Transavia 737-700 Cockpit

[capetonian]

Hi all,

Although I am not completely new here (my intro post is HERE! (http://www.mycockpit.org/forums/showthread.php?t=16083))I decided that now that I finally have my butt in gear I should start a thread in this section of the site. I have been updating my progress on different fora (A Dutch scale modelling forum (http://forum.modelbrouwers.nl/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=24970) and A South African Aviation Forum (http://www.avcom.co.za/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=54968)) and I think it would be better to have one central thread, so here we go .......

I'll continue this post with the opening post on the above mentioned SA forum and we'll take it from there:

A few pics of our progress:

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/phase1.jpg

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/flaps1.jpg

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/gear1.jpg

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/leds1.jpg

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/usboutputs1.jpg

[capetonian]

Tinned some cables, I decided to use UTP because of the bundles of 8 wires in pairs.
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/wire1.jpg

... an hour later, complete with LEDS.
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/wire2.jpg

LEDS pushed through from behind....
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/gearup.jpg

... and now with the annunciators in place, ... only on 4.5v now, they should burn a little brighter when they are finally fitted
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/gearup1.jpg

.... to be continued ....

[capetonian]

... and the following evening....

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/du1.jpg


http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/du2.jpg


http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/du3.jpg

[capetonian]

and the following evening.......

I must admit the FS weekend gave me a major kick under the butt!!

Gear lever, wired and tested!
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/lg-1.jpg

First Officers panel is wired ....
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/fodu-1.jpg

I started to make some wire harnesses, here is the harness for the 4 annunciators on the Autobrakes panel, AUTOBRAKE DISARM, ANTISKID INOP, LE FLAPS TRANSIT, all of those amber and LE FLAPS EXTEND (green).
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/harness1.jpg

Here is the green LED for the LE FLAPS TRANSIT annunciator:
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/annun-2.jpg

.... with the lights out....
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/annun-3.jpg

[capetonian]

Update: 15 November 2009

It has been a very productive weekend, with a predominantly wet, chilly weekend in Holland (why did I ever come here.... :) ) I spent most of saturday evening soldering resisters onto some circuit board. A kind of breakout board I guess:

Look what the postman brought on Friday: (I think the market value of Conrad has gone straight up since I got into this hobby!!!, Note the moral support of my good mate, The Famous Grouse).
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/151109/components1.jpg

....my first breakout board, .. to be used with the LED's for the overhead.....
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/151109/breakout1.jpg

I had forgotten how much I hated soldering, .... but I seem to be getting the hang of it again...... dreading putting the OpenCockpits stuff together though , .. I might get a new soldering iron before I attempt those cards.

After the breakout board I lost the urge to build and went for a quick flip from EDDS to EDDN. I like hie project magenta stuff, but as soon as the MIP stand is built (planning = next week) I am going to reinstall all my fs pc's and go the FlightDeckSolutions way. I really liked what I saw last year and again, last weekend in Lelystad. Bart was happy to answer any questions and the price tag is really a lot more appealing to me than PM.

[Joe Cygan]

Great work capetonian and welcome to mycockpit!

[capetonian]

Sunday

Today I had a brain fart, ... (actually I blame it wholly on Ian Sisson and Mark & Dave with that lovely little piece of kit they had in Lelystad)(Guys, I was the large South African bloke with the Springbok Jacket on!!, great meeting you all). I need an overhead one day, .. and although it's not at the top of the priority list, why not just make a smaller one, just like Mark & Dav's box, that way I can connect all my switches to my OpenCockpits cards and play around with that stuff too. It also means that I can make wiring harnesses for the Annunciators for each individual panel.

So off we went..... a quick image of an overhead, run it through poster razor and zip off to the office to copy it on the color copier. Once home, stick the 4 A4 sheets together, stick the whole thing onto a piece of 3mm Plexiglas and drill out all the annunciator and switch holes.

4 hours later I had a mini overhead with 36 odd switches and a load of small holes. I drilled all the switch holes with a 6,mm bit and the LED holes with a 5mm bit. I ran out of switches half way but bought a lot of 50 new ones on Ebay for U$20, they should be here in the course of the week and then I can put the missing switched in the right place.

I know that the LED and switch holes have not been perfectly measured out but you know, this is a test rig, a quick and dirty project to fill a Sunday Afternoon. Oh, here, a few pics before you all lose interest:

Ai but she looks really nice! (now just imagine that pronounced in a native South African Accent :) )
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/151109/overhead3.jpg

From the side....
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/151109/overhead2.jpg

...the back.....
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/151109/overhead4.jpg

...I could not resist, .. quickly hooked up a led for the pic:
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/151109/groundpower1.jpg

I drew out the shapes for a base and two sides of the Overhead mounting stand, I'll cut them out tomorrow and build the stand.
..the sides....
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/151109/stand1.jpg
...the base.....
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/151109/stand2.jpg

Then came the problem , ... I had nothing to do after dinner, .. I put on a DVD (Airline USA with a load of South West 737's) and pulled a piece of cable out of the shed. I took this piece of cable home with me after the KPN put a whole bunch of ISDN lines into our datacenter about 9 years ago (previous employer was an ISP). This was the piece of cable that was pulled up into the building and then cut off. I saw it lying on a pile of rubbish and, being the hoarder that I am, ... I grabbed it and took it home. As a kid in SA we used to play with this wire, it was the original Scooby Doo and really, the things we made out of it, . little did I know that about 30 years later I'd be using similar wire to build a 737 cockpit!!!

The 2,2m bit of cable, straight from the shed:
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/151109/cable1.jpg

... 35 seconds and one sharp knife later....
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/151109/cable2.jpg

I took some of the cable and cut it into smaller 35cm sections, these will do fine for the overhead switches....
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/151109/cable3.jpg

...now off to bed I guess... :)


Ohyes, .. Mark & Dave, if you read this, .. please put me on your list, if you guys go commercial with that lovely little power switching thingie than I WANT ONE!!!! ( Mark and Ian , thanks for explaining it to me in language that I could understand :)

[capetonian]

Thanks a lot Joe.

[xtreme3d]

Nice, someone's been busy. Great work and motivation. Keep us on the loop and don't forget the pics ;).

[capetonian]

Thanks for following my build,

Monday, 16 November 2009

Today only a small but vital update.

I zipped out to the shed and chopped up a piece of 8mm MDF to make a QaD (Quick and Dirty) stand for my QaD test overhead. Since the switches are all small I think I will leave them in this 'overhead' after wards and use it as a test overhead if I need to test stuff of if I want to help someone else test stuff, it's nice and portable :)

Anyway, too much text and no pictures........ so here we go:

The frame .....
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/161109/ohtest1.jpg

... panel just slides in for easy access ....
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/161109/ohtest2.jpg

.... and there we go , .... lets get soldering!!
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/161109/ohtest3.jpg

[Holclo]

Have sent you a PM
Bill

[Radar]

COOL8-)
http://www.mycockpit.org/photopost/data/591/Picture_010_2_.jpg
Thats how I did my overhead. You are doing a great job. You have inspired me to start wirering my overhead. But unlike you I don't know much about wireing.

