Materials for cockpit mockup

I want to build a cheap mockup of my cockpit to check out seating angle, instrument location, control location, etc.

Just wondering what you guys are using to build a mockup. I plan on building the finished plane with steel tube, I was going to build the mockup with cheap wood but the only straight wood I can find in sizes similar to what the tube will be are trim grade wood, and that costs almost as much as 4130. Most of what I am seeing that is cheap in the sizes I would use are filler & spacer stock which is so warped it is only suitable to start a fire with. I thought about using 3/8" plywood but it has gotten pretty pricey & none of it is straight either.

Cardboard with a minimal PVC pipe and wood frame worked just fine for the mockup of my LSA cockpit.

Was that strong enough to actually sit in? I'm not exactly small. I want to make sure the seating position is comfortable for longer periods, as I have some lower back issues, I figured I would sit in it out in the shop while I watch the ball game. :)

How about particleboard or MDF? Around $20 for particleboard and $30-$35 for MDF (4X8 sheets), but at least it will be straight and not warped.

That is a thought. I might take a trip to the lumberyard later today. Too hot to be working outside, might as well be working on the plane design in the air conditioned shop. :)

Oh, crap - I just realized my circular saw is up in the attic where I was working on putting down a floor. It is already close to 100 up there.

My good sawhorses are up there also...

Another thing I was thinking about was cutting a mockup out of foam insulation & gluing it together, not sure how well the seat back would hold up though.

It would be a lot easier to cut out.

If you have a table or radial arm saw, you can rip cheap 2x4s into almost any size you want. I make almost all my own moldings that way, far cheaper than buying trim wood and I get the sizes I want, not just what the lumberyard sells.

Mike,
Since you want to sit in your mockup, unless you are going build around something load bearing (like a chair), I'd stick to wood. YMMV....

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Originally Posted by Auburntsts

Mike,
Since you want to sit in your mockup, unless you are going build around something load bearing (like a chair), I'd stick to wood. YMMV....

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I'm gonna look & see what my options & price are - I did find some 2" foam out in the barn that was left over from putting in the heated floor, I could use that as fill to keep the seat from caving in. (as long as it is sitting on the concrete floor)

Mike,
Whatever will get the job done - remember that perfection is the enemy of good enough. To liberally paraphrase Monty Python's Holy Grail, ".. It's only a mockup."

Mike: Use PVC pipe and fittings to give the basic structure and cardboard and poster board where you need "solid surfaces" As for the seat, some cut up scrap lumber as necessary and if you make the seat back seperate, you could use a couple of bolts to hinge the back and bottom to work on the required angles. If you set the mock-up on the floor, you can leave the seat unattached and use some scrap blocks to support off the floor and at the correct height until you get it tuned in just like you need it.

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Originally Posted by Mike Switzer

Was that strong enough to actually sit in? I'm not exactly small. I want to make sure the seating position is comfortable for longer periods, as I have some lower back issues, I figured I would sit in it out in the shop while I watch the ball game. :)

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I worked for both my fiancee and myself. I'm 165 lbs and she's maybe 180 lbs. Then again, our mockup was just intended to sit on the floor and be used for ingress/egress experiments and instrument panel layout, etc. For the seats, we used a standard "conference" chair with padding glued on to the appropriate thickness and the base was simply a milk crate cut to the correct height. Not the prettiest mockup ever but it worked for our purposes.

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Originally Posted by Mike Switzer

Oh, crap - I just realized my circular saw is up in the attic where I was working on putting down a floor. It is already close to 100 up there.

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Why let that stop you. Here in Arizona, we don't stop working until the temperature hits 110 or so. 100 is no problem and I've already been working in the garage building my homebuilt with the temperature over 100 this year.

If I was in Arizona it wouldn't bother me. It is ridiculously humid here.

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Originally Posted by Mike Switzer

If I was in Arizona it wouldn't bother me. It is ridiculously humid here.

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Now Mike......I live in the upper midwest and being from the Louisiana Gulf Coast, I have to laugh when people here tell me how humid it is.

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Originally Posted by Bill

Here in Arizona, we don't stop working until the temperature hits 110 or so.

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"We" who? I replaced a front axle on my car last week in my garage and thought I was going to die. You're a hardier soul than I!

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Originally Posted by steveinindy

I'm 165 lbs and she's maybe 180 lbs.

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And if she reads these forums, you're a dead man. ;)

A bit of an update - I got some 1" white foam insulation from Menards for $8/sheet (1/2 what the pink stuff is & the pink was all tongue & groove).

I was initially going to clamp & glue it with construction adhesive, but my clamps are too short & I was too cheap to pay $39.99 each to buy longer ones, so I tried screwing a couple pieces together with 3" deck screws - it works pretty good, and I can take it apart if I want to change something. Using a carpenter's knife & my drywall square to score the foam, then snapping it just like drywall.

Attachment 2006Looks like I have a passenger... :DAttachment 2007

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Originally Posted by Eric Page

And if she reads these forums, you're a dead man. ;)

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No, she carries that "extra weight" very well if you follow my drift.

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Looks like I have a passenger...

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LOL. BTW, what kind of car is that in the background of the first picture? I looks really familiar and very fun.

76 MGB - a conflicting source of fun & frustration & proof that British Leyland engineers put 2 pieces of metal together & invented the oil leak.

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Originally Posted by Mike Switzer

76 MGB - a conflicting source of fun & frustration

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That's the kind of car my dad had when he met my mom. I've seen pictures of him with the car but I just couldn't remember what it was called.

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& proof that British Leyland engineers put 2 pieces of metal together & invented the oil leak.

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Hahahaha. Nice. I always thought it was the invention of whomever invented the radial engine. ;)

That car also has the first self-dimming headlights & the first intermittent wipers, both invented by Lucas Prince of Darkness....

I have a jar of genuine Lucas wiring harness smoke in the trunk just in case my wiring harness decides to release all of its smoke at a inopportune moment... :cool:

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Originally Posted by Mike Switzer

That car also has the first self-dimming headlights & the first intermittent wipers, both invented by Lucas Prince of Darkness....

I have a jar of genuine Lucas wiring harness smoke in the trunk just in case my wiring harness decides to release all of its smoke at a inopportune moment... :cool:

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The real reason that the English drink their beer warm is because their refrigerators are made by Lucas.:rollseyes:

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Originally Posted by Bill

The real reason that the English drink their beer warm is because their refrigerators are made by Lucas.:rollseyes:

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Now that explains a lot...:D

One minor issue I was made aware of this morning - evidently white foam is an excellent claw sharpening medium. This has me worried about what will happen when I get to the point of covering the real thing in fabric.

Declaw the cat?

Not an option.

Hmmm....you have quite the predicament there.