Generic shell build - very early days

[Neil Hewitt]

Hi all.

I've been lurking for a few months, but have held back from posting much about my own project, mainly because it was on hold for a while and then recently went through a Great Reset. My plan has always been to build a fairly generic pit that is somewhere between a light jet and a small glass-cockpit fly-by-wire airliner. Basically something that can be used for various purposes rather than a faithful, button-by-button build of a real aircraft. I figure that's an easy road in for the less experienced builder.

Originally I was building a floorstanding MIP/console and pedestal combo only, with a view to making that the core of a full enclosure when I moved house (I'm currently renting in London). I got quite a way forward with that - just up to the panel-building stage - but then decided for various reasons that I wouldn't be moving this year or probably next, and so I took a deep breath and decided to go for the full monty. However, as I'm building in a first floor bedroom overall weight was an issue and I decided that my big, solid MDF constructions were just too big and heavy to stay, with all the new added weight. So, sobbing as I did it, I took those apart and disposed of the MDF, and began again.

I'm now in the early days of building a shell. In keeping with my lightweight theme, I am building mostly of light pine baton and interior plywood. I decided from the get-go that this would be an interior-only shell, for want of a better term; that is, that I'm not going to try to make the exterior look like a real aircraft exterior. It's what's inside that counts :D

I settled on a structure that relies primarily on two a-frames made of thick pine and some supporting posts at the front, with the remaining required stiffness imparted by the lateral strength of the plywood boards. This reduces the weight of the whole thing compared to the framing techniques some people are using - notably Ron Rollo's Learjet shell, or the wooden B737 shells I'm seeing. It makes the exterior very angular and not particularly curvy, but again it's the inside that counts.

Anyway, for better or worse I thought I'd post a couple of pics of the build. Right now the only really recognisable part is the window framing. It's very early days, lots of construction to do and then lots and lots of detail work to do before I even get into the electronics and computers, and at the current work rate I don't expect to get into the interior much before the holiday season :(

(Lots more boring detail for anyone interested in the project history at my project blog, http://milehighgeek.wordpress.com.)

This is the base, freshly built:

<div style="text-align:center"><img src="http://www.mycockpit.org/photopost/data/535/base.jpg" width="400" height="225" /></div>

Then after the erection of the a-frames:

<div style="text-align:center"><img src="http://www.mycockpit.org/photopost/data/535/aframe_3.jpg" width="225" height="300" /></div>

I removed the supporting front post you can see in the previous picture when I built the window frames (which is, BTW, by far the hardest part of this build so far - working out the compound angles was an absolute you-know-what!), and added the three supporting posts under the frame.

<div style="text-align:center"><img src="http://www.mycockpit.org/photopost/data/535/enclosure_200610.jpg" width="400" height="300" /></div>

Finally, the (early) pilot's eye view...

<div style="text-align:center"><img src="http://www.mycockpit.org/photopost/data/535/window_view.jpg" width="400" height="300" /></div>

Be gentle with me :)

NH

[Rob-PA7RM]

Whooo. My compliments. Looking good. !!!

[Neil Hewitt]

Thanks, Rob (/blushes).

Got a small amount done over the weekend - mostly I just enjoyed the weather - but you can see where the overhead panel and interior cladding goes above the window frames now:

3959

It's hard work in this heat, though... think I need a portable aircon unit in the build room.

NH

[Rob-PA7RM]

Good luck with it. I'm following your weblog now. (rss feed) ;)

Rob

[skino]

Good luck with it. I'm following your weblog now. (rss feed) ;)

Rob

Me too :D Great Work!

[Nick1150]

Keep on posting ;)

Great job !!!

[Neil Hewitt]

Got a bit more work done this weekend. While the pace is going much slower than I had hoped - especially compared to some of the builds I'm following here at the moment (Clive's 737 and the Tony Hill Spitfire projects in particular - enormous respect for both of those and many others), I'm slowly getting somewhere.

Today I spent cladding part of the interior, putting in a ceiling and sides in 6mm ply. Lots of finishing to do, as with all other elements of the build - the finishing is probably half the work, truth be told - but I'm starting to see a meaningful shape emerging. I spent some time agonising over whether to put in an extra pair of side windows for a proper 180 degree FOV, but decided that it's just not practical at the moment. The framing has been done in such a way that if I felt so disposed I could put extra windows in later on.

