Been gathering parts for our control column construction which will begin real soon. The design for this is now in the design section. I had alot of "fun" (cough) dismembering two old bikes today for their drive cogs and chains. Started with a spanner ... ended with an angle grinder! :) These will be used to interconnect the aileron (bank) movements on the control yokes.

Neil and I are off to the Avalon Airshow for the next few days. We're going to be real nerds and irriate the other passengers on the flight by running through our 737 checklists as we go. LOL - well, maybe not!

Constructed the shelving/rack in the IT bay. This is between the instructor station and the cockpit and will hold all the PCs and network gear. Shelves and supports are in a lightweight but strong metal (butchered from a shelving kit) and made to allow airflow. You can see the ducting for all the cabling looms lying loose on the floor. These areas will all be lined out later and there will be a small entry door from the back.

This shot shows the electrical junction box above the IT rack. Just one powerboard in so far for looks ... many more to come! :) And after a direct lightning strike a few weeks back it will have very good electrical protection on power and ethernet lines.

Been plodding away on the internal linings of the rear section. I'm using 3mm MDF for the lining and PVC molding / joiner strips. It will all be painted when finished. This shot shows progress on the instructor station. This work is very tedious, but all part of the bigger picture.

We finally got the locks on and door plates completed. Using a standard door lock plus a deadlock for increased security. There will also be an internal door to the cockpit itself.

Sorry for the long gap between posts! Have been rather busy with real life, study, and more design work. We've been working on the sim but nothing that we can show much with pictures.

Have made alot of progress with systems:

• Finally got the CDU hang problem fixed (it was a USB onboard controller). A USB powered hub has fixed it.
• Installed the CPFlight daisy-chain extender to distribute 6v power around the radio units. They all work much better now - no voltage loss.
• Got the PMsystems / PMDG conflicts ironed out .. can start engines again now!
• Replaced PC5 (got zapped in a thunder storm!) with a higher-spec PC and is going well.
• Did alot of work on FS sounds, PMsounds etc. to improve aircraft, ambient and event sounds. Based these on a real-life cockpit video and this has made a big difference.

Neil and I have been doing much more online flying with the sim, plus some offline flying to get ourselves better trained on systems and procedures. It's important to KEEP FLYING while building!

Working away on the internal trims. Here's a test-fit of the captain's side trim and pedestal (not quite finished yet). I'm using vinyl to cover the MDF. Hard work, but it looks good when finished.

OK ... here's the next huge step in the project ... yokes, columns and pedals have arrived from the Airline Pilots Historical Society (USA). These are genuine parts stripped out of real 737s and reconditioned too. Thanks heaps to Nick and the gang at APHI for sourcing these and getting them to me.

Firstly ... the packaging!! Nick said this would be "special". This is some sort of aircraft memorabilia ... any guesses as to what it is? Send me an email!

This maintenance card came with one of the reconditioned yokes

And here's the Boeing markings on the back of a column

And here is one of the gorgeous columns/yokes. What a thrill it is to finally get my hands on a real yoke! It's also great to think about the millions of miles this yoke has flown and all the stories it could tell ...

Below are a range of pictures of the yokes. Trip meters, all buttons, wiring, and even chart holders are included

Here is the business end of the columns

And often downtrodden but not forgotten! ... the rudder pedals ...

So, now all we gotta do is figure out how to mount, force-load, interface and motorise these babies. Oh boy ... what a challenge!

My first foray into building the internal trims. Pictured is the captain's side pedestal, made with MDF and covered in vinyl. There are a few fittings to be added to this yet. Took 6 hours to plan, measure up and construct. Second one took 4 hours :).

This is the arm rest / window slider for the right-hand side of the flightdeck Made from MDF and covered with vinyl.

Captain Juliana: "CRM = we do things MY WAY, so don't touch anything, ok!"

Captain Sienna: "Now, where is that TCAS traffic... ?"

The overhead project continues... most LEDs are now in and wired up

Putting the door together. Wrapping a door in 6mm aluminium takes 2 people, 4 hours, and alot of head scratching!

And here's the (almost) finished product - prior to the handle and lock being fitted.

Neil has got most of the switches wired in the overhead now. LEDS and servo gauges are next.

If it looks like the project is proceeding quickly and easily ... well ... it's not all smooth sailing. I'm currently having a frustrating time with the CDU units. I've had problems with them losing contact with their host PCs (via USB) and jamming. It's getting better but not completely solved and I'm working on it with FlyEngravity support (thanks Stef!).

Also having problems with a gremlin in the flaps mechanism. "Something" keeps commanding flap movement without my input and the actual flap lever fights the gremlin making the flap position oscillate wildly. We had an earlier problem with completely illogical flap movement but cleared that by deleting the FSUIPC.INI file and recreating it. However we don't know what's causing the problem in the first place ... grrrr!

On the plus side we've not got the flight model, dynamics and sounds working like a treat. It is a joy to fly now, except for the above issues :(

Rough cut and placement of the rear aluminium panels. We're using blind rivets to attach the aluminium, after pre-drilling holes through the steel frame.

And later ... rubber edging installed. This is glued on with Selleys silicone roof cement.