Lear 45 build

[Boeing Skunk Works]

The little details are what make the sim in a lot of cases. Sometimes you might think something just doesn't seem right but you can't quite put your finger on it. It's usually in the details. You don't know what's missing, you just know something is.

[shaneb]

I was fortunate in finding the real interior panels from the L45 along with several other real interior components . . that helped tremendously.  Of course there have been some parts like the cockpit voice recorder mic, parking brake handle, pitch disconnect handle etc.  that I had to make myself . . of course that is part of the fun, seeing what you can do.   The small details sell the idea of being in a real aircraft to me . . it will be really nice having all the panels in the correct place along with all switches so I can follow a checklist correctly. . . just adds a little more to the sim.

[shaneb]

Hey guys,

Been a little while since I updated the thread.  I've been adding the final touches to the circuit breaker panels.  This past spring I was able to buy the real circuit breaker lightplates and I fabricated a backer panel to mount them to. 

I recently ordered a set of dummy circuit breakers from Dean at Ruscool Engineering  .    The dummy CB's worked perfect with the lightplates.  Thanks for providing this product Dean!

Here are a few photos . . .







Dean provides a pdf file of circuit breaker values along with the CB dummys.  You can see a section of these in the upper right hand corner of the photo.  I printed these on Avery 5265 8 1/2 X 11 shipping labels, then covered the printed values with laminate to give a little more protection. 

I used a hole punch to cut the values out. This was easier than trying to cut out with scissors and far more accurate.  I then sprayed a satin clear over the labels after applying them to the tops of the dummy CB's.

The circuit breakers attach with a M3 screw from the back . . Dean drilled and tapped the CB's for me for a small additional charge . . worth it unless you want to drill and tap almost 200 CB's!

[Boeing Skunk Works]

Cool! They look great.

[when acting as a wave]

That was quick work.

It's nice to see them all in place, and with some useful instructions/tips as well. Using a hole punch to cut the values out is an especially good idea.

Dean.

[shaneb]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the comments . . .  Dean, I'm glad I opted to have you drill/tap the CB's.  Having them predrilled and tapped and using the hole punch for the CB values really saved a lot of time during assembly.   The quality of the circuit breakers are great, over 200 CB's and not a single problem with any of them . . very good craftsmanship / quality control.  If you are thinking about a way to add dummy circuit breakers to your sim this is a very simple and cost effective method. 

[Bob Reed]

I have some RussCool stuff as well that I need to get pictures up of... They do nice work!

[shaneb]

Hey . . that's right Bob  you have some KA stuff . . looking forward to seeing photos!

[astron]

Hey Shane, you seem to be all over the internet,i just joined this group here, as i have decided to build ,should say buy a 737 sim from fds, main reason is we just want to get up and flying shortly here, we are still working on the lear sim but who knows that could be another year or 2 from finished, anyway your progress as usual is looking good, take care for now
Tom

[shaneb]

Hey Tom,

Good to see you   . . a great group of builders over here too!   Looking forward to seeing your progress on the 37.   I know what you mean about getting up and flying . . if I had not had the generic sim to fly while building the 45 I might have lost my motivation.     

[shaneb]

Hey guys,

I was fortunate to have all of Thanksgiving week off and was able to finish up the majority of the throttle quadrant adding the flap bucket and  throttle lever dust covers that Ron Rollo designed.  I have not connected all of the wiring to the Bodnar board yet and I will need to make a couple of brackets to attach the lightplate but all in all the harder parts are finished.

Here are a few photos . . .



and with the lightplate lit . . .



and a photo of the control column boots that my wife sewed for me . . that cost me!  Still a little more work to do on the boots such as adding velcro to secure around the columns

[Bob Reed]

Wow!!! Nice......

[Boeing Skunk Works]

Yeah, really nice.

Do you have to pull that flap lever before moving it or does it use detents?

[shaneb]

Yeah, all of the levers on the TQ are out of a real Lear45 so it has detents . . you have to pull up on the flaps handle to move it up and out of the gate to move out of the stowed position into flaps down positions and also requires a slight pull up on the handle to move the lever into the different flaps positions.  Much better feel than the GoFlight TQ I had been using.   

[warvet]

Shane,
Your sim is coming along super, it looks really great well done. Keep up the great work.
Tim

[shaneb]

Hey guys,

I've been working on an enclosure for my power supplies that will run the 12v DC accessories such as the overhead lights, map lights and blowers that will move air thru the interior vents and the 5v DC power supplies for the lightplates. 

I stripped an old computer of all exterior parts and interior parts and found that it made a nice enclosure for my power packs and associated wiring.  The enclosure will mount on the bulkhead inside the avionics bay of my shell.







As you can see I need to tidy up the wiring with wire ties or other similiar product.  The strip connectors at the bottom will allow me to connect the various lights as the power supplies only have two connection points.  I am also adding a small piece of plexi to the tops of each strip connector to prevent any objects coming into contact with the strips.

[shaneb]

Another small update . . .  awhile back I had purchased a couple of angle of attack (AOA) gauges off Ebay and thought I might want to see if I could get them to at least light up.  After some testing and messages back and forth with JackPilot  I was able to get the gauges to light up and get a little needle movement out of them.

When power is applied to the gauge the internal lighting will come on and the needle will move to approximately  the  .2 value on the gauge face

Here is a photo of the gauges . . hard to see the backlighting and I don't have the needles functioning in the photos.

[Boeing Skunk Works]

Cool. I remember my flight control position indicator/yaw damper status guage the first time I lit that one up. Typical yellowish cast to the light like on older airliners.

I got the tiny little electromagnets to function on 1.5VDC each for the two yaw damper flags. Now I can actually tell if I missed a checklist item by looking at a real instrument...or just sit and wonder why the AP won't engage...

[shaneb]

Yep . . these have a yellowish light to them.   I need to play around with them some more . . I would like to be able to get the small panel in the upper left corner of the gauge to drop down and work  properly to cover up the "off" when they are functioning. 

[Boeing Skunk Works]

That should be easy Shane. They're probably set up on the inside the same way as the tiny electromagnets in my guage are. Open up the guage and see what the flag arms are attached to.

[shaneb]

I've not figured out how to open the gauge up . . looks like it is sealed.  I'm open to any suggestions as this is the first time I have worked with real gauges.

[Boeing Skunk Works]

Check for a locking 'C' clip on the inside of the connector housing. If there are no visible screws and the housing doesn't unscrew from the front bezel, it might be the C clip holding the whole thing together.

PS is this manufactured by Ultra with 152LV608 as the part number?

[shaneb]

Thanks!    The front bezel unscrews . . just wasn't using enough force . . actually kinda ashamed . . came off easy!   

[Boeing Skunk Works]

OK nevermind the manufacturer and part number. Glad you got it open.

[shaneb]

Well . . I think that just removed the bezel   

Here are a couple of photos that might help





It is a Bendix  ARU-26/A