The cladded area is where the flight engineer's station would go on an older plane. I'm thinking about putting a simulator ops station there. For now it's just a fairly blank plywood wall. Couple of representative pics follow...

40154016401740184019

Starting work on the footwells and MIP frame soon, hopefully. Though next weekend I'm off to Farnborough to get an up-close look at the 787, the A380, and the A440/M.

NH

[Neil Hewitt]

Thought I'd update this thread. I'm annoyed by how little visual progress I've made in the time since my last post in July... but actually there's a fair bit of re-working been done. And I now have the sim enclosed on 3 sides, which is some progress ;)

I've reached the point where I have to tackle the whole MIP assembly, and planning for this is giving me nightmares. I can't seem to get any clear vision on it. Might have to go back to SketchUp and see if I can model the thing out.

The other thing bothering me is that, having worked out where the seating positions will be, I'm probably going to have no more than 120 degrees FOV. I need a further set of side windows, but with the room size available to me I can't afford them - I'm going to have to use mirrored projection as it is. I guess it's better than nothing...

Anyway, here's the obligatory set of photos :)

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I really need to get my finger out and speed up this build, though. First flight by Christmas or else :evil:

[fsaviator]

I feel your pain Neil. That was what stumped me initially. I ended up wasting a few months before I finally reevaluated what was important and got back to work.

Trying to cram the correct visuals into to little space is a nightmare. I've settled on the fact that my visuals will be adequate to fly the sim, and enjoy the scenery, but far from perfect. Maybe one day I'll tackle the mirrored projection.

Remember, the key is to keep flying, so that after each stage in the process, you are rewarded with something else that adds to the realism.

Cheers!

Warren

[Neil Hewitt]

Thanks, Warren. I'm certainly guilty of going back over the same trail several times - I've restarted the whole project twice <g> - but I'm getting there, albeit slowly.

What I never seem to have enough of is time; or more precisely, the right combination of time to do stuff and the energy to do it too. Too often I promise myself I'll work the whole weekend, then find I just can't motivate myself because I've had a really long week at work and all I seem to want to do is vegetate. In this phase of the build where I'm using power tools and knocking and banging, I can't really go on beyond 6pm - I have neighbours that I want to keep reasonably happy - so I can really only work at weekends or holidays. When your hobby starts feeling like work, you know you probably need to get a fresh perspective.

I'm thinking about giving myself a little extra motivation by going along here: http://www.ipilotlondon.com/

It's an outfit that has a 737ng sim (I think it's all off-the-shelf from FlyEngravity or someone similar) set up in a major shopping centre. Frankly it's costly for what it is, but I think it could be the stimulus I need to get back to work :-) Short of booking a corporate day at one of the real simulator centres (which I keep putting a line in my budget for, and the beancounters keep cutting it) it's the closest I'll get in the short term.

[fsaviator]

I'm thinking about giving myself a little extra motivation by going along here: http://www.ipilotlondon.com/


Wow, that is impressive... I may have to look into that the next time I'm through the UK.

Maybe I need to look at setting something like that up here in Colorado... I think I have a retirement goal now.

[No Longer Active]

I know that my sim is only a Cessna and nothing compared to yours but I agree about the motivation side of things plus the time factor, I am even more limited...all my work has to be done on my door step or in the living room as I have a flat/apartment and no garden or workshop, just a car park in front of me, my door step has always been my worktop....plus I need good weather to work, in Essex/London weather is always raining and grey and getting dark much earlier now!

To remove a lot of the actual work and building I have had to design my whole sim as a kit so that it can just be delivered as a flat pack from a CNC company and then assembled, I have indeed started assembling, but you just don't realise all the stuff that goes into it such as priming, sanding, spraying, screwing, electronics etc.....then there is that secret list of ingredients that you never thought you needed and you just cant do without etc, such as special fixings, screws, cables (sh*t loads of it), heat shrink, solder, wood glue, primer, led holders, terminals etc etc, I forgot about most of these with just the final product in my site, this has added cost and more time, and I need to constantly remind myself why I am doing this. Project updates are crucial to me, the more I see the more I want to build, especially if someone has done some awsome work on their pit!

