Super Constellation Sim

[Geremy Britton]

Great to see an old jet restored to its former glory - in the state of a flight sim!

Keep up the excellent quality!

[Kennair]

Nice stuff Christian,

Here in Australia we have a society called the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society which has bought and repaired an old Connie from the boneyard in the US and they fly it at most aircraft displays around the country. I had the opportunity to have a look through it in Feb at Avalon and talk to the restorers and pilots. All ex Qantas engineers, pilots and hosties who are so passionate about thier 'Girl' that it puts some of us simmers to shame. Anyway she was a beauty to see and even more of beauty to watch fly. Good luck with your project and I hope you get as much fun out of it as they do.

Ken.

[Paul Thomas]

This is definately one of the most intersting projects I have seen. As I saw the pictures and studied those I was truly amazed and I am most eager to follow the progress of this well done so far "historical" project.

[superconnie]

Thanks very much, guys! It's great to get some other responses than "you're crazy...." or similar

Yes, it is a lot of work to disassemble, clean and re-assemble every part, screw and bolt. The throttle quadrant was the hardest bit until now. There are not only a lot of parts, everything is also very cramped and narrow... I hope I will never have to take it apart again.
And because of this huge amount of work, it would be a crime to use old and rusty screws to put everything together. That's why even the window nuts and bolts have been polished.
My goal is to have a Connie cockpit that looks better than new and I think I'm on a good way.... I have more time to invest than Lockheed had 50 years ago. They had to build over 800 Connies, I have only this one

Christian

[Tomlin]

I had these thoughts a few days ago when I saw the finished state of your Connie Throttle stand. Things were made so differently back in those days- lots of curves and bulges and shapes that just arent used in parts these days- they definately werent made in a streamlined process compared to plastic moulding and cnc cut parts today. What you have here is not only an awesome flight simulator, but a piece of history- a piece of Art.

I highly encourage you to consider writing down what you want done with your sim if/when something were to happen to you (not to be creepy, but I was thinking the other day what would my wife do with all the bits and pieces if I were to pass to the other side sooner than expected?) because Im sure a museum would love to have access to it. I love all aircraft, yes, even airbus, simply because planes are cool, but the old ones really have a special place in our world- the Constellation was a magnificent airplane, even with its leaky wings!

Kudos to you for taking on such an ambitious project- it is coming together nicely!

[Geremy Britton]

Leaky wings? That sound worrying

[superconnie]

Hi Tomlin

I am aware that I have a historic piece in my workshop. That's one of the reasons why I'm working with as much care as possible. And that's why I want a "as perfect as possible" looking cockpit at the end.

I will see what happens in the future... You know, this cockpit will not just sit in a basement and from time to time someone comes to play with. No, it is made transportable and it will be there where the real Connie (HB-RSC) is.

I'm member of the Super Constellation Flyers Assoc. (www.superconstellation.ch) and the goal is to make the simulator available to the public. For example to passengers who come back from a sightsseeing flight and who want to try to fly themselves. Or on airshows.... or private rental.... not for free but for a good price.

I'm sure many possibilities will come up to make sure that the simulator does not end on a scrapyard or something like that.

Chris

[superconnie]

Leaky wings? Not at all....! The engines always loose lots of oil but the wings don't leak.
I know what I'm talking of... I have refueled that bird twice

[Tomlin]

Sorry, I was thinking that I had read that the ground crew would always leave pans under the wings while on the ground to catch fuel, must have been just the SR-71!

Anyhow, keep us updated on your magnificent project.

[dnoize]

The connie in our Aviodrome museum does have pans under the engines for leaking oil....

Christian, once again. Amazing project. Something to be proud of.

This is the first connie sim i see. Would love to see both your real flying conny and the sim in the Aviodrome in holland once (do you guys do trips abroad). I know of your project. Good job.

Love classic sims. Here in holland we have someone building a DC3 and another building a B-17. Both great projects.

I've also seen a comet project and a Electric canberra.

Absolutely cool projects.

I will keep an eye on your weblog. Well documented !

Thanks for sharing it with us.

Stef