F-15C Cockpit Project Relaunch

How I got the F-15C fuselage section and what it's current state is. If you're a fan of the F-15 or flight simulators, you're going to want to watch this.
Many thanks to the folks that have helped me over the years with information, photos, and documentation. Shout outs to the fine folks at the Air Force Historical Research Agency for not blowing off the weirdo with the F-15 wreck. :)
Thanks to those of you on the 22nd AMU FB group! You've been very kind in answering my questions. I hope your patience continues. :)
If you haven't watched or listened to the 10% True Podcast before, you're missing out on a great source of military aviation information and entertainment. Check them out here: www.10percentt... (YT channel: / @10percenttrue )
The F-15C project website can be found here: www.f15sim.com

[@brittishshorthair6709]

I was at the airshow with my father and 2 of my brothers Aged 9 and 16 I was 8 years at the time, and we ran threw a small forrest/treeline of pinetrees…to the fench..having a good view at the F15, still having the engines running at full speed … A teenage boy was hiding at a spot not allowed..seems he has taken some really good picture..i hope to see them at one time The shrimpboat story is a true story, behold that it is not the reason why he crashed..that was just a pilot mishap The first time i saw your channel..my brother showed it on his 4mb download pc

[@ondrejsk.290]

Díky!

[@f15sim]

You're welcome and thank you!

[@mikesapp3241]

My dude cut a F15 in half and hauled it home to build a sim. This is godamned spectacular, someone send this man an APu and a case of bourbon.

[@f15sim]

Technically it broke in half all on its own. ;)

[@Caswell_Official]

I’m sure the Warthunder forums have a diagram of the cartridge you’re looking for

[@f15sim]

😆 This would not surprise me at all, and is why I won't go looking there. ;)

[@scopefalcon]

with the new F-15C update in Falcon BMS, you can fully utilize your simpit :D

[@f15sim]

Yep. :)

[@matthijsgeutjes5238]

Nice! The 80-0007 crashed during a demonstration at Airbase Soesterberg in 1981. (Very close to where I live) It was brand new and had something like 16 flight hours on the airframe.

[@jw0stephens]

My cousin worked for McD in STL for 40 years, could have helped with the connections problem. He was in the area where aircraft were sent from customers to STL for service, etc. The AF would load them up and send flights of 4, sometimes with one radio and all junk. Also in the timeframe you speak of, Sony projection boxes were getting cheap. I've got 2 still in the warehouse I'd have given you then. They were broadcast grade, but ones that you'd find in such as clubs or larger areas were coming available. They have builtin convergence so you can focus and adjust the geometry to fit whatever you wish. Unfortunately all NTSC which is now not that interesting. Korea made displays so cheap I imagine you might do all in that now. Great to see your summary, and great job making the panels to repopulate the cockpit. It'll be great to see what you do with it down the line.

[@f15sim]

Oh man... That would have been nice. :D Thanks for the kind words!

[@jw0stephens]

@@f15sim I'll check with one of his sons. He is still working there, I think. He might have a hint as to maybe an alumni association or such for such employees. I don't know if any of the current production personnel could help you or how they are working on the current version of the F-15. I run the Microdata / McDonnell Douglas / Novadyne alumni group may be one for ex STL McD on the F-15 program somewhere.

[@f15sim]

@@jw0stephens That would be cool, thank you! You can DM me on Facebook if you find anything. These days I don't need parts as much as I need information *about* parts, like illustrated parts breakdowns.

[@mikepowell9316]

Nice video Gene. Very nice.

[@f15sim]

Thanks!

[@dampflieger]

Nice to see you back at it Gene.

[@f15sim]

Thank you!

[@mclsflightsimulator8226]

She's in a LOT better condition than last I saw her. And a lot less grass involved! LOL Great to see you back at it. Will watch religiously. Thanks, Gene!

[@f15sim]

Ok, you can't drop a comment like that without explaining a bit more. 🤣 When did you last see it?

[@mclsflightsimulator8226]

@@f15sim LOL, I witnessed the crash then was called out a few days later to asses the radome for airworthiness. I gave it its last rights.

[@f15sim]

@@mclsflightsimulator8226 That's cool. Did you happen to take any photos?

