Alaska Airlines N512AS 737-800

[geneb]

With houses something like 8 feet apart, there's no secrets to be had in that place.

Andre, what's the spacing on the stringers, center to center?

g.

[Flyboyandre]

With houses something like 8 feet apart, there's no secrets to be had in that place.

Andre, what's the spacing on the stringers, center to center?

g.

Gene, it varies slightly as i placed them strategically above connection points of the window frame. Pretty close to about 25cm apart though. I may add one or two extra stringers but i dont want them too close as it may bring on flatspots when i "stretch" the skin.

[Flyboyandre]

Roof for the most part done. Just a few support blocks to install and some minor trimming left.
Then it's off to the outside skin. Any volunteer soldiers? I have liquid refreshments!

[geneb]

Give me a ring this evening - I may be able to stop by for a while tomorrow.  I'm sure we could make short work of that skinning job.

g.

[Flyboyandre]

Why do people stop and ask? Can't you see what it is? You would think it's pretty darn obvious by now.




Started with some initial skin this evening.....

[hexpope]

Wow, looking at the pic's in your last post, that is really some nice work. I don't mind electronics, and other stuff, but working with wood, well let's say it isn't my thing. I don't have the patients for it. Work tops, tables etc no problem. But angled woodwork etc, it just never works out for me.

Your doing a great job, I am looking forward to see the final design.

[Garys]

This project looks absolutely fantastic. Its been great seeing this come together over the last couple of weeks.

Gary

[Flyboyandre]

Ok, I'm out of hardboard and will take a break until Friday night. I'm very happy with how it goes on and by the time layer #2 is on I recon it will be pretty darn nice.
Cutting 3" strips for the nose as it contains the largest curves.
Lots of people stopping and I find it insulting that they don't seem to care about my lawn.





Um, I'm glad I left the nose cone out of my plans.

[Efe]

This is coming together very quickly... and great workmanship!

[hexpope]

Wow, about the nose cone, yes, your right. You even fit a womans shoe in there. Looking forward until you have the rest of the panels and painting done. Which colours are you actually thinking of painting the outer skin with ?

[Flyboyandre]

Wow, about the nose cone, yes, your right. You even fit a womans shoe in there. Looking forward until you have the rest of the panels and painting done. Which colours are you actually thinking of painting the outer skin with ?

I'm 90% decided on the Boeing Dreamliner livery.

[Flyboyandre]

Ok, we are up and running again. Got the hardboard hauled home yesterday thanks to my friend Gene so now I hope to have the skin on the lower part installed by end of day tomorrow. The progress has slowed down a bit due to work related travel as well as spending some quality time with family.
Maybe I will let the first officer sheet his side of the flght deck?

[blueskydriver]

Hi Andre,

Since your now skinning your sim, just wanted to give you this advice. When Simlady and I did our first cockpit (wood) we cut into the lower front and sides for vent holes, and then wired 5 inch PC fans on the inside of the holes to suck air inwards. Later, we had holes at the top for the air to be blown out. Why? Because wood retains heat much better then metal and all the heat from the electronics needed somewhere to go; unless, you like flying in your birthday suit?

The biggest problem with any sim is heat and is the one thing that most builders overlook in planning. Many folks here will say sim cooling was one of the last things on their mind, I know it was for us. Of course, power supply and outlets is a close second. So, take it from Simlady and I, sit down for a 1 hour break from building today to just think about heating/cooling, air circulation, power requirements, and fire retardents (fire extingushers); doing this now will save hours and hours later...

BSD

PS. Portable Air Conditioners will be your new best friend for sure, if not now, they will later...

[Flyboyandre]

Hello world! I feel warm

[Flyboyandre]

Base layer of skin applied. Now i will let the wood settle and glue dry before applying the finish layer. Now I'm going to grab a cold one and rest for a bit.
I still have to plug along with the window frames.
Feels like i didn't make the progress I had hoped for as traffic and curiosity slowed me down. Wish I could keep the garage door closed to keep out of the sightlines but space is premium until I get the old simpit torn down.

[vidarf]

Can't help but thinking "fibre glass and epoxy" on that one - instead of two layers of wood. Or maybe fiber glass and epoxy (NOT polyester resin!!!) at the end? Would strengthen the heck out of it and you won't get any cracks in the paint.

