Hola from Espania

[bussgarfield]

No I am not Spanish but have recently emigrated to this wonderful country. My name is Gary and I am a 51 yr old simmer of some years but decided on my retirement from the boys in blue to build a cockpit once I and my good lady had moved. I have most things I need to build my 737 cockpit and have been following you established builders for some time to get a grip with things. Most of my panels and hardware are courtesy of Opencockpits and I may need to seek advice on the programming system they use. Nav and MCP are up and running but not the FMC yet. I am desperately waiting for PMDG to pull their fingers out and allow me to purchase the new 737 NGX as I run MS FSX. I can then get cracking.
Thats enough for now but I hope to speak and ask questions before to long.
Great site and there seems to be many great guys here.
Gary

[Trevor Hale]

Hey Gary, Great to have you here.  Sounds like you have lots of experience.  I look forward to seeing more of your build as you progress.

Best regards,

Trev

[Boeing Skunk Works]

Hi Gary, welcome aboard.

What did you do in the Air Force?

[DarrylH]

Welcome mate,

Good luck with your build.


Darryl

[bussgarfield]

Thanks for the welcome guys.
I don't know about lots of experience. Sitting in front a yoke and screen in the spare room doesnt count for much but my dream is to sit in my own cockpit. I will keep you posted as to how I am getting on (once the olives have been harvested and the re-wiring of the house is complete). I note on your home page that you feature Ian Sissons. Great bloke and is very helpful with the minor queries I have had whilst setting out on my quest. His website is well set out and I din't know how he finds the time to fit it all in.
I treated myself to a large gaming computer with 3 large screens and graphic cards as a retirement pressy and all seems to work well with the default 737 and the coms and MCP but my 'den' needs filling up with more working gadgets. Being a new resident in Spain I need to try and source out a few things but most of the electrical items and panels were brought over from the UK.
As for what I did in the Air Force!!! I was a traffic motorcyclist for 22 years and completed 30yrs of service. Now I need a break.
Cheers.
Gary

[Boeing Skunk Works]

Oh. The other 'Boys in Blue'   

[Trevor Hale]

Awesome Gary.  We all have hidden experience one way or another.  Its good to have you here, and if we can help you realize your dream then we will.  Asside from the needing a break part..  You may now think cockpit building is relaxing... but I assure you some days it is not! LOL

Trev

[ian@737ng.co.uk]

hello gary.....
where in spain are you?
i have a great friend and colleague (also ex-pat, ex-ATC ) in Alicante.
maybe you can chat to each other.
thanks for your compliments..... welcome onboard and if you need any more help,
please feel free to ask ......... no prob...
glad to have been of help in your build
rgds ..... ian

[bussgarfield]

Hi Ian and thanks for the welcome. I am just 52 mins north of Alicante in the country near the town of Cocentaina. I actually removed some of my bits out of the packing boxes last night to have a 'dry' fit and took over the lounge floor. It is tempting to start on the overhead first but logic tells me to progress with the MIP. Once I take my daughter back to Alicante airport on Friday it is off to the DIY store to source out some MDF. Then serious consideration will be given to getting the saw bench, router and drill press made accessable so I can start giving the pit some shape.

Gary

[PaulEMB]

Hi Gary,

Welcome to Spain!

Í´ve been here for over 19 years, and am still enjoying it! I had my last (!) house move last year, so am also still setting up things out of boxes, but just started to renovate my sim.

I am 25 km north of Madrid, and don´t get down south much, but let me know if you need help with anything "Spanish", or day to day problems you encounter.

Good luck with the project 

Paul

[ian@737ng.co.uk]

hi gary.......
ok, my colleague's name is Peter Wilshire (retired ATC), he's building a 737.  Peter has been here a couple of times and i get to meet up with him at shows and things.     he's also near to alicante.
if you e-mail me on ian@737ng.co.uk with your details, maybe i can introduce you two.   on a build, there's nothing worse than being alone 
regards ... ian

[bussgarfield]

Hi Paul and hi Ian.

Paul thanks for intro. I may indeed need to pick your brains regarding the Spanish lingo in the near future. I am well south of Madrid but a very short distance via email.

Ian, thanks mate, I will be emailing you shortly as like you say, being 'home alone' can be a bit traumatic although my wife Linda is very supportive but she does not yet know about the pennies I have spent or indeed the cents I will be spending in the future. It is good to talk but there are limitations !!!!!
Gary

[Trevor Hale]

LOL Gary, I couldn't agree with you more.  I am 3.5 hours drive to my closest builder (Maurice) and it is quite tough.  Regardless as you said.. you never want to give away the farm.  This hobby can be quite expensive at times..  In my world, I use the 10% rule.  10% is what I divulge when reporting what things cost.  $100 items, cost me 10 Bucks Shhhhhh

Trev