[@craiglizt8074]

Lots of memories here for me. I was a B-shopper at the 33rd FW in the 60th FS. We had 78, 79, 80, 82, and (a few) 85 models. Some I believe came from Bitburg. I love your project and hope you see it through!

[@f15sim]

Thanks!

[@psygnale]

I joined this channel about midway through you cutting the frame for the collimated display... FOURTEEN YEARS AGO. and somehow, your content is STILL exciting.

[@stevecanham1591]

FYI, the Counter Display Unit (CDU) advances one of the appropriate G counter by 1 at the apex of each g maneuver to log airframe stresses. The CDU receives input from the Counter Accelerometer Unit located in the right MLG wheel well. The G events are transcribed into the aircraft forms by the crewchief after each sortie. The same I spent 23 years as an Eagle avionics troop and currently teach F-15 Avionics. I'm looking forward to seeing what the future has in store for this project.

[@f15sim]

Thanks for the info! A friend sent me more info on that thing via email and I may do a video just on that box.

[@DeadmanWalking722]

Man it is good to see you back at it!!

[@f15sim]

Thanks!

[@wv838]

Absolutely delighted to see you back at it, Gene. My only concern is how much popcorn I'm going to need....

[@f15sim]

If I don't learn how to make shorter videos, you're going to need a LOT! 🤣

[@rightrudderleftstick]

40:35 interesting how the roll axis gets connected sideways to the left and into the floor. I always assumed it went straight through the triangle and directly underneath into the hydraulic valves Also once you modernize it with aliexpress/ebay steering dampers that’s going to feel real nice. Even without the cams to remove the center sloppiness just having those will improve the feel 1000x. Just feeling hydraulic resistance is going to bring the controls alive

[@f15sim]

I've actually been chatting with the LaserWing guy about connecting the pitch & roll controls to their FFB system. It looks like it might work out.

[@eaglekepr]

Gene, glad to see you back at it after so many years! Well timed, I just read Paul Woodford's blog entry as the Mishap Investigator then thought, "I wonder if there are any updates to the sim?"

[@f15sim]

I was the first one to reply to his article - it's in the moderation queue apparently. :)

[@Mustang1-1]

Wow! I would pay a great amount for that throttle! Ha! If you need information on making it work with the sim, I can help. I have interfaces F-16 throttles and many others. You can make it all work with just a usb cable, and a 12 dollar arduino. Even the transducer tdc works!

[@f15sim]

Already handled, thanks. ;) The throttle has been connected and working for ~20 years.

[@DavidCAllen50]

Great video Gene

[@f15sim]

Thanks!

[@CMDRTeatime]

Great to see you back working on what is one of (if not) the best flight sim project on the internet Gene

[@f15sim]

Thanks!

[@phantom9670]

Great project I have an F4C Phantom and restored it as a photo booth. Used it for about 10 yrs and still have it. Built an F18 cockpit.to use in VR and DCS. Let me know if you need help with this

[@f15sim]

Rumor has it that there's going to be an F4 coming soon for DCS. Ya'll might want to dig into that F4C again. :D Hit me up on FB - I've got some things I need to talk to you about. :)

[@phantom9670]

@@f15sim Yes how do you want to contact me?

[@f15sim]

@@phantom9670 I'll ping you on FB. :D

[@rightrudderleftstick]

50:22 keep it and hook it up to emulate the “record” input for nvida shadowplay or OBS video recording. In IL2 I’ve setup my guns/canons as a gun cam (with 60 seconds of preroll) and it’s a lot of fun to have.

[@f15sim]

So funny thing about that - I've got both the original HUD camera, and the VSD cameras, including the controller interfaces for them - they're untested, but may actually still work. the output would normally go to the 8mm VTR, but I bet I could tease a working video signal out of them. :)

[@sedlo]

This is incredible!

[@f15sim]

Thanks!

[@ukrainianfalcons19]

Amazing!!!!!!

[@f15sim]

Thanks! Слава Україні!

[@ukrainianfalcons19]

@@f15sim omg…. Героям Слава❤️😔

[@rightrudderleftstick]

Super excited!