I've been thinking about doing that - make the rib structure, fill in the spars with foam and cover with glass fiber and epoxy resin. The foam could then be removed (any leftovers is easily dissolved with acetone) and the ribs would be glued in place.

Hmmmm............ Just what I needed. Another "great" idea....

[Maurice]

Feels like i didn't make the progress I had hoped for as traffic and curiosity slowed me down.

You're kidding, right? From this end, it looks like you are moving at the speed of light. Ever since I started my sim and frequented many forums, I have never seen someone complete such a good looking wood shell from scratch in such a short time, except maybe Ivar's but no idea how long it took him.

Anyway, really superb workmanship!  You should truly be proud of your project & your progress.

Maurice

[Jetcos]

Knowing Ivar, he probably had it done over a weekend. He is very resourceful.

Nice work on the nose by the way!

[fsaviator]

Steve,
you guys should really offer the wooden shell again...

Maybe as a special order?

[Flyboyandre]

Vidar, gjør det ikke slik at jeg ender opp i hundehuset Kjærringa blir nok ikke glad dersom jeg begynner med glassfiber på toppen av alt annet

Maurice, I appreciate the kind words. The pace of the project relates to the fact that I consider myself similar to the energizer bunny. I just never stop and there have been evenings where I've wanted to flip the whole darn thing off as frustrating moments arise.
However, the end result is very rewarding and although all the questions and gawking can be annoying I also find it interesting to talk to bypassers.
Ivar is indeed a true craftsman and probably a pioneer within the community when it comes to scratch builders. Another thing he has that I don't is patience. His shell is absolutely fantastic but he took his time with it and the end result was breathtaking.
For me, this has come together in about a month and I dont think I can ever be compared to Ivar

Steve, thank you for the kind words. It's cool to hear that little guys like me is noticed

[Trevor Hale]

Andre,  Thats the Number one point of this Website...  Everyone is just as important as the next, Everyone here is a star, and no matter what the project is...  Everyone gets noticed.  Thats the beauty of Cockpitbuilders.

Regardless, Your Shell is Stunning!

Trev

[XOrionFE]

That is an amazing job Andre.   I love my wooden shell from FDS and yours looks perfect!   I completely redid the window frames and overhead on mine when I built it and it was a lot of work just to do that so what you have completed in such short time to me is just simply amazing and so far your skinning looks great also.  I opted not to skin the outside of mine because it is never seen but I think it does look really cool looking at yours and I could se how neighbors and passers by would be very curious indeed.

Great work and I look forward to seeing it finished.

Scott

PS - Steve c. - I agree with Warren, you should dust off your wood shell design and do another production run.  The steel shell you make is really awesome of course but the curves and lines of the wood one are hard to beat.  Maybe a limited time production run of the Nostalgic FDS Wooden beast!  love mine and the Pro mip fit in it perfectly.

[Flyboyandre]

"Excuse me, this may sound like a stupid question but are you building an Igloo?". I looked at her and said nothing but thought to myself "what the f$&@ is wrong with people?". An Igloo?? Really??? Do you really want to go there? I contained myself and shook my head as she moved on, muttering to myself that she would be one of those people who didn't deserve a closer look or an answer. The progress may not be that noticeable but I did finish the skinning of the entire captain's side, including finish sanding and nails punched down. Actually, I was so excited that I had to pull out the filler and get a rough coat onto the rear portion of the captain's side. Tomorrow I will ensure that the first officer gets the same treatment. The roof will have to wait until this weekend.

[vidarf]

If your F/O needs that much filler to look smooth, consider a divorce!

Great work! However, you've made me consider doing the same thing!

Or perhaps I should focus on getting the sim up and running. Anyway, this is great motivation for me! Keep it up, my Norwegian friend!

[Flyboyandre]

If your F/O needs that much filler to look smooth, consider a divorce!

Great work! However, you've made me consider doing the same thing!

Or perhaps I should focus on getting the sim up and running. Anyway, this is great motivation for me! Keep it up, my Norwegian friend!

Get that damn thing up and running!!!!!!!