Do you think this board would be worth checking out.
http://desktopaviator3.tripod.com/Instructions/Model_2120/index.htm . I'm not a advertizer for this site. I 'm just would like your opinion.

Cheers
Mike

[capetonian]

Hi,

Well you make me sound like a wiring expert but I am far from that, .... I really am just plodding along trying new stuff as I go. As far as the wiring is concerned I use UTP cable, there are 4 twisted pairs of wire in each piece of UTP, that means I have one ground/common wire and 7 things I can connect. I use this approach with LEDS. One common ground for the positives and then eacj of the other 7 wires can be used with the opencocpits card outputs.

[capetonian]

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/211109/cpt1.jpg

It's all just lying flat on top of the monitor.... just to see what it looks like, .. and Ei'konna, . she looks like magic!!!!!


@Radar. I have not tried the keypress card but from what I have seen/read I prefer Leo Bodners card (I have one here and need to buy another two). Each card is good for 8 analogue inputs and 36 switches. (6x6 contacts = 36 different switches).

The OpenCockpits Master card can handle 71 inputs AND it has outputs for leds or displays.

I am still dreading starting with SIOC and I can see myself screwing it up .... but that's why we have a forum like this, ... imagine trying to build on of these things 20 years ago , .. even if we had the hardware that we have now, .... we'd be totally lost without fora like MyCockpit.org and other users groups!!

God bless the Internet ....and Mr Boeing :)

[Steve A]

Is UTP cable the same as ethernet cable (cat5 ?)

Been following this photo post, You are making it look sooo easy ;)

[capetonian]

Hi, Glad my thread has some followers :)

Yes, UTP cable is Network cable, you can get CAT5, CAT6 etc , ...

Ha, .. everybody else makes it look so easy, ... really you should hear me swearing when things don't work the way I want them too :) ... it's a totally new language.........

[wingnut]

Is UTP cable the same as ethernet cable (cat5 ?)

Been following this photo post, You are making it look sooo easy ;)

UTP = Unshielded Twisted Pair.

Cat3, Cat 5, Cat 5e and Cat6 are all types of UTP cable.

see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twisted_pair

[capetonian]

Thanks for that additional info wingnut!

[capetonian]

Seeing that panel last night, .. all lit up like that really got me going today, .... I did a lot of solder work and some 'admin' but than I got down to the practical side of things....

Some screws to hold components on to the MI(P:

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/221109/screws1.jpg

...and a bit of carpentry, ... I aint a carpenter, .. but I am proud of my efforts....

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/221109/mipstand1.jpg

That's my son's had on the imaginary yoke and throttles as he tries the panel for size. I have used some gaffer tape to secure everything together for the picture, .. this will definitely damage the painted surface but I had decided long ago to repaint the panel when I paint the stand.

[Nevada]

Hey capetonian
just a little question i love you cockpit the first 2 images what are the sizes thanks looks great

[capetonian]

Hey capetonian
just a little question i love you cockpit the first 2 images what are the sizes thanks looks great

Hi, .. which images are you referring to?

[capetonian]

hi there, ...

a quick update, .. I have not been sitting still, .. but to photograph everything I do .... also been really busy at work, last Monday for example, up and down to Paris in 12 hours and 5 minutes, ... 1003km's, .. and I am off again on Sunday :(

Well, .. a bunch of stuff arrived in the mail including 50 new switches:
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/251109/switches1.jpg

.... and some new rotaries....
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/251109/hardware2.jpg

...and I popped into the Gamma (building supplies store here in Holland)...
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/251109/hardware1.jpg
...where I picked up some fastening aids and a liter of RAL7011 (Boeing Grey!) acrylic paint.

...... geeze my desk is a mess!!!
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/251109/desk.jpg

.....well, .. unpacked the switches and ... a few hours (and 3 episodes of House) later:
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/251109/switches2.jpg

... thats it for now :)

[capetonian]

Last night I wired up another two LED harnesses for the Flight Control panel and 'fitted' the LEDS. It's slowly filling up, I am just waiting for a few more LED orders and some more switches that I ordered

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/271109/overhead1.jpg

...it's starting to look really busy back here ....

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/271109/overhead2.jpg

[HoustonFirefox]

Capetonian, what size monitors did you use for the displays? Brand?

Also, do you have measured ACAD drawings of the main instrument panel (preferably in inches) ;)

Thanks for a great post!

[capetonian]

.....so, finally a day off... so... we swee p out the scale model collection and pull out 39 sought after kits and about 20 sought after or rare decal sheets and take them to our local hobby shop. ......

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/021209/kits1.jpg

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/021209/kits2.jpg

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/021209/kits3.jpg

...then we add 200 odd euros out of ones pocket to the equation and bob's your uncle........ a full scale 1:1 working MCP for our 737 cockpit project. The circuit board in the first picture is a MIPboard which isused to connect all the switches, buttons, lights etc on the MIP (Main Instrument Panel, for those not up to speed on the Jargon) More info on the MIP can be found HERE (http://www.cpflight.com/sito/dettagli/mcp737el.asp) and info on the MIPboard can be found HERE (http://www.cpflight.com/sito/dettagli/mip.asp).

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/021209/mcp1.jpg

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/021209/mcp2.jpg

..... oh... this is really getting to an exciting stage..... with a little more work we can actually 'fly' the MIP by the weekend, .. and that will be a major milestone in our project.


... to be continued .....

[capetonian]

Capetonian, what size monitors did you use for the displays? Brand?


Hi there, .. thanks for following my build. I use two el cheapo 19" wide screen LG monitors. LG is definitely not my fist choice of business/gaming monitor but for this purpose they are absolutely perfect!! They cost about 93 euros (obviously different on your side of the world I guess) each. The middle screen, with the standby instruments is a 15: Iiyama monitor which I got from work, ... I have removed the bezels from all three monitors



Also, do you have measured ACAD drawings of the main instrument panel (preferably in inches) ;)
Thanks for a great post!

Have a look in the file section here. I did not make this panel but I did use the images found on the web and at MyCockpit to draw out my first panel on MFD.

I hope that helps, ... if you need more info please do not hesitate to give me a shout!

[capetonian]

Aaargggg.... in Holland they have this funny tradition with a dude on a horse called the Sint, .. well he's like Father Christmas just nowhere near as cool, .. anyway people always buy each other gifts so my son and I popped in to the LHShop to get a present for ourselves :)

Aaaahhhhhhhhh - I love my new toy, ... we finally wired it up last night too:
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/061209/efis1.jpg

together with the MCP I picked up last week:
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/061209/glare1.jpg


.... to be continued ....

[capetonian]

The last week has been chaos at work, but finally things have slowed down now and I hope to spend some time on the sim the coming week or so.
It's damned cold outside, -4 and there has been a pile of snow on the ground since Thursday.

