Hello from Ireland

[G-BVOB]

Hi everyone, congratulations on a great site and some wonderful builds!

After building a 737NG setup for the last few years I've decided to try something different and roll back the years with a steam-driven Fokker F27. I'm at the final transport planning stage to move what's left of G-BVOB - which should provide some amusement to the other passengers on the Holyhead-Dublin ferry in a couple of weeks  . Also I need to finish building a garage to put her in - I guess I'm suddenly wondering whether this was such a good idea or not   

Looking forward to a good few years of work and hopefully learning lots of tips from folks with more expertise and talent than me.

Cheers
Jon

[Trevor Hale]

Jon,

she is a bute..  Just think of the fun your going to have.. the ripping out of the hair, the bloody knuckles, the cussing the swearing, and the tears..  Not to mention the "Why the Hell did I do this"  conversations with yourself.  LOL

I can't wait to see interior shots of this baby.  Please keep us posted, and nobody minds how much experience any member has, we are all here to help in one way or another..  If nothing else to listen to people vent their anger LOL.

It's going to be a fun story to watch.  It will be quite an event just to see you get it on the ferry LOL.

Trev

[warvet]

Yup,
A shitload of work Jon, good luck with it though, looks like allot of fun, aside from the realities your facing, that Trev pointed out lol Thats what i call dedication " Hmmm i want to build a sim, ok ill build a grage and go buy the nose of an aircraft , all set lol WOW thats definitely the definition to commitment.

Tim
A340

[G-BVOB]

Cheers guys, yes I'm looking forward to getting stuck into the "fun". The crazy thing is getting the cockpit was the easy bit, 'OB's an aircraft I've "known" since '97, so when I heard she was being chopped up it was a straight "can I have the front-end then please?" She helped pay my mortgage for a good few years, time to repay the favour giving her a home.  It's the "Why the hell did YOU do this?" comments from the missus which we'll have to worry about. 
Jon

[Trevor Hale]

It's the "Why the hell did YOU do this?" comments from the missus which we'll have to worry about. 
Jon

Hey Jon,  No worries.. we all have to put up with those comments..

Trev

[Boeing Skunk Works]

Some of us do...

[jackpilot]

Some do not have to.....

[G-BVOB]

Well the process of getting G-BVOB "flying" again is well under way; we're doing the heavy-duty metalwork at the moment, and hopefully the sim-related work will start soon, now where did I leave those potentiometers!

I've only had a couple of "what did I get myself into" moments, but's it's turning into a bit of an adventure into the great unknown - the saving grace has been knowing the right people who have the skills and answers 

I've started a blog at www.g-bvob.blogspot.com to keep tabs on progress. I don't think I'm quite at the point of nominating a first-flight target date though 

Cheers
Jon

[Trevor Hale]

Great News Jon,  Don;t forget to show us some pics here as well, I am sure it has been quite the adventure so far.  The most important thing about this venture...  Don't get discouraged. We all have those (Beat your head against a wall moments).

Trev

[TomR]

Well the process of getting G-BVOB "flying" again is well under way; we're doing the heavy-duty metalwork at the moment, and hopefully the sim-related work will start soon, now where did I leave those potentiometers!

I've only had a couple of "what did I get myself into" moments, but's it's turning into a bit of an adventure into the great unknown - the saving grace has been knowing the right people who have the skills and answers 

I've started a blog at www.g-bvob.blogspot.com to keep tabs on progress. I don't think I'm quite at the point of nominating a first-flight target date though 

Cheers
Jon

Hi

Woh !  Where are you located in Ireland?

[G-BVOB]

Trevor,

No worries about getting discouraged, it's a great learning process. One thing that's kept me in this hobby for 27 years (the good old Psion Flight Simulator for the Sinclair ZX81 was my first) is that unlike mindless console games it gets you involved in so many different activities, whether it's directly related to tweaking FS, to computers, metalwork, woodwork, electronics, road transport ....almost forgot an important one aviation! And as the Guinness ads say "good things come to those who wait!"

Thomas, I'm in County Meath, Trim is our nearest reasonably sized town. I see you're in Limerick, I must get down and see the Atlantic Aviation Venture set-up one day.

Cheers
Jon

[G-BVOB]

Now winter's out of the way, we're starting to make progress and the pit's home in the shed. I've started work on rebuilding the overhead panels - found the voltmeters and ammeters in a box so hopefully should have those 6 holes filled and the missing external power switch installed tonight, and the panel should be done. then we'll remove again and strip the panels down to get them resprayed. I should get my priorities right and sort out the ceiling mount for the projectors and hook pots up to the flight control cable runs, but hey tomorrow's another day  I need to drill out the mounting holes for my CPFlight nav/com units so they'll take DZUS fasteners and the ceiling will look complete.

Just seen another challenge from that photo - where can I find a crash axe to fill that holder on the left?
Jon
www.g-bvob.net

[XOrionFE]

Looks great Jon

As for the crash axe.....

http://www.angelfire.com/il2/aphs/ax.jpg

Regards,
Scott

PS - Keep the pictures coming!

[G-BVOB]

Cheers Scott,

How could I have forgotten Nick's site 
Trouble is he's got so much good stuff on sale trying to resist temptation to buy more is very hard!
Looking at his site has given me some ideas for the control wheel centre caps though.

Jon
www.g-bvob.net

[when acting as a wave]

Hi Jon

Your hangar looks beautiful - reminds me a little of my father's 'garage' expansion.

Nice looking test visuals too ...

We haven't had much time to spend on the ATR as of late unfortunately, but we've been getting ourselves fairly well acquainted with a Fokker 100 over the past few weeks ...

Regards,
Dean.

[G-BVOB]

Hi Dean,

Sounds intriging, a real one or a "Digital" one? Don't know much about the F100, other than the engine maintenance reserve costs are very high and no one's cut a big hole (cargo door) in the side of one yet.  Beancounter hat removed 

Despite great plans I've managed to do precisely zero on the cockpit this week; the world of real aviation has been keeping me busy, and I'm not going to complain about that!

Cheers
Jon

[when acting as a wave]

Hi Jon

Yes, 'tis only a 'digital' one. Unfortunately we don't have access to a real one ourselves, but we've been clawing our way through stacks of dimensioned photographs that one of our pilot friends has kindly taken for us. He works overseas for months at a time and thankfully appreciates the distraction of us giving him research jobs to do, which is mightily convenient!

Dean.