Purchased a DA 42 Simulator

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todarrell
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Purchased a DA 42 Simulator

Post by todarrell »

Greetings,

I'm new here to DAN. How I got here is a pretty cool story.

I've been looking for a new project and this one, sort of, fell into my lap... I welcome all advice, feedback and support.

Two weeks ago, I found an OEM DA42 TDI simulator on eBay, listed for 12k. Brand new, they cost 325k so this seemed pretty crazy to me. That same night, I drove a few hours south to take a look. Packed into a woman's garage, there was the sim and, in pretty rough shape. The G1000 MFD & PFD had been removed and the fuselage was covered in an inch of dust. The wiring more resembled a birds nest than anything else. I took pictures, noted the serial number and asked questions. The story goes, this lady, selling it on eBay, won it from a storage auction with an $800 bid. Apparently a flight school closed their doors and left the simulator behind. She knew nothing about the simulator and wanted it gone. I drove home and began my research. First, I reached out to Diamond and learned this unit was built in 2005. Back then, Diamond enlisted the help of a company, FlyElite, to build all of their simulators. I spoke with anyone and everyone I could. Most told me to run from it and a handful of people told me it was an awesome idea and would be an excellent project. I learned that Diamond simulators are basically real aircraft. OEM Interior, canopy, controls, panel, all real. A few items obviously (gyros, mag compass) are not. Back then, FlyElite told Diamond, "these are the items we need if we're going to build your simulators." Diamond handed the items over from their assembly line. Also, I discovered, many of these items have great value. Items such as the panel, bubble canopy, G1000 audio stack (I'll be selling it soon) and countless others. The simulator came with 8 computers (all old) several monitors, the 180 degree screen, projectors and a ton of other stuff. Needless to say, I wanted it and my excitement was growing. I knew this was going to be an aggressive project.

I offered her half of what she was asking and she accepted!

Progress so far - 10 days in.
-transported home with a rented 20' box truck
-removed the panel
-attached the bubble canopy
-cleaned / vacuumed and washed interior, shampooed seats, washed, waxed and buffed the exterior
-put the sim frame on caster wheels for ease of mobility
-built a few work desks out of the metal panels from the computer mainframe (16 yrs old ancient technology)
-cleaned up most of the birds nest / wiring nightmare
-hired an engineer to help mentor me with Arduino- hardware, interface and software
-designed a diagram of my new sim room
-ordered a PC powerful enough to run the sim / few projectors, panel and such

My budgeted timeframe is somewhere between 6-18 months. I plan on spending 10 hours per week, most weeks, four of those will be supervised by my new BFF, the engineer. The entire simulator is already wired, I'm just checking and updating the interface to be compatible with USB / Ardunio. I'm pretty retro fitting the OEM simulator to be one big video game controller. All switches, potentiometers, steppers will be recognized. I've decided to order the Aviatek G1000 once my computer has shipped. I'd like to run MSFS2020. Later on, I may add XPlane

My budget is 28k
6,000 initial sim cost
4,000 PC
4,000 Aviatek G1000
900 projector & screen merge / warping software
400 additional software
8,000 engineer's labor to mentor / 100 hours @ 80 per hour
1,000 Arduino, PCB, wire, connectors etc
300 paint and supplies to prep room and screen
1,500 upgraded projectors 1080P short throw

Stay tuned.
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Don
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Re: Purchased a DA 42 Simulator

Post by Don »

Sounds like a great find. That said, sounds like your budget for new projectors are kind of low.
Diamond Star XLS, N623DS, SN40.1076
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Steve
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Re: Purchased a DA 42 Simulator

Post by Steve »

Photos, please...
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Colin
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Re: Purchased a DA 42 Simulator

Post by Colin »

Darrell, that's a pretty cool project. Where are you located? I have a DA42 and might be able to take you up if you want to see what a real ride is like.

Also, listen to Don about the projector cost. That's Don Stewart and Stewart Filmscreens are probably the number one name in the screens that the projectors get aimed at. So he knows what he's talking about.
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todarrell
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Re: Purchased a DA 42 Simulator

Post by todarrell »

Here are a few photos.

-New OEM Diamond 42 Simulator
-Condition I found the sim stuffed in a garage
-My temp workspace setup
-Panel minus the MFD / PFD
IMG_8791.jpeg
IMG_8781.jpeg
IMG_8739.jpg
IMG_8737.JPG
IMG_8736.jpeg
IMG_8735.jpeg
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todarrell
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Re: Purchased a DA 42 Simulator

Post by todarrell »

Thank you, Colin. I live on the west side of Orlando in Winter Garden, and yes, I'll listen to Don.
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todarrell
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Re: Purchased a DA 42 Simulator

Post by todarrell »

A few more
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todarrell
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Re: Purchased a DA 42 Simulator

Post by todarrell »

I removed most of the interior components (center console, panel, carpet, seats, canopy dash) I threw a few back just for the pictures.

My oldest son is graduating this week and will have a house full of people. My wife kindly asked if I could move the airplane behind closed doors.
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cptndavid
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Re: Purchased a DA 42 Simulator

Post by cptndavid »

Darrell, If you get to NJ I will take you up in my DA 42. PM me if you come this way.
David
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Don
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Re: Purchased a DA 42 Simulator

Post by Don »

Actually, you will need three projectors for a 180 degree HFOV. I see in your drawing that you only show to have two. Also, the the longer the throw distance from the lens to the curved screen the better as shown in the original Diamond design photos posted above. The way you have it drawn may be exceeding the lens depth of field so you won't be able to get a full focus on each projector. The off the shelf lens were designed for a flat screen, not curved, so you need lots of depth of field by using a long throw distance.
(I am Executive VP of Simulation and Aerospace Operations at our company. We build the partial visual systems for Boeing, Lockheed Martin, etc, along with the systems for Level D simulators for many of the major airlines, so I do this type of work daily)
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