F16 Control Stick Connector Box & Base

• F16 Control Stick Connector Box

It’s wise not to trust the screw hole location too much. You should fit it and then use a transfer punch to find the correct location. The reason is that although I try to be as accurate in measurement as possible, there is always some error, particular in manufacturing error compounded by measuring error. Unless you use some 5 axes CNC milling machine to make this thing, your chance of achieving “interchangeable” parts is next to nil. Don’t do it.

Also, the inside reenforcement surface intersections is a little bit messy. The reason is that the original probably used some kind of moldable soft material to increase the curved surface thickness, and they were not exactly very precise about it. The widths are not consistent, i.e. they were a bit sloppy about it, and they just paste and sand it over to smooth it out. Now, when you do that, how am I supposed to precisely 3D model it? So, I patch it up as much as I could. Anyway, the reason they were sloppy about it is because it doesn’t matter. So, I slop over it too. ;-)

Also, please note that there is a shim piece between the connector box and the base box of the control stick. Mine seems to be “glued” to the connector box. I did not model this shim piece.

Data Source

F16 authentic simulator part

National Stock No & ADD : N/A

Item Nomenclature : N/A

Model # :81755 / 16F0144 -

Serial # : 8472-67

Manufacturer : N/A

Condition : Used

Inspection Date : N/A

Surplus Date : N/A

Original Price : N/A

Bought Price : Part of a complete populated set of left / right aux console

Serviceable Label Not Available

Created Date : Nov. 2, 2014

Last Modification Date : Nov. 2, 2014

Files :

Connector.SLDPRT

• F16 Control Stick Base

I created this 3D model, because I am contemplating on designing a brand new novel gimbal mechanism that will fit inside the F16 Control Stick base. So, I need a 3D model as the basis for the design.

You will notice that the inside of the cylinder is not modeled. This is because, 1. you and I don’t care, and 2. I need to have a completely different mechanism than the F16’s bending beam design.

F16 control stick’s force sensing mechanism basically works like this.

It has a center “rod” or “beam”, fixed on the bottom, and top of the rod is fixed to the base of the control stick. The control stick shaft has a ball and socket joint, albeit very think one (about 1/4” thick, but the ball diameter is about 2”). So, now, when the stick is tilted, the beam gets bent. This tilting of the stick is very minute, so is the “buckling” of the beam. Then, there are 2 sets of stainless steel cables connected to the center section of the beam measuring the movement of the beam buckling (one set for the X direction, one set for the Y direction). The stainless steel cables are connected to some magnet and coil sensors driven by LVDT AC signals measuring the magnetic field changes, hence indirectly measuring the movement of the magnet, thus cables, thus buckling distance, thus forces applied to the stick to generate such buckling. Whew...

The good thing about this is that there is almost no moving part, thus very little wear and tear. The bad thing is that it’s a very indirect measurement method and requires very tricky signal processing/filtering and careful calibration of the cables and magnets/coils.

This scheme was probably a state of the art in the 1960’s when Hall Effect sensors are not exactly very practical. But these days, I can have a Hall Effect sensor integrated with an MCU, DSP, Automatic Gain Controller, ADC, and DAC all in one single chip for the grand total price of USD $5.

The thing I don’t like “Force Sensing” sticks is that we humans rely on two different sensory perceptions to sense where the stick position is without looking at it. One is the force applied to the stick, and the other is the position of the arms/palm relative to the body. With force sensing sticks barely move, we give up the sensory perception of positioning of the arm/palm, etc. I don’t know about you... I hate it.

So, I want to design a new gimbal mechanism for a Hall Sensor that does not have all the problem ThrustMaster Warthog has, i.e dead center, and sticktion (and the stupid breaking of OOTB rubber O-ring that I have to design my own PTFE ring and supply fellow simmers, as TM does not fix it). After years of in-the-back-of-my-head, I think I probably solved the problem(s), so that I can fit it in an F16 control stick base.... hmm.... maybe. Well, the only way to find out is to have an accurate 3D model and design it using that model and then prototype it. Therefore, you don’t see any modeling of the inside of the cylinder of the control stick base. Those would have been designed for the bending beam design, and mine will be completely different.

In any case, you don’t need the bending beam design mechanism inside the cylinder anyway, as if you don’t have an authentic F16 stick/base, you most likely won’t be recreating the bending beam design. And if you have an authentic stick/base, you don’t need the 3D model anyway. ;-)