I have made a new Main Instrument panel out of wood, we will use this one instead of the plastic-like one that we have, I will be able to screw into MDF and get a better join than with the plastic stuff. Anyway the new panel has been primered, I'll be sanding that and painting it in the next day or two.

Today we did a test with the first electronics, because the new MIP is drying we used the old one and just stuck a few LEDS through, here is a quick film clip on Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykGnF9aDwwM) :)

[capetonian]

,,, and this morning I spent a few minutes putting together my master caution and Fire Warning lights.

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/221209/glare_light1.jpg

These push button switches which I purchased online from Conrad, The switch costs 6 euro, the push-button (the clear one) costs 8 euro and a set of lamp bulbs (2 per set) costs 4 euro. (approx costs including postage).

I designed the six-pack annunciators and the button legends in Photoshop, although the buttons are made to fit these switches, the six-packs are 1:1 scale.

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/221209/glare_light2.jpg

I printed the six-pack annunciators on clear transparency (for overhead projectors) and cut the buttons out with a modeling scalpel. The lid of the push button can be easily prised off with the tip of a hobby knife or a small flat screwdriver.

If you want to make switches like these then you might want to download my six-pack file in BMP format.

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/downloads/mini6pack.jpg (http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/downloads/annuncsixpack.bmp)
Filesize: 9,5MB, Rightclick, "Save-as ...."

If you want me to make a mini tutorial then let me know. If you have problems getting hold of these parts in your country, let me know.

[jesper1100]

Can you give me the product numbers of the Master Caution switch and stuff?. I want to take a look maybe i will build one.

Thanx

[capetonian]

Can you give me the product numbers of the Master Caution switch and stuff?. I want to take a look maybe i will build one.

Thanx

Sitting at Tegel Airport at the moment waiting for the (Transavia!!) PH-XRW to arrive and take us back home.... I'll send you the part numbers tomorrow.

[jesper1100]

Sitting at Tegel Airport at the moment waiting for the (Transavia!!) PH-XRW to arrive and take us back home.... I'll send you the part numbers tomorrow.

I'll appreciate that.

En succes met wachten en een fijne vlucht!

[capetonian]

Ah . nice to be home and kudos to the cockpit crew of the Transavia HV6876 for answering our questions last night and being so enthusiastic when we mentioned that we building a (Transavia) 737-sim!! These guys were willing to answer questions, even though it was already 23:30. What a contrast to the outbound crew.

Anyway , .. back to the switches:

This is the pushbutton section of the switch: Drukknop kleurloos 702528 - 89
I must admit that I made the 'mistake' of ordering two clear ones and two red ones. For the redo ones I printed the FIRE WARN labels on overhead sheet without the red background and these look very good! If you want the red one it's: 702536 - 89

The switch unit is this one: Schakelelement 250 V/6 A toets 703370 - 89 and the light bulbs that you need are: Osram Armatuurlamp W2 x 4,6D 1,2W 12V 857020 - 89 they come packed per pair so if you are building 4 buttons you will need to order 2 of these.

If you don't have access to a color laser printer and transparent sheets I could send you a set of inlays as I printed several of them.

There we go, ... hope that helps :)

[jesper1100]

So you printed it on overhead sheets? But isn't that color less and your Master Caution button is yellow so how did you did that? And you removed the red sticker off the Fire warning switch and put the printed on one?

[capetonian]

The master caution I printed with an orange background. It is not possible to remove a filter if you buy a push button in a specific color. I found that out the hard way so I reprinted the FIRE legends on clear sheet without a background to compensate for the button already being red.

If you download my BMP file you can print the master cautions off of there!

Cheers,

Andrew

[capetonian]

Well, . apart from pulling my hair out while trying out 10000001 different sets of software for designing pcb boards I still managed to do a little work in the cockpit. Do any of you use pcb design software? I want to design my own input and output boards that I will connect to my OpenCockpits Mastercard with a 40pins IDE cable. I would love to know which software you guys use...


Anyway, .. I now have the screen in place, to,morrow I will adjust them so that they are 100% level and I will tackle the Opencockpits gear lever, ... with the thickness of the panel *and* the 8mm of mdf behind the panels, the gear lever can not travel it's full 100% of motion, I need to remove a little wood on both sides of the opening and try to place the lever against the actual (sub)panel from behind.

Once that is done, ... the glareshield.... hmmm, . it seems so easy but I really have a feeling I am going to screw it up , . thak goodness MDF is so cheap :)

My Stand with the screens installed.
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/030110/stand.jpg

The panel in front of the screens, . and instantly it looks a lot more interesting :)
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/030110/screens.jpg

.... to be continued.....

[capetonian]

Today I had a day off, ... work picks up tomorrow in full swing again, this week has been good for getting back into the groove.... tomorrow is going to be long, Sunday is gonna be a b1tch and then it's gonna get busy :)

So, . I spent some time working on the sim today..... the Landing gear has been bugging me... it did not quite fit ... so I really had to play and work with it... Once that was fixed I decided I'd had enough of breathing MDF dust .... time for a quick play with the software and the multi monitor setup.... of course as usual I had to take some pics for the archives..... some of the screens might look a little skew, . this is because the Main panel is not yet secured to the base, ... once this is dine, the ecreens will be flush against the back of the MIP and they will look a tad better, ...

They say a pic is worth a thousand words..... so ...

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/070110/gearmech.jpg
...here you can see that there is a gap between the monitor and the panel, .. this will be corrected once the MIP has been fastned to the base.

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/070110/gearup.jpg
Gear Up

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/070110/geardown.jpg
Gear Down

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/070110/gearlocked.jpg
Gear Off

[capetonian]

So then we started playing with the screens .....

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/070110/screens1.jpg
The 19 inch monitor on the Captaina side needs to be moved 1 cm higher and 2mms to the right...

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/070110/screens2.jpg
The middle screen is looking lekker , ... although I have now decided to go for real standby gauges sometime from Flight Illusion, they cost about 200 a piece .... so for now the software gauges are perfect!!!!

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/070110/screens3.jpg
Fok, . dis mooi .... even if I say so myself :)

[capetonian]

... and since the screens were looking so cool .... I just had to hold up one of the frames with it's smoked plexiglas window..... Damnit, ... I realised something this evening, .. you actually need about 5 hands to hold stuff in place for photo's sometimes :)

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/070110/frame1.jpg
This picture is absolutly awesome :) I get that funny feeling in the knees again , .. damn she's starting to look good.

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/070110/frame2.jpg
Out of focus.... sorry, .. bite me ... I need those other three hands here

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/070110/frame3.jpg
and another one. ......


.... to be continued ......

[mpl330]

Hi Andrew,
Can you check your pm please...
Thanks
Mike

[capetonian]

Hi Andrew,
Can you check your pm please...
Thanks
Mike

Hi there,

did but I could not open any of the 4 that were waiting for me.

