bentwaters is still a (marginally) active airfield. A number of light aircraft and preserved aircraft are kept there. There's also a very good Cold War museum. Woodbridge is now Rock Barracks and the airfield is being left to decay, but it is occasionally used by the Apaches from Wattisham for training. When the A10s left, most were indeed transferred to the ANG, but a fair few were redeployed to the Gulf and, later, Afghanistan.

When we were writing about 653 sqdn my cousin and I went to Wattisham to meet the Major in charge and get some info.  We travelled in his light aircraft and landed near one of their Apaches:



They gave us a run-down on what they could do and basically you wouldn't want to upset one.  More firepower than a WW2 battleship or something like that. 
Move Faster and Bake Things

Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #12 on: 18 May, 2020, 10:18:29 am »
Used to work in the US with a guy who flew A10s out of RAF Alconbury (I think) and used to tell tales of strafing/bombing runs over The Wash.

Last time I spoke to him he was building his own kit plane.
"Yes please" said Squirrel "biscuits are our favourite things."

Beardy

  • Shedist
Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #13 on: 18 May, 2020, 11:45:37 am »
Another tale from the Woodbridge rumour mill regarding the airfields hereabouts. When the ‘mericans left Woodbridge, it was offered to the Army Air Corp as a new base because it is significantly larger than Wattisham. The then commander at Wattisham declined to move primarily because he and his family were settled over there way and he didn’t want the personal disruptIon. The Airborne Engineers moved in. In recent years, there have been problems at Wattisham because it is,too small and there is no reasonable options for extending the place.

Lots of rumours in a ‘garrison’ town. None quite so outlandish as the tales our neighbour used to tell our son of the carrying ons hereabouts during the war. (Our neighbour was the town undertaker during the war) 
For every complex problem in the world, there is a simple and easily understood solution that’s wrong.

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #14 on: 18 May, 2020, 02:28:50 pm »
Another tale from the Woodbridge rumour mill regarding the airfields hereabouts. When the ‘mericans left Woodbridge, it was offered to the Army Air Corp as a new base because it is significantly larger than Wattisham. The then commander at Wattisham declined to move primarily because he and his family were settled over there way and he didn’t want the personal disruptIon. The Airborne Engineers moved in. In recent years, there have been problems at Wattisham because it is,too small and there is no reasonable options for extending the place.

Lots of rumours in a ‘garrison’ town. None quite so outlandish as the tales our neighbour used to tell our son of the carrying ons hereabouts during the war. (Our neighbour was the town undertaker during the war) 

You shouldn't believe all you hear. Base commanders don't get a say in whether their base stays open, closes, moves or whatever. They are told what's going to happen and it's their job to make it work. Woodbridge is not larger than Wattisham, though it did lack enough families accommodation which was solved by buying a new housing estate in Hadleigh. That's partly because quite a few of the housed families belong to deployed or otherwise away units, and not to units based at Wattisham.

Wattisham covers 434 hectares. Woodbridge covers 369 hectares. Wattisham houses around 2000 Army personnel, plus a further 1500 dependents and 500 contractors. Rock Barracks houses about a quarter of those numbers.

Bentwaters is still a (marginally) active airfield. A number of light aircraft and preserved aircraft are kept there. There's also a very good Cold War museum. Woodbridge is now Rock Barracks and the airfield is being left to decay, but it is occasionally used by the Apaches from Wattisham for training. When the A10s left, most were indeed transferred to the ANG, but a fair few were redeployed to the Gulf and, later, Afghanistan.

When we were writing about 653 sqdn my cousin and I went to Wattisham to meet the Major in charge and get some info.  We travelled in his light aircraft and landed near one of their Apaches:



They gave us a run-down on what they could do and basically you wouldn't want to upset one.  More firepower than a WW2 battleship or something like that. 

I live about 5 miles from Wattisham (and my home was on the base in 1969-71 when my Dad was OC 111Sqn). The Apaches are obviously frequent occupants of the skies hereabouts, and the have a habit of practising NOTE (nap of the earth) flying around the little river valleys in the area. The gunner, in the front cockpit, has a helmet-mounted sight to which the chin sensors are slaved. It's very disconcerting riding your bike along the local lanes with one of these things tracking you!

Beardy

  • Shedist
Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #15 on: 18 May, 2020, 03:13:44 pm »
Tim, do your figures include what is now Sutton village which was formally the American serviceman accommodation? Rock barracks, as you know, is a new build. I’m not doubting your knowledge, and I did say that mine came from the rumour mill  ;D, I’m just curious.

