The BONES of my simulator!

Just completed cutting the last piece of threaded rod with my angle grinder...I mean... my Dad's angle grinder. Have to buy one of my own one of these days. Next stage for the case is to paint it with some MDF primer and then paint it white. I bought one of those value paint rollers from B&Q that can use and then chuck after I have finished with it. I used the same method when applying paint on my last simpit and it worked really well. I have to source some 1mm thick aluminium sheet to go over the top and use the sheet metal folder in work to drape it over the top of the skeleton.

Radio Panel - better photograph.

Radio and switches panel almost complete!

Windows 64bit and Simkits TRC software compatability

Well... that was a bit of a shock! I discovered yesterday when trying to run Simkits's TRC software with the old CCU2 circuit board that 64bit is not supported. Hence why they moved to USB instruments. There is absolutely no way I can re-buy all the instruments so my best option is to buy an OEM copy of Windows 7 32bit and dual boot it with my 64bit copy. I am hoping to achieve this on a second partition ans using NeoSmart technologie's EasyBSD software to rename the boot selector to read Primary 6 Desktop Flight Simulator at the boot screen. I will probably have to also buy a new copy of FSX (groan) to go with it. Not a major problem...but... bugger.... all the same! To think I was telling one of my colleagues that nothing has gone "stupidly wrong" so far. Obviously I spoke too soon.

Letters From Home

Super Sexy in Black

Had these new panels made today with work's laser cutting machine... (Thank you again Tim!) I have buffed out the black acrylic's glossy sheen with some wire wool. It has a brushed matte effect now. It looked way too shiny before, so I think this now looks much better and should be less prone to showing up scratches. I'm popping it down to Laser Are Us tomorrow morning to get it stencilled with the letters. I had a bit of a sleepless night yesterday worrying about the fact that the Primary 6 panel was changing from grey to black (just how sad am I???!?!) But I am really, really liking the black now. It looks much more uniform with both panels in the same colour. It's really starting to look like a super duper sexy piece of kit. Obviously that is my opinion and i am biassed, but my work colleagues seem impressed also... perhaps they are just being polite....

Fade to black.

Small caveat today with the primary 6 project. I took a day off work to go down to Lasers Are Us in Pyle and unfortunately they said it may be difficult to paint the acrylic panel without it A. looking kind of crap, and B. The paint may not stick to the panels and just rub off... so... bugger. My best option is to have the material in the colour that I want and then engrave into the panel. Once that is done I can colour fill with white paint and they should look superb. Only problem is that my plastics supplier doesn't have 3mm acrylic in grey only black so I have to go for black for both panels. Shame. It would have been nice to have the original colour of the Cessna on the left side but sometimes you can't have everything. I think I have been lucky with this project so far. A couple of holes missing here and there but everything fits together great..so..happy days. Hopefully I can get some more panels laser cut in work and they can start to engrave them. I now have 12 x 600mm x 300mm black (gloss) pieces of acrylic as the supplier didn't have any offcuts of this particular one. Woo Hoo. It's actually quite cheap and they sold it to me in half sheets. So... not a major problem, just a slight, ever so slight direction change. I have included a pic of what it will look like in black. Actually looks kind of dashing.

MDF cabinet.

These are the MDF pieces I had cut from ISL routing services in Newport. They've done a fantastic job, really pleased with how they have turned out. I need to mill some holes for the threaded rod as well as 2 holes on spar 1 that I accidentaly left out of the CAD design... ooops. As you can see on one of the photographs i have tested to see if some of the push button switches and the Saitek unit fit into the panel, which they do... perfectly. Blimey laser cutting and routing these parts are so much better than using a jigsaw!!! Everything fits together this time!