Andrew

[capetonian]

Hi All,

Unfortunatly I have not had any updates for a while, the real world came and bit me on the *** when I was not looking and I had to sort out a few things in my private life.

But... I have done a few small things... and there will be new updates very very soon :)

[capetonian]

Well, .. here I am again, . just when you thought I had killed and buried my project... well, nothing could be further from the truth :). The real world cam and bit me on the bum while I was not looking and I had to attend to some things,. ... well, . back in the building mode and I decided that I needed to change a few small things.

Remember this:

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/271109/overhead1.jpg

...the really cool little overhead I made? Well, . it is no more, . .nope! I decided that I needed a full size Overhead, albeit just to use until we purchase a full size one. It needed to be full size so that all the annunciators can be read, it needed to be on a wooden frame with enough depth to hide all the electronics and cables, it needed to be cheap, and yes, it needed, like it's predecessor, to be quick and dirty project.

I have a pile of white acrylic sheets in the shed so I went out and bought a table top tile saw, ideal for cutting plastic as the blade uses water to cool it which prevents the plastic from melting. These things cost 50 euro at the GAMMA (local builders/do-it-yourself supply store) and I had a load of discount coupons so I went and picked on up for 40 euro.

I printed the overhead out in 1:1 scale on the printer at work, glued the A4 pages together and then cut them into strips similar in width to those on the actual overhead. Then I spent a few hours, cutting, cleaning and preparing the perspex sheets. After that I glued the paper overhead image(s) on the sheets with .... Pritt :)
That done, I clamped a sheet of MDF onto the lounge table (I suppose being single does at times have it's benefits :) ) and clamped the sheets on to that, one at a time to drill all the necessary holes. I drilled 6mm for the LEDS, 6mm for the switches and 8-10 mm for the pots, rotaries and encoders as well as the push button stitches.

I picked up a few planks from the GAMMA and armed with my trusty jigsaw I proceeded to cut myself a frame..... well, when this weekend came Filipe was here to help me so we put the frame together, trimmed the strips for size, transferred all the switched and LEDS from the 'old' overhead to the new one...... and this was our result just after lunch today:

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/310110/new_oh-1.jpg

The rear of the unit:
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/310110/new_oh-2.jpg

The rear of the lights and engine start panel, this still has to be connected to the main frame, .. will happen sometime later this week:
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/310110/new_oh-3.jpg

.......

[capetonian]

... here are some more pics......

The old and the new, ... you can see that the new one looks a whole lot more interesting
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/310110/new_oh-4.jpg

...and the rear of both units...
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/310110/new_oh-5.jpg
.. when comparing them side to side you can see the amount of space that I now have to mount the electronics... I doubt it would have been easy in the mini overhead.

New toys, ... input and output boards and a 2nd Mastercard from OpenCockpits, ... kaaaa-ching... another 180 euros spent on the project.
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/310110/new_oh-6.jpg

A hours work this evening while watching 24 (season 7) on TV. ....
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/310110/new_oh-7.jpg

...these cards might cost 20 bucks each but they make life a lot easier then trying to solder a split up IDE cable to each component. These connect with a 40 core IDE cable (like on your old Harddrive) to the Mastercards.
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/310110/new_oh-8.jpg

Filipe taking the 737 for a quick spin around the Greek islands :)
http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/310110/new_oh-9.jpg

Next week the panel will receive some major attention and I hope to start on the Glareshield.


... to be continued :)

[Holclo]

Andrew
How did your overhead graphic get from white background to dark grey background?
Bill

[capetonian]

Andrew
How did your overhead graphic get from white background to dark grey background?
Bill

I used a different image. When I found the color image it was another reason to move to version 2 of the overhead.
I found the image on Juan Cordon's website, it includes the fore and aft overhead. If you want it I can send it to you via email.

Cheers,

Andrew.

[capetonian]

... way behind on the updates .......

but here's a teaser ....... a quick shot of one of the sub panels on our el'cheapo overhead taken this evening during a lights test.....

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/160210/lights4.jpg


.... stay tuned... more coming in the next few days.

[tiburon]

Great minds think alike, it seems :p

I did this one about three weeks ago.

http://www.mycockpit.org/forums/album.php?albumid=127&attachmentid=3383

cheers

Martin

[capetonian]

Amsterdam huh? Cool, I'm in Almere!

How did you make your overhead? Using a kit or an el'cheapo one like ours?

Ours is meant as an interim Overhead so that we can focus on other parts of the project. It will someday be replaced by a proper kit one. In the mean time I want to focus on the rest of the MIP and the TQ.

[kermit]

Hi, then you must be thrilled
as Aerosoft released Mega Airport Amsterdam for FS9 to be followed for FSX in the near future :D
If they release Rotterdam ,I will have the golden triangle including LelystadX and never leave Holland in my Cessna
greetz Henk from Leiden

[tiburon]

I thought I posted a picture but I can't see it. Ah well.
It's an el cheapo solution as well. Just a piece of perspex with my own drawing of the overhead pasted onto it.
Albeit a very good drawing of an actual Transavia cockpit layout, I have to say.
That's another funny coincidence, you're making a Transavia cockpit, I work for Transavia.

[capetonian]

That's another funny coincidence, you're making a Transavia cockpit, I work for Transavia.

Ahh... now that's a coincidence... I have always liked Tra'via and often fly with them for work. My son has made a few good firned among the pilots and was recently invited to sit on the jumpseat for a take off and landing. We also collect as much Transavia 'troep' as we can (For the non dutch speakers, troep = junk, said here with a wink of course.

I like the 700's and my son likes the 800's ... so we should just call it an NG I reckon!

[capetonian]

Well , . to be honest, . I'm not really interested in Amsterdam, .. the Aerosoft Amsterdam is actually outdated, from what I have been told by reasonably reliable sourrces some of the taxiway numbering etc is still according to the older layout, that would make the scenery rather outdated!! But, .. I still have not seen it with my own eyes...

I am more pee-ed off that Lelystad and Rotterdam have not /are not being released as FS9 sceneries. We stay in Almere and Lelystad is a nice hang out, .... and Rotterdam is a cool base for some Transavia flights. My son flies for Virtual Transavia and he is so interested in RTD that he has suggested doing his own version for FS9.

[tiburon]

it's a great place to work, regular jump seat flights (went to Innsbruck and back last week) and all the airplanes you can eat :D
Seriously though, how are you going to handle the logic of the overhead ? How is the "project" that Ian refers to on his site coming along, do you know ?

[capetonian]

it's a great place to work, regular jump seat flights (went to Innsbruck and back last week) and all the airplanes you can eat :D

Okay, that does it, .. SECURITY ..... could you please escort this man to the door ..... he's starting to bug me :)



Seriously though, how are you going to handle the logic of the overhead ? How is the "project" that Ian refers to on his site coming along, do you know ?