ETA, I just love the juxtaposition of camouflage uniform worn with a high viz vest.
For every complex problem in the world, there is a simple and easily understood solution that’s wrong.

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #16 on: 18 May, 2020, 08:22:37 pm »
I can't be certain when that area figure was derived, but the area covered by Sutton Heath (part of the married quarters, as you say) is a pretty small proportion of the whole base. I'm not sure if the Army retained any of the married quarters - and if they didn't, where they put families now. There were quite a few MQs at RAF Bawdsey Manor, but I think they've all gone now. Of course, there were bucketloads at Bentwaters, maybe they still have some? (Bentwaters itself is a much bigger camp than Woodbridge and had size been the issue, would have been a much better choice). The new-build barracks are on the site of what was a fairly ramshackle group of engineering buildings. They reclad and reconditioned many of the USAF buildings associated with the airfield, and they destroyed the rather splendid Officers Club to make a new combined Mess, sadly.

I think the runway at Woodbridge is technically under 'care and maintenance', but the Army have never paid more than lip service to that categorisation, and have made unusable pretty much every ex-RAF airfield they've taken over (which is a huge number). It's a shame, because it's one of the three emergency airfields built in WW2 which had runways of 9000' by 750', especially to be able to accept lots of crippled bombers on their way home. The others were Manston and Carnaby.

Beardy

  • Shedist
Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #17 on: 18 May, 2020, 08:28:55 pm »
Thanks Tim, it’s always interesting to hear a bit more about the local stuff.
For every complex problem in the world, there is a simple and easily understood solution that’s wrong.

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #18 on: 18 May, 2020, 09:04:23 pm »
The 'Twin Bases' have quite a history, and it's worth visiting the museum whenever it reopens. There's some good mountain biking to be had round the forest as well! The campsite at Tangham was my kids' favourite holiday location back in the day.

Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #19 on: 18 May, 2020, 09:36:48 pm »
I had a job interview in July 92' in Stowmarket. Frequent interruptions from Phantoms blatting past. By the time I was back there in September the Phantoms had been scrapped.

I cant remember if Bentwaters still had A10s at that point, but RAF Mildenhall was pretty busy. RAF Woodbridge was more or less logistics IIRC.

I remember once driving back down the A45 and seeing a very large aircraft banking steeply over the town. Think it was an F111.

That really was the tail end of so much stuff based in the east of England. Far as I'm aware there are just the F15s at Lakenheath.

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #20 on: 18 May, 2020, 09:45:55 pm »
Mildenhall is very active with KC-135s, C-130s, Ospreys (V-22) and a whole load of other stuff. Lakenheath is F-15s and UH-60s for now, but will be F-35s fairly shortly. Marham is the RAF's only remaining East Anglian airfield, but it is very much a superbase these days, with F-35s as its primary focus. Sculthorpe is still used for training, but all the buildings are derelict.

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #21 on: 19 May, 2020, 05:45:29 am »
I've not seen any F35's yet.  Also used to see the occaisional big US helicopter, I can never remember which designation (MH-53?), but they seem to have disappeared over the last few years, as have the KC-10's.  There is a RC-135 (I think, or something like that) that is also now a regular.
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #22 on: 19 May, 2020, 10:35:22 am »
The MH-53’s role at Mildenhall has been taken over by the Osprey. It still has many other roles in the US Forces elsewhere, and I believe there’s a new version coming along. The KC-10 is still around, but there are none in Europe and with the pullback of US forces from Europe, there’s not much opportunity to see them here, but they’re due to remain in service to 2043. The KC-135s - and eventually the KC-10s - will gradually be replaced by the KC-46 (B767 derivative).

The F-35 is now well-established at Marham. The first ones are due at Lakenheath in November 2021. They’ll be the conventional takeoff and landing F35A variety, not the STOVL F-35B that the RAF and RN have.

Tim Hall

  • Victoria is my queen
Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #23 on: 19 May, 2020, 01:30:04 pm »
A Boeing 737 home cockpit.

https://youtu.be/xRaiCEzDFKA

A little less fun than a Warthog simulator I would have thought. Unless he has the 737 recoilless cannon mod.
I've just watched a 45 minute video which starts with "I'll be telling you how I converted the nose section of a scrapped Boeing 737 into a personal flight simulator in the basement of my house".

Linky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaGVz9wZBis
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Pingu

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Re: 270deg flight sim cockpit
« Reply #24 on: 21 May, 2020, 09:58:24 pm »
2 The current Gargoyle Maps satellite views of the boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB show a lot of C-130s, S-3s, P-3s and KC-135s, but nothing looking like an A-10, though...

Scroll, scroll, scroll...

Airfix B52's!