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August 1st 2005 Well
the Overhead Panel has now had all the switches and Annunciator Plates
fitted and I have left the wiring for another day.
August 3rd 2005 It's
been a busy week this week but I eventually sat down and studied the
drawings for the shell. I decided that the windshield assembly is the
most complex part of the shell, so that's where I started.
But be warned, some of the drawings that are available are not quite
right. I have had to be a little artistic with angles/measurements to
get the right balance which I am happy with.
 
August 8th 2005 I have
built the two side walls containing the side cockpit windows before
attempting to make the front sheild and mating it to the MIP.
August 10th 2005 Projector
arrived yesterday, so you just have to have a play with it don't you.
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August 25th 2005 I
have found 2 seats for the crew from a year 2000 FIAT BRAVA.. Exact
same grey as the cockpit, so i will get some sheepskin front panels
made up and that's got it beat :o)
 
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Sept.17th
2005 Sorry such a big gap, I just had a
weeks visit to Greece and things just didn't get done while I was
away. OK, so the MIP is basically finished, all that needs doing
is some tidying up. But what really stalled me was the
proper BOEING type knobs. Well I found them available at several
outlets, but the price is CRAZY!!! Seven Euro's each-NO WAY when you
need 29! So I made them for less than 2€ each. Click
HERE to find out how it's done.
 
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Sept.18th
2005 Today I finished the Fire Panel and I'm
well happy with it. It sure looks good. Radios and Nav,
XPNDR and ALT Pressure System working well, so I will take them out
and paint them Grey this week. To finish the Avionics Stack, I have
ordered the Data Printer Panel, The Cargo detection Panel and the
Audio Panel from FDS. I guess they will be here in 2 weeks. Work
on the overhead continues. This where we are at. Don't you
just love the knobs !!
October 11th 2005 Well
almost 3 weeks work wiring the overhead panel, but WOW it was worth
it. Lower overhead is almost finished. Just some small
details to take care of like painting the remaining knobs grey and
some switch guards black. More info on the Overhead
Page.
August 17th 2005 I
am being constantly asked how I have built this project around the
PMDG 737, so I have spent a little time putting together a basic sort
of guide which you can see HERE. More
to follow when time permits
August 18th 2005 First of all
Congratulations to ATTILA ABRAHAM who has been accepted
for Training as an Air Traffic Controller - Great News ! Work on the
shell continues. I thought the best plan was to build the frame and
then trim it with the panels when it all goes together after the
wiring has been installed.. My approach is start at the
back and work forward. Each piece is being made as a module to fit to
the last piece. Upto now I have made the Cabin Entry, the
Observers seat and the Rear Avionics / Systems Bay Frame.
August 31st 2005
OK today a parcel arrived from Holland and in it were the
GoFlight Radio Components. I already had 2. but I thought that
for more realism, I needed the 2 x GF166 units and the GF45 for
the Xpndr was on offer so I got one. I originally wanted the
CPFlight Radios, but they seem to be permanently out of stock.
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Sept.1st
2005 So I spent my free time yesterday building the Centre
Avionincs Bay, and today I fitted all the radio equipment. What
i've done is to set up 2 x GoFlight GF166 units as the Com and Nav
Radios, 1 x GF45 as my Transponder, 1 x GF46 primarily for my Pressure
Setting. But I have also fitted the GF-RP48 unit as the Audio Panel
and also it seconds as the standby switching for Nav/Com and a button
has been programmed to send the all important 'Alt + Enter' command to
switch into full screen mode. 
Something I added was the Ammeter, this is going to tell me the power
consumption of the 'office' when i'm finished.
The Data Printer, SELCAL Panel, AUDIO Panel and
the Cargo Fire Management Panel arrived and within a few days I have
them in, wired up and running.
Nov.15th 2005 Well I sort of had a
holiday, went to Greece for a week in October and then spent 10 days
driving back across Europe arriving in the UK
Nov.10th. Panels arrived to allow me to
complete the Radio Bay. Now we have Com 1/2, Nav 1/2, XPNDR, Audio
Panel, SELCAL Panel, Cargo Fire Management Panel and of course the
Data Printer. Work continues albeit slowly.
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 December
1st
2005 Gert Heijnis at FLYWARE
has really done the business. He has let me have the Beta of the
EICAS and Standby Instruments program FSXPAND. I have been
working on installing and configuring the Panel Switching function
which I am happy to report is working flawlessly.
December 10th
2005 I am in discussion with JAKUB at SYMULATORY about
ordering his Throttle Quadrant. i have saved all
my pocket money for ages and have decided to go ahead....not cheap,
but worth every penny to add authenticity.
Jan.6th 2006
Well now Christmas is out of the way I have managed to get round to
Assembling the FMC's. Both are Dummies at the moment, but hopefully
things will change. Time seems to be such an expensive commodity these
days.
As always the quality of the SYMULATORY items is exceptional. More
when I assemble the complete panel and fit to the MIP assembly.
Jan.12th 2006
OK so the dummy FMC's have been fitted into their frame in the MIP.
Until I work out how to fit a centre Screen, I might as well put the
space to good use. This is what it looks like.... 
January 16th 2006
Fitted the 'backlighting' to the FMC's and it looks perfect. Take a
look at the middle picture above.
January
26th 2006
The TQ has arrived from Jakub at SYMULATORY, but sadly it has been
damaged in transit. Oh I am so disappointed. But we are sending
e-mails back and forth in an attempt to rectify things.
February 3rd 2006
Nothing seems to be moving in my mails to Jakub, he wants me to send
the TQ back for repair. But to me that's crazy. As an engineer if I
cant fix it, then no-one can. So there's nothing for it but to go
ahead and repair it. Jakub has called on the telephone to assure me
that he will get the replacement parts in the mail ASAP. 
February
5th 2006
OK Panic over, after repairing the Throttle Quadrant, i had a few
problems with the Calibration of the Axes. All the
indications were that i had two faulty control boards because the
potentiometers and button circuits checked out ok. So what i did
was to go and buy two SAITEK Cyborg EVO sticks and use the boards out
of these. I finished up yesterday with the TQ in place, repaired
and working. Happy Days :o). i just need to sort out with
SYMULATORY about the damage WATCH THIS SPACE. 
February
1
5th 2006
Still no reply to e-mails or Replacement Parts for the TQ from
SYMULATORY, but the TQ and Fire Panel are in place and working like
Boeing made them. 
 
This
is the finished Effect. All the functions and assignments are working
perfectly. We have seperate throttles per engine, Speed Brake,
Flaps Lever and Thrust Reversers all Functional. 
 
The
Autothrottle Disconnect and TOGA buttons are functioning correctly and
add a great deal of realism to the whole thing. 
And
Finally the Engine Fire Control Panel has been Wired Up. All the
annunciators are hard wired for two circuits. One is actual
operational as per the BOEING 737NG POH and one is for the Test
Operation. 
May 31st 2006
Ok I appologise for the long absence, but things have been quite crazy
around here. Several trips overseas, my wife got a builder in to
do some work and we had to decorate everything and last but not least,
I have had to move the pit outside where work continues. PHOTO's/DIARY
Page 3 ------->
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- Photo's / Diary Page 2