Okay, seriously... as far as the logic is concerned, I have dumped the PMDG logics and all I am using from PMDG is the nice visual model that they have. I am going to be using the Prosim737 logic for my overhead, as a matter of fact I have it runing on my desk pc and use it to run the sim now while testing. Prosim is the most advanced system logic out there for the 737-800 (mwah, it works fine for a 700 too!) and it come with a **** of a price tag ....... free for non commercial use!!! :)

As far as glass cockpit software is concerned I am going to use PM for the meanwhile but I know that there is suite in developement elsewhere and I am going to sit it out and wait for that to be released. (Maybe you should pop round for a bakkie some time!

An *excellent* alternative is sim-avioonics though, complete glass cockpit software, including AP logic and Overhead systems logic. costs 350 euro for the whole suite.

You can download Prosim737 HERE (http://marty.selfip.com/) and you can read all about it in THIS THREAD (http://www.mycockpit.org/forums/showthread.php?18345-Need-testers-for-737-systems-simulator-software)

[tiburon]

<< Okay, that does it, .. SECURITY >>

Wait, wait, there's more : I actually have an office overlooking rwy 22 so I'm just sitting there all day staring out of the window....
Sorry, I'll go quietly now...

Bakkie sounds fine...

[capetonian]

Wait, wait, there's more : I actually have an office overlooking rwy 22 so I'm just sitting there all day staring out of the window....


*grumble*

Need a window cleaner? :)

[capetonian]

... a few more LEDS working....

http://www.737ng.eu/210210/overhead2.jpg

http://www.737ng.eu/210210/overhead1.jpg

I have a massive update to make , .. I will get around to doing it later this week, . I promise..

[capetonian]

... thanks for visiting this thread, .. here are the complete updates for February :)


Work has been taking it's toll on the status of the project. I have had a few busy weeks and although I tried to squeeze in a few hours every evening I just did not get around to posting updates as I did them. So here are the


07 February 2010

http://www.737ng.eu/070210/electronics1.jpg
The electronics are going step by step.

http://www.737ng.eu/070210/fmc1.jpg
And finally, .. YIPPEEEEE - my FMC has arrived from Spain.

http://www.737ng.eu/070210/junction1.jpg
A junction / resistor bank. I use this to connect the LEDS to the output boards. Each LED needs it's ownresistor. This Junction is a 2 -1 junction, two inputs and one output. This will be used for the valve indicator lists. The valve indicators are brighter than normal when they are in motion and in a 'normal' state when they are on.

http://www.737ng.eu/070210/junction2.jpg
And another junction, just one on one for the LEDS.

[capetonian]

16 February 2010

Every time I get a bunch of LEDS done it's nice to turn them on and have a look :)
http://www.737ng.eu/160210/lights1.jpg

http://www.737ng.eu/160210/lights2.jpg

http://www.737ng.eu/160210/lights3.jpg

http://www.737ng.eu/160210/lights4.jpg

http://www.737ng.eu/160210/lights5.jpg

[capetonian]

21 February 2010

http://www.737ng.eu/210210/cable.jpg
A bunch of cables. A quick tip, when you need to use cables like this you can put a tie-wrap around them at intervals of 15cm's. If you don;t pull the tie-wraps too tight then you can pulls the wires out. As you use up the wire you can continue to tighten the tie-wraps. This keeps all the cables in a neat and tidy bunch!

http://www.737ng.eu/210210/guts1.jpg
Damn ... don't ask ....

http://www.737ng.eu/210210/guts2.jpg

http://www.737ng.eu/210210/guts3.jpg

http://www.737ng.eu/210210/guts4.jpg

http://www.737ng.eu/210210/guts5.jpg
I have learned a lot about wiring..... something I definatly will do a lot neater when we build the next version of the Overhead Panel.

http://www.737ng.eu/210210/guts6.jpg

http://www.737ng.eu/210210/mess.jpg
Sometimes not having a wife around can have it's advantages :) That's what's on the floor after wiring up a outputs card.

http://www.737ng.eu/210210/outputs1.jpg
Opencockpits Outputs card.

http://www.737ng.eu/210210/outputs2.jpg
Again, wired up and ready to be connected to a resistor card or as I like to call it, a resistor bank :)

http://www.737ng.eu/210210/overhead.jpg
Yippeee... a few more...


http://www.737ng.eu/210210/overhead2.jpg
...and a few more....

http://www.737ng.eu/210210/resistorbank.jpg
.....aaargh.. you're having so much fun.. and then... you run out of connector blocks... quick, order another 100 for U$10 on ebay ..... cool, done, ... BUT WAIT.... that's going to take a week and a bit to get here.... and Chinese New Year is this week too, ahh crap... let's see ... AHH, .. I've got it, ... :) These are el'cheapo resistor banks, note the double sided tape on the bottom to stick them to a side of the Overhead frame.

[capetonian]

28 February.

Ahhhh.....
http://www.737ng.eu/280210/christmastree.jpg

That's it, they're done. All of the annunciators are connected! I still need to work on the SIOC script to light the second input for the valve anunciators when the valves are transitioning from open to closed or vice-versa,

[capetonian]

... and since you guys were all so patiently waiting for the updates .... here's a video...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEATGPYWXAI&feature=channel

[Holclo]

Brilliant.
Bill

[capetonian]

Thanks a lot :) :)

[Anderson/SBSP]

amazing job!!! Congrats!!

[capetonian]

Thank you for all your kind words... and thanks for looking....

Another Update, and this time from Tuesday:

... and another quick update......

http://www.737ng.eu/020310/elec1.jpg
Two new Electrical source selector switches for the overhead panel.

http://www.737ng.eu/020310/autobrake-1.jpg
...and a 45 degree switch for the Auto-brake Selector ...

http://www.737ng.eu/020310/autobrake-2.jpg
... and again.

http://www.737ng.eu/020310/overhead.jpg
Here a daylight shot of the overhead.


For those that missed the video link the first time around....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEATGPYWXAI&feature=channel

[capetonian]

and today's update......

I must admit the good words and enthusiastic replies that one receives here are like a boost to get more and more done!!!
Today had the day off and I can safely say that I spent 75 percent of the day working on the panel. The frames have been added, some switches and blanking plates have been added , .... and when it's all put back on the stand it looks really great, ... I decided to power it up and take a few pics.

You might notice that the First Officers Artificial horizon is in a bank, . that's cause there is no SF running and the main server that lets everything talk to flightsim is not running either. Moenie worrie nie, some time in the course of next week I should have the glare shield ready and by next weekend we will have mated the overhead to the rest of the system and on Saturday we shall take the sim for her first flight(s).

http://www.737ng.eu/040310/panel1.jpg

http://www.737ng.eu/040310/panel3.jpg

http://www.737ng.eu/040310/panel4.jpg
Complete with Transavia Fuel Usage notices, the F/O's side still has to have it's sticker printed.

http://www.737ng.eu/040310/panel5.jpg

Hope you enjoyed this update :)

... to be continued ......

[choffmann]

Your cockpit is a formidable example of do-it-yourself technique! My deep respect for that! Your photos are very instructional. I am looking forward to your progress. Please keep posting.
Thanks!