All I say, Is please post as many updates as you can because it keeps us motivated, regardless of how far or how little you have done, and hopefully we can motivate others!

Just my two cents of encouragement!

Alex

[Neil Hewitt]

Hi Alex.

Thanks for the words of encouragement. Sounds like you and I have a lot of factors in common - not least the South East's terrible weather - especially WRT space. I'm lucky enough to have an unused second double bedroom which has always functioned as an office / workroom. To make the project work I've had to basically move my office into my living room. Since there's no Wife Acceptance Factor involved in my case that's less of an issue than it might be. The office stuff will move back once the shell is done; I've left enough space for it.

There's no such thing as 'only' a Cessna sim, IMHO. A sim is a sim is a sim, the challenges are the same, only the scale differs. I'd balk at the amount of work involved in a full-on Boeing or Airbus sim, particularly as a first-time builder and someone who is enjoying fabricating everything himself. No way could I produce anything as good as the stuff many people on here are making. I just don't have the tools, the materials, or the experience. But from little seeds do mighty acorns grow, and all that. I'd frankly love to have a GA sim alongside something heavier, it's just that jets have won out so far. Actually, if my design for the panels and controls goes the way I want it to, it should be possible to get a good prop experience, at least for the likes of the King Air or the Baron. But more about that later...

I'll try to post more regular updates here, but (and again, I'm not trying to drag eyeballs away from this forum) there are much more regular updates (often in excrutiating minute detail) on my blog at http://milehighgeek.wordpress.com.

[Nick1150]

I know that my sim is only a Cessna and nothing compared to yours but I agree about the motivation side of things plus the time factor, I am even more limited...all my work has to be done on my door step or in the living room as I have a flat/apartment and no garden or workshop, just a car park in front of me, my door step has always been my worktop....plus I need good weather to work, in Essex/London weather is always raining and grey and getting dark much earlier now!

To remove a lot of the actual work and building I have had to design my whole sim as a kit so that it can just be delivered as a flat pack from a CNC company and then assembled, I have indeed started assembling, but you just don't realise all the stuff that goes into it such as priming, sanding, spraying, screwing, electronics etc.....then there is that secret list of ingredients that you never thought you needed and you just cant do without etc, such as special fixings, screws, cables (sh*t loads of it), heat shrink, solder, wood glue, primer, led holders, terminals etc etc, I forgot about most of these with just the final product in my site, this has added cost and more time, and I need to constantly remind myself why I am doing this. Project updates are crucial to me, the more I see the more I want to build, especially if someone has done some awsome work on their pit!

All I say, Is please post as many updates as you can because it keeps us motivated, regardless of how far or how little you have done, and hopefully we can motivate others!

Just my two cents of encouragement!

Alex
Sorry for the offtopic gentlemen,

Alex that was amazing. You have already motivated me too :D

Hey Neil,

I believe that your project is great and I admire your technical skills, which I wish I had.

Before I start building 2 years ago, I made a big research which actualy lasted 1 & 1/2 years (!!!). If you make a search in my posts you will see that many fine gentlemen here gave me alot of useful advises. Most advises were 100% right, and I can see it now, but one of those advises was THE most important. Most said the same... Building and flying is the only way...

My advise is... find the courage to finish the shell and put a few screens to get it flying... after that building is ten times easier and much more interesting when the project actualy flies.

Neil we are here too mate... keep posting ;)

[Neil Hewitt]

Hi all.

Resurrecting this thread after a while to post some more progress. Unfortunately for various reasons I've made a fairly laughable amount of progress since the last update almost six months ago, although I have been working on more than just the shell.

I'm onto the console frame and MIP now - not the panels yet, just the frame - and am also building a dual yoke system adapted from Ken Brand (kennair)'s excellent design.

I also finally managed to book the iPilot thing I mentioned above - I was slightly reluctant at £199 for 60 minutes, but they've dropped their weekday prices and I managed to get a Groupon offer for £59 for 60 minutes. Couldn't resist a bargain :-) I'm doing it a week on Tuesday and I'll post a report.

Here's some obligatory pictures.

48644870486948674868

(I can only attach five images, it seems, but - if you'll forgive the self-promotion - there's lots more on my blog.)

So, very slow going, but some progress at least ;) By this time next year I hope to have glass in the windows.

NH