[@f15sim]

You and me both! :)

[@rightrudderleftstick]

Just watching the vid now, but didnt realize you have the entire flightstick column intact. I wonder if i could make a version of my cam design as stand alone units you could connect the existing linkages to, and then run hydraulic steering dampers under the floor too to really get the stick field dialed in

[@rightrudderleftstick]

Also Noctum at open hornet has really great stick force data for the hornet, I wonder how to track down the same data sheets for the F-15C, things like breakout force and stick loading at specific deflection in inches. Then the cams could be shaped to exactly represent those forces, and the slightly nicer aliexpress steering dampers have tuning dials so the breakout force can be set correctly

[@f15sim]

@@rightrudderleftstick It would certainly be worth looking in to!

[@f15sim]

@@rightrudderleftstick The F-15 is kind of a weird beast with control loading. It's both fly by wire AND hydro-mechanical. I don't know if the F/A-18 uses a similar system. I recall that the system loads at 2.9lb of pull per G, so the max resistance is going to be around 26lbs at 9G.

[@10percenttrue]

Nice! Which mishap aircraft did the HUD come from, Gene?

[@f15sim]

I'm not sure. I was told that it came from a jet that was taking off near max gross and one of the engines died on takeoff, so the pilot punched out of it. It crashed straight ahead and broke in half at the same joint mine did. The back half burned nearly completely. The impact also split both HUD combiner lenses in half. Sadly, this is the best photo I have of that: www.f15sim.com/images/hud_left.jpg

[@Mark_SWZA]

Nice project, although mammoth. Just one of those modules is weeks of work! I wish you luck.

[@f15sim]

Thanks!

[@appa609]

You are insane. I love you.

[@f15sim]

Thanks! I get that a lot... I wonder if there's something to it? NAAAAH! 🤣🤣🤣

[@Mustang1-1]

Hey, so I see you have your military type displays like your mfd, hud, and vsd wired to simple vga and power cables. Could you provide information on how you did this as I have some newer military multi functional displays I would like to convert! -Regards

[@f15sim]

Originally it was: Step 1. Remove and discard contents of MFD, MPCD, VSD, etc. Step 2. Spend an eye watering amount of money (in year 2000 dollars) obtaining VGA CRTs that would fit in the available space. These days you can find LCD panels that are close enough to the correct size that you can use them on the cheap. If you want 1:1 aspect ratio panels in the 5-8" range, expect to spend thousands of dollars if you can find them. (and this is a MIGHTY big "if")

[@Mustang1-1]

Ah I see. I thought you used tue original screens. I wanted to use the original screens as since they are milspec I am sure the quality and refresh rate is crazy good. There apache mfs screens but am trying to use with my F-16 sim. They are colored screens too!

[@STUDIO-ii1to]

good

[@Tome4kkkk]

Impressive project. Any idea where I could get an assembly view of an F-5E control stick and force feel mechanism?

[@f15sim]

If you'll send me your email address, I can forward that on to a friend that just got an F-5 cockpit section. He may be able to help you out with the control stick drawings. As to the "force feel mechanism", are you referring to what simmers would call "force feedback"? If so, check out this guy: www.laserwing.com/miniffb - I'm going to be using a modified version of his system to put a control feel system into the F-15. It can be done for under about $1200.

[@f15sim]

(and thanks!)

[@Tome4kkkk]

@@f15sim No, I mean the actual force feel system on the actual aircraft. Springs plus additional forces in function of current G force via weight bob. Also please note that while F-5A and F-5E are quite similar the control system in the area of the force feel assembly has seen a significant redesign hence resources from the A variant (or T-38 Talon for that matter) may not translate directly to the E variant.

[@f15sim]

@@Tome4kkkk Ok, so if I understand you correctly, you're after parts or documentation on the *actual* system and you're not trying to simulate it?

[@Tome4kkkk]

@@f15sim I'm after information on the real thing in order to build my DIY flight controls better :) Apart from the artificial feel system there's also an additional force spring in the roll channel to limit roll in normal flight but provide additional authority for the purpose of landing. F-5E is renowned for its simplicity but a lot of thought went into the design of the control system.

[@nielsdorhout058]

Did you find any shrimp? 😂

[@Hitman1978]

FYI, Brooks AFB is in San Antonio, Texas and not FL....glad you've beaten cancer!

[@f15sim]

D'oh! Thanks!

[@coolhand66]

COOL! SIERRA HOTEL!