Chris

[capetonian]

Your cockpit is a formidable example of do-it-yourself technique! My deep respect for that! Your photos are very instructional. I am looking forward to your progress. Please keep posting.
Thanks!

Chris

Thank you very, very much for that post Chris. Sometimes I feel , when I look at the way some of these guys put a cockpit together, that my work looks really bad and way below the norm. .... maybe I am too fussy, a combination of tyhat and of wantng to get everything done and flyable asap ...

I just do my best with the things I know... and try to learn the things I don't know :)
Today I have made massive progress, I need to do a little more and then I will post another picture update.

Andrew


PS: We spoke briefly at the Aviodrome, I was talking to Matt about something when you came along and we started talking about SOL and curved projection screens :)

[capetonian]

Unfortunately I had to work all of today, but yesterday I can safely say that I spent most of the day working on the panel.

http://www.737ng.eu/060310/rear1.jpg
A shot of the rear of the panel

http://www.737ng.eu/060310/rear2.jpg
another one showing the board that the mip737 interface and the servo gauge will be mounted on.

http://www.737ng.eu/060310/boards1.jpg
.... in their place.... the two aluminium L profiles on either outer side of the two inner supports (geeze, . say that 10 times fast after a few drinks....) are the brackets that will secure the glareshield to the MIP stand.

http://www.737ng.eu/060310/boards2.jpg

[capetonian]

http://www.737ng.eu/060310/gshield1.jpg
Here's the underside of the glareshield, I have cut out the form of the MCP and EFIS (both sides) then screwed an aluminium strip to the bottom of the glareshield.

http://www.737ng.eu/060310/gshield2.jpg
Maybe a few too many screws and not 100% like the real deal , . but hey, .. once you're flying this thing you do not even notice the screws.

http://www.737ng.eu/060310/gshield3.jpg
A side view, the square strip directly behind the MIP will be fastened to the MIP by 2 screws, that together with the 6 bolts on top should provide adequate support.

http://www.737ng.eu/060310/gshield4.jpg
A top view... now I need a second EFIS :)

http://www.737ng.eu/060310/clock1.jpg
I decided that the gaping holes on either side of the panel do not really look cool, .. so I made a dummy clock!

http://www.737ng.eu/060310/annunciators1.jpg
.... it's not really a nice gesture toward your neighbours to work with power tools at night.... so I save the annunciator job for the evening, ... here you see a number of the annunciators connected and in place. I have used a glue gun which makes it possible to remove the annunciators should the need arise.

http://www.737ng.eu/060310/panel1.jpg
The panel with dummy clock mounted and annunciators in place.

[capetonian]

I have a few pics to upload but I don't really have the time to edit and upload them this evening.

BUT ..... today we officially flew the sim for the first time. This morning I worked on the first portions of the glare shield... and once we had mated the glare shield with the panel we took her for a quick flight from LOWI to Eindhoven.

Here is a short film in two parts, please excuse the commentary, we made a few small mistakes in what we were saying, .. but that's because it was all on the fly and rather exciting too:)

Part 1 :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQlaspCE_Eo


Part 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KV41KRAz5g

Thanks for looking:) Comments are not obligatory but always welcome :)

[Anderson/SBSP]

Congratulations for the first flight!!

[capetonian]

Thanks Anderson :)

Here are a few pictures that I took over the weekend:

http://www.737ng.eu/150310/sixpacktest.jpg
A quick test rig for the six pack and master caution button. I only realised this weejend that the fittings I had purchased from Conrad are 12v. I do not have 12 volts coming off any of my lighting boards so I was stuck with a problem. I thought of using a small relay, triggered by 2 volts from the MIP737 or from the OPen cockpits card. The relay in turn would switch the 12v for the MC and Fire warning lights on and off. After some experimenting I decided to can the whole idea and I am in the process of modifying the 12v switch unit to accommodate a LED. More info on this later though.

http://www.737ng.eu/150310/glareshield1.jpg
Work on the Glare shield commences, I am using 8mm MDF for the glare shield construction.

http://www.737ng.eu/150310/glareshield2.jpg
Clamping bits together before drilling holes.

http://www.737ng.eu/150310/glareshield3.jpg
Construction continues..... On the 6th day God made Gaffer Tape...... and we have all been grateful ever since. (No insult meant to the religious among us!!)

http://www.737ng.eu/150310/panel.jpg
'scuse the mess, .. but it's slowly all starting to come together!

http://www.737ng.eu/150310/panel2.jpg
Ahhhhhhh........

http://www.737ng.eu/150310/panel4.jpg
Parked on the ramp....

[Anderson/SBSP]

Very nice add to cockipt!!

[capetonian]

FInally... a new update. Work on the sim has been exceptionally slow. Real life work has been taking up lots of my time with long days I have hardly had the urge or motivation to work on it late in the evenings. We have added a 2nd EFIS to the glareshield and the next step is to close up and finish off the glareshield.

I have also decided to migrate my stuff from the MIP737 to Open cockpits input/ output stuff. This will happen slowly... and we have been testing a new software suite that is in the make. I am in direct contact with the maker(s) of it. It looks extremely promising and is really smooth as far as performance is concerned.

Here a few screenshots:

http://www.737ng.eu/suite/glass-1.jpg

http://www.737ng.eu/suite/glass2.jpg

http://www.737ng.eu/suite/glass3.jpg

http://www.737ng.eu/suite/glass4.jpg

http://www.737ng.eu/suite/glass5.jpg

[capetonian]

and a few more in the actual sim:


http://www.737ng.eu/suite/suite1.jpg


http://www.737ng.eu/suite/suite2.jpg


http://www.737ng.eu/suite/suite3.jpg

I am not sure when this software will become available because it is still under development. From what I understand it will comprise of modules which will be available per module. I have no ideas about pricing but I think I can safely say that it will defiantly be within reach of most cockpit builders.

[Anderson/SBSP]

Wow!! Is a amazing job!! This software is freeware?

[Tony Hill]

That is looking incredible mate.. great going!

[capetonian]

Wow!! Is a amazing job!! This software is freeware?

Hi there, Thanks for looking. The software will not be freeware but it will fall within the budget of most if not all 737 builders!!

[capetonian]

Here is our the first of the two latest videos, recored yesterday, its a short clip.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCqlYinPnDQ

[capetonian]

and the one recorded today, it's the return leg of the above flight:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjcHIOVE0Wo

[Anderson/SBSP]

Hi there, Thanks for looking. The software will not be freeware but it will fall within the budget of most if not all 737 builders!!

Cool videos! This software module will FMC, MCP and overhead?

[capetonian]

Cool videos! This software module will FMC, MCP and overhead?

From what I understand a complete suite.
Overhead, FMC (Dual), MCP, EFIS (Dual) Standby Instruments ... so it will be a complete package, you will not need anything else. It will also include hardware support for most of the comon hardware. The paxkage will be available as individual modules. As soon as more info is relased by the developers. it will be posted on Mycockpit.org.

