News

The TRC 472 Cabin is finally shipping. We’ve made some extra images to show you how fantastic the Cabin looks. Next week we will have new studio quality images, including detailed interior images. For now, enjoy these pictures.

And this is how it’s partly assembled, packed and sent to Mr. Elmer Chen in Hong Kong.

Mr. Elmer Chen, our first customer to receive the TRC 472F Cabin, standing in front of the new Airbus A380 at Chek Lap Kok airport which is to replace former Kai Tak airport.

We’ve just released our newest product: Rudder Pedals with Proportional Brake System and Damper. The high quality brass damper will ensure more feeling and back pressure to give the rudder pedals a better realistic feeling. From now on all our Rudder Pedals systems are equipped with an AD Converter, which translates the analog signal to a digital signal. This AD converter improves the precision of the potentiometers enormously from 256 steps to 1024 steps for each potentiometer.

More information can be found on the Rudder Pedals with Proportional Brake System and Damper product page.

At this moment we are working very hard on the development of our TRC472F. The certifiable version of the TRC472 comes with a full fuselage to create a very realistic experience when flying in our professional Flight Simulator. Since all our products are developed as high quality replica’s of the original product, the fuselage also needs to be as realistic as possible.

For the first prototype we used heavy duty fiber glass, but it is very difficult and time consuming to use polyester for serial production. So we decided to use vacuum forming, like we also do for our glareshield. Using vacuum forming, we can design the exterior and interior of the fuselage as realistic as in the real aircraft.

Here you can find some images of the production process. We expect the fuselage to be ready and available within one month. The fuselage will also be available as a separate product.

First we designed all the elements for the full fuselage using 3D cad software.

From these files, foam molds are produced using a computerised mill. In the image above you see the interior of the TRC472F andin the image below you see one of the doors.

These foam molds are used to create “sand” molds for the aluminum foundry.

Finally, one of the molds for one side of the fuselage. As you can see, these molds are very big.

The liquid aluminum is poured in one of the molds.

Once the mold has been filled with liquid aluminum, it has to cool down for a day or two, before the “sand” mold can be taken apart.

When all the sand has been removed, we finally have a vacuum mold.

Using a big vacuum forming machine, the parts of theTRC472F fuselage are being formed. Big ABS sheets are being heated in this machine, before forming them around the aluminum mold using vacuum technique.

Our first test product.

And this is what your view will be, sitting in one of our TRC472F Flight Simulators.

To be continued.

We’ve just released a new software version (1.8) for the complex USB Gauges and instruments like the Wet Compass, USB Trim Wheel and USB Flaps Switch.

It contains the software to drive the instruments from Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002, 2004 (FSUIPC needed) or Flight Simulator X Deluxe Version (FSUIPC not needed) and the software to calibrate the gauges. The software supports Windows Vista 32-bit and 64-bit.

New in this version:
- Driver for USB Flaps Switch
- Driver for USB Trim Wheel
- Driver for powered USB Trim Wheel (to be announced)
- Lag in Heading Bug movement has been resolved. Now the Heading Bug on screen follows the physical Heading Bug directly and smoothly.
- Several minor bugs have been resolved.

The new software can be foundon the Software Download page:
http://www.simkits.com/software.php

From left to right: Walter Berkouwer, Project Manager ASTI (Aerospace Software & Technologies Institute - Delft University of Technology), Meine Oosten director ASTI, Curt Roth Sr. director and founder TRC Simulators, Prof. Bob Mulder, Delft Aerospace University, Curt Roth jr. Technical director TRC Simulators, Hubert Roth, Commercial director TRC Simulators.

The Dutch Aerospace University has received the FNPT1 (JAA) Certification for its TRC472 trainer. The certification is similar to the FAA level 6 requirements.

The simulator is created using the range of realistic Simkits instruments.

To achieve this certification, real flights have been carried out with a Cessna 172 Skyhawk, equipped with measuring instruments, force recorders and video equipment. The measuring results have been incorporated in the TRC472F flight dynamics model.

The flight dynamics of the TRC472F simulator are therefore extremely close to the real Cessna 172 Skyhawk.

The instruments used in the certified TRC472F flight simulator are available for flight simulator companies planning to build a certifiable simulator.
Just check for the instruments with “commercial license”.