PROJECT DIARY (most current is at top of page)
Lots of new items! Still more detailed work on the interior and exterior cockpit shell: new Plexiglas windows, refurbished cockpit seating, completion of the Flight Engineer's panel, addition of the cockpit interior door and improvements to the exterior displays. view pictures
From Friday, September 17 through Sunday the 19th, Donald and I were in Flight Sim heaven! The AvSim.com annual convention featured a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend some time in United Airlines' REAL full-motion flight simulators. Fun fun fun! view pictures
Still more flying, primarily for the virtual airline I belong to, plus detailed work on the interior cabin lighting, as well as beginning some "eye candy" indicator lights. The work on the throttle and functioning gauges have been put on hold until we get the cabin lighting completed. view pictures
Lots of flying for fun, plus additional work on interior lighting. Initial planning begins on cockpit controls, such as engine starts, lights, and more. Restoration of the throttle quadrant is an upcoming project. view pictures
Time for a test flight! Once we got the painting completed, I just couldn't wait any longer, so we temporarily jury-rigged all of my GoFlight equipment and CH Flight Yoke into the cockpit, drug in a couple of desk chairs, and took to the virtual skies. We also started installing the final floor covering. view pictures
The plywood subfloor is done! Also, we've completed the exterior paint scheme of old Northwest Airlines colors, and all of the major structural pieces have been connected. We've attached the bulkhead that the instrument panel will attach to, and are dry-fitting the MIP and pilot and FO seats to get an idea of placement and other measurements. Next steps will be recovering the seats (that 30-year old foam and upholstery is MIGHTY skanky!) and putting in the final floor covering. view pictures
We continue with the flooring, adding layers in order to accommodate the raised portion closer to the glare shield. Once this has been completed, we are able to attach the nose sections. This completes the main piece assembly. This week we also begin to repaint the interior of the sim. We were able to closely match the original grey colors. Once the interior painting is complete, we will be able to attach the roof section, and check all of the pieces for adequate connections and integrity. view pictures
Construction begins! First order of business is to construct a new flight deck floor for the pieces to rest on. We need a new floor, because we were forced to take a reciprocating saw to the original floor of the sim, based upon height problems in our basement (see the Issues page for more details). 3/4-inch plywood is rather heavy, and loading 9 sheets of it from your garage to the basement when it's close to 10 degrees outside is not my idea of fun, but we manage. One particular item of note: the flight deck is actually two heights, there's about a 3-inch difference in height as you get closer to the glare shield. Once the flooring is in place, we can begin to fasten the side pieces to the flooring. view pictures
Today's the day we take possession! We start at 7:30am with disassembly, and by 3:00pm we're on the road back to Wisconsin.
We become aware of the trainer's existence via the Simpits forum. We travel to Minnesota to check it out. Wow! Most of the interior parts of the sim are made from what appear to be genuine Boeing parts, such as flight yokes and throttles. view pictures