Just for clarity's sake, I am not one of the developers!

[Tony Hill]

Simply marvellous!

[capetonian]

Yesterday I bit the bullet, . I have been wondering for a few weeks, make that months, how to make the glare shield 'wings' should I do it this way, or that way, or order them ..... Yesterday I was what we call in South Africa 'gatvol' or fed up and sick and tired with it all ... I went into the shed and made a chunk of wood by laminating 3 pieces of MDF together. After the glue had hardened I zipped off to the hardware store to pick up some sandpaper and I got sanding ..... in total a bout 1,5 hours of work , . and the left glare wing is finished.

http://www.737ng.eu/200410/wing1.jpg

http://www.737ng.eu/200410/wing2.jpg

http://www.737ng.eu/200410/wing3.jpg

I think I might have a bash at the right hand one this evening, once these have been painted black they will really look good , ... ooooh, . this is one of those things that gives one a massive motivational kick to get back into the groove ....

[Steve A]

Looks great with the master caution and fire warning. Good work mate and keep that motivation going!!!

[Tony Hill]

Great work on the GS. Laminating the MDF is brilliant!

[Anderson/SBSP]

Show!!! I like so much!!

[fsaviator]

Now that's nice. Can't wait to see them in black!

Warren

[capetonian]

Hi guys,

A quick update, not much has happened on the flightsim side fir a while as I have been massively busy at work, last weekend I bought a 32: screen home from the office with me for the weekend just to see what it is like flying with a bigger screen , .... wow, the difference is amazing. My son complained that it really sicked trying to fly the sim with a joystick balanced on ones leg, so I got some scrap MDF and pine and went outside for 10 minutes, the result is a butt-ugly but damned effective support for the CH yoke. This will do nicely until the 'real' yokes are built.

Here a few pics from last weekend:

http://www.737ng.eu/300410/flight1.jpg

http://www.737ng.eu/300410/flight2.jpg

http://www.737ng.eu/300410/flight3.jpg

http://www.737ng.eu/300410/flight4.jpg

.... now I have a three day weekend to work on the sim and some graphic stuff that I am working on.

[SAS541]

Hi guys,

My son complained that it really sucked trying to fly the sim with a joystick balanced on ones leg, so I got some scrap MDF and pine and went outside for 10 minutes, the result is a butt-ugly but damned effective support for the CH yoke.



Man that is almost exactly the same as my butt-ugly support for my CH Yoke!!

Check your PM's, as i sent you a message asking for advice on building.

Thanks.

Regards
Ben

[Anderson/SBSP]

Very nice!!!

[Nick1150]

Not ugly at all !!!!

Until the sim pit is ready, ugly stages will come ;)

[capetonian]

Thanks for all the nice words guys ... it gives one a little more motivation at times :).

Ben, look me up on Skype (dakleton) or on MSN, the aforementioned nickname at hotmail.com.

Now.... where did I put that bloody saw ....

[capetonian]

Oef , .. sometimes I get into these 'build-dips' and I really don;t get any work done on the sim at all, .. it's not that I don't want to do anything, I have a list of things to do longer than a roll of toilet paper but I tend to sit and ponder for hours... how am I going to do this, . and that, .. and before I know it it's midnight and I have to hit the sack to get ready for an early start the next day.

Now I had a few days off finally, .. but I have been so busy for the last few weeks, with every day being practically a 13 hour day..... en I spent the first two days of this 4 day break doing absolutely nothing ........ a waste of time actually.... but still, ..
Anyway, to cut a long story short... I got down to work today, the lighting panels have been bugging me, so I decided to tackle them. And do some other small things to the sim.

First a few pics from Yesterday, ... Knobs, .loads of them, .. and loads more to make.....

http://www.737ng.eu/080510/knobs1.jpg
http://www.737ng.eu/080510/knobs2.jpg
http://www.737ng.eu/080510/knobs3.jpg
http://www.737ng.eu/080510/knobs4.jpg
http://www.737ng.eu/080510/knobs5.jpg
http://www.737ng.eu/080510/knobs6.jpg

As you see some of them did not come out of the molds properly or has air bubbles, but I am making loads so I can turf the ones that are not good enough to use.

[capetonian]

My desk at 10am this (Sunday) morning, . yes, this was recently tidied up but I sat here till 2am this morning soldering LEDS to wires.

http://www.737ng.eu/090510/mess1.jpg

http://www.737ng.eu/090510/lighting-1.jpg
Take a deep breath ... and here we go , ... I sawed two strips of 8mm MDF 48,5 cm's x 8cm.s. One edge I rounded off with an electric sander.

http://www.737ng.eu/090510/lighting2.jpg
Oeps, forgot to take pics... test fitting the right lighting panel

http://www.737ng.eu/090510/lighting3.jpg
...starting the left one ......

http://www.737ng.eu/090510/lighting4.jpg
... test fitting the panel that now needs to be fitted with knobs and pots...

http://www.737ng.eu/090510/lighting5.jpg
.... the left one again .....

[capetonian]

http://www.737ng.eu/090510/lighting6.jpg
......the wired pots .....

http://www.737ng.eu/090510/lighting7.jpg
....... wired, fit, screwed and ready to go......

http://www.737ng.eu/090510/lighting8.jpg
....... tada .......

But there's something missing .......
YES! that's it , . those half round semi profile like thinggies above the panels .... you know what I mean ....
http://www.737ng.eu/090510/lighting9.jpg
Yes! Those! they might not be 1:1 737 size... but ****, they're close enough for me ..... they're drying at the moment, tomorrow a lick of paint over the whole jig and then the panels can be fitted out with LEDS for the back lighting and screwed into place...

[capetonian]

and to op it all off...

http://www.737ng.eu/090510/gearlights1.jpg

New LEDS for the gear lights. I have a curious problem with the CPMIP737 board. If I do a lights test on the ground, everything works, as soon as I turn the lights off the left gear down LED does not come on , .. only if I cycle the gear, UP >> Down then the left annunciator lights up again, . .I know of at least one other person who has this problem. Anybody else with this problem? I guess I will just hook up both main gear down annunciators to the right output, although it's not perfect, it'll do.

Well, thanks for looking :)

[Anderson/SBSP]

Looks great!!! Congrats my friend!!!

[capetonian]

This project has is far from dead...it has just been moved aside for a while after reality came and bit me... anyway, as the Dutch days grow shorter and the evenings grow longer I will have more time to spend on the cockpit.
Here is a quick picture from this evening:

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/190910/pit_current.jpg

The sim with pedestal and the first two Open cockpit radios in place. The software is Marty's Prosim737 suite.

[Nick1150]

Great job !!!!!!

Keep on posting Captain :D

[capetonian]

And a quick update, these pics will be posted in the Prosim thread too.

Not a lot of change on the surface but still a few minor things....

Flightsim Weekend in the Aviodrome in Lelystad was bad for me :) I picked up a COMMS radio and an FMC for in our aerie. As soon as the FMC is integrated I'll take4 some pics of it, in the meanwhile hwere is a shot of the pedestal with working radios. We still have to get a second COMM radio and 2 ADF radios, .. then we'll be smoking.

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/71110/ped_7112010.jpg

and a shot of the panel with pedestal after a quick test flight from Schiphol to Tegel. It makes a heck of a difference not having to change frequencies with a mouse :)

http://www.spring-air.com/737_project/71110/pit_7112010.jpg

[capetonian]

With no real progress on the material side of the build I have been playing with configs and the like. I'd like to jest and comment that the biggest problem with Marty's software is that he keeps updating it so damned fast... each time I found myself about to test the latest version there is already an update on the server :)

Anyway, . with Prosim as the definite suite in my opinion it is time to start looking at the visual model. As I own both PMDG and the iFly 737NG series it was logical to see if I could base my visual model on one of those two aircraft. PMDG has been around for ages and iFly is new... so what do we go for?

Well, I liked to add the pro's and con's up and see what the better choice would seem to be, to be honest, when push comes to shove..... we're inside the cockpit, not outside it so it could have the visual model of a brick and still function properly. Well, many moons away, a long way down the road that still has to be traveled, I'd like to have a monitor set up with an external view for people to be able to see, or to tap a video feed off or or or whatever.

The PMDG 737-800 model is:
stable,
has many liveries,
looks pretty good,
has opening doors and hatches,
has an airstair.

the iFly 737NG is:
Unstable,
has awesome wingflex,
looks good,
has crappy lighting,
has opening doors and hatches,
has an airstair,

Well, I have tried the PMDG model quite a bit ...... but I wanted to play around with the iFly model a bit and see what I could do with it. I started off with the -600. Although the Prosim suite is for an 800 i really did not want to break my install during the first sitting.

Initially I removed the panel.wide folder from my ifly737_600 folder. Then I edited the panel.cfg in the panel.normal folder. Through trial and error I learned that I had to leave the 'dummy' panel in place as this contains the logic for the doors and the like, also if you remove this then the aircraft thinks that it is an illegal or corrupt copy and it shows no gear, doors don't work etc.

Well, with the visual model working off we went to do some initial test flying.
The start up sequence worked perfectly and all the prosim systems seemed to work with the visual model and visa-versa.... I taxied to the runway and flew a few circuits, gear worked, flaps worked, spoilers, everything....

http://www.spring-air.com/avcom/ifly/iflytest8.jpg
The -600 During a crosswind landing at MUCL

Now to try it in the -800 model. I followed the same steps above in the -800 folder. Make a point of backing up your original -800 aircraft folder so that you can always replace the 'stripped' version with the original version.

As well as the above changes I stripped the auto-pilot section from the aircraft.cfg and off we went on a series of test flights. On one of the flights I could not raise the gear and after roll out I could open the throttle but the reverser mantels would not close. I am not sure weather this was a snag due to the iFly model playing up or because I had turned off all sources of bleed air by accident.

Some screenshots of the test flights:

http://www.spring-air.com/avcom/ifly/iflytest7.jpg
.... all systems seem to be working... time to taxi out ....

http://www.spring-air.com/avcom/ifly/iflytest6.jpg
... rotating......

http://www.spring-air.com/avcom/ifly/iflytest5.jpg
... and coming in for a touch and go after the first flight ..... the wing flex is clearly visible in this screenshot

[capetonian]

http://www.spring-air.com/avcom/ifly/iflytest4.jpg
.... oeps ... the grear does not want to work this time around...

http://www.spring-air.com/avcom/ifly/iflytest3.jpg
.. final approach ....

http://www.spring-air.com/avcom/ifly/iflytest1.jpg
... and touchdown in a cloud of smoke....

Tomorrow I will make some changes to my prosim config and do another series of flights. I hope to get some actual work on the sim done soon but it is just too cold to go and work in the shed at the moment.

Thanks for reading!

[capetonian]

... and one more I found of the 600 landing:

http://www.spring-air.com/avcom/ifly/iflytest2.jpg

I love the wingflex on this model.

[Matt Olieman]

Nice pics.... and nice flying :) :) :)

Matt Olieman

[Nick1150]

Thanks for the pics Capetonian ;)

[ajit737ng]

hello sir
please make a tutorial on making anunciators and their lagends

[fordgt40]

Just do a google search on

annunciator tutorial

[capetonian]

Hi all! I'm still around :) The Project however has died. Not because of lack of interest but mostly due to the fact that I bought a house last year and a great deal of time and money has gone into that. I really really want to build a sim but I realize that the 737 is just a tad too advanced for my current budget and I am not prepared to wait another few years before I can buy large modules like linked yokes, TQ, proper seats and the like. When we set out to build the sim, one of the primary 'rules' we made was that it had to be pretty flyabale at most stages. Well, this has not been the case unfortunately. This leads to a gradual loss of interest and the urge to get building again seems to slip further and further away. Although I had decided a few months ago to seriously consider whether we wanted to press forward or not, I think my mind had almost been made up for me, the 'final straw' was the fact that the MIP has been in the garage since I moved in April and nothing has been done to the sim.

I do not have any regrets about starting the project as it was a great learning curve for me in which I learned to do a load of stuff that I otherwise might never have dreamed of doing. The biggest downside is that fact that I am going to drop the project when Marty's Prosim software has reached the stage of becoming the definitive software suite for the serious - professorial builder. Although my name was never mentioned anywhere I did help Marty with the initial graphics for the suite and I made a wide range of hardware available to him for the development of the Prosim connection to the different hardware. This gave me some insight to what a mission it is to build something like that from the ground up. The fact that the software is so complete is the only reason I regret dropping the project, ... (never the less, if Marty ever decides to do a GA suite I'll gladly help out where possible!).

So what now? Filipe and I sat down the past week and debated the pro's and cons of the sim and what we'd like to have. There is no option about building or not building, .. we want a sim, period. Our 'demands' are: Dual and single operation, a decent range, the ability to climb and cruise at a decent altitude, a decent cruising speed, and finally something that just looks damned cool :)

We arrived at the same conclusion, the Beechcraft KIng Air. We spent about 6 hours surfing all kinds of sites looking at what information was available, if there were panels available, good flight models, etc etc. Because we both have flown a lot with the Aeroworx B200 we decided that we would settle for a B200.

I will be selling all the 737 stuff that we have to partially fund the new project. All the modules have less than 10 hours usage and are as good as brand new! (I'll post stuff in the classifieds later today!)

Thanks for following the project, I have learned a lot of stuff from a lot of people here on the board and I (we) look forward to sharing our new project with you all.

[Corne323]

Hi Capetonian,

Its too bad that you stop building the 737. But like you said it cost a lot of money and time. We hope to see you back when building the Beech.

Kind regards,

[markfire]

Sorry to hear you are giving up the 737 project. If you have the pedestal still, i'd like to buy it from you.

regards

Mark

mark@markodell.com