The Seattle 737 project

[AndreNordheim]

Good evening good folks!

I'm going to try this one more time as there must be a conspiracy against my name as my new threads seem to be visible for a day and vanish just like that.
Although i've been a registered user at mycockpit.org for quite some time, i spent all my time in here admiring other projects and learning a lot about sim building.

Two and a half years ago i started my first project, meant to be a multi purpose sim pit. The project turned out very good but i kept finding myself always wanting more. Let's change this and let's change that.
Well, i guess the final triggering point to building a 737 started with purchasing Prosim737. Ok, i was off and running......again. Of course all of this while a sceptical wife kept shaking her head.

Below you can see a short synopsis of where it started and where it sits today, 3 weeks after I started. Everything is scratch built and my joints are aching after running the jig saw for hours

[AndreNordheim]

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?

[AndreNordheim]

Hello world! I feel warm

[Neil Hewitt]

Nice work. Every time I see a shell like this I find myself wishing I had the room, the tools and the talent to jigsaw out all those curved members and do something as nice as this.

[AndreNordheim]

Nice work. Every time I see a shell like this I find myself wishing I had the room, the tools and the talent to jigsaw out all those curved members and do something as nice as this.

Thank you for the kind words Neil.
No doubt a lot of work has gone into the project so far and it's daunting to know that i've barely started.
Although I haven't kept a pulse in the exact hours spent in my garage so far, i'm guessing somewhere around 150.
I remember my childhood years in Norway, watching my dad craft beautiful things out of nothing. Things didnt turn out so nice when i tried to copy him but he always appreciated the effort. I guess i have always wanted to be the craftsman my dad was, hence i kept at it and before you knew it people started recognizing the crafts
It has kind of been the same way during this project. Started with a few planks and a ton of pictures, a few measurements and a lot of heart. It's funny to think back on the month of work as i've had bypassers ask why im building a boat, a bed, play fort, etc.
Being that I live in a community where houses are 8ft apart, our street turned into a traffic jam this last weekend as everyone seems to have heard about the mad man building a plane in his garage with a jig saw, a chop saw, a finish nailer, lots of screws, some basic hand tools, a broom and a very patient wife.
The skynis the limit Neil. You can do it.

[Qantas747]

Very, very nice looking shell mate! Wish I had the time, skills and money to build a sim like that. Will closely watch this thread. By the way, was the name of this project, and the project itself inspired by the Norwegian 737 Project?

Cheers,

Ollie

[vidarf]

Good work! The Vikings bring it every time! Just look at Ivar Hestnes. He did the same thing.

Tip: sand the surface smooth, then cover with epoxy and glass fiber. DONE! Just check out my side wall build...

[Neil Hewitt]

Thank you for the kind words Neil.
No doubt a lot of work has gone into the project so far and it's daunting to know that i've barely started.
Although I haven't kept a pulse in the exact hours spent in my garage so far, i'm guessing somewhere around 150.
I remember my childhood years in Norway, watching my dad craft beautiful things out of nothing. Things didnt turn out so nice when i tried to copy him but he always appreciated the effort. I guess i have always wanted to be the craftsman my dad was, hence i kept at it and before you knew it people started recognizing the crafts
It has kind of been the same way during this project. Started with a few planks and a ton of pictures, a few measurements and a lot of heart. It's funny to think back on the month of work as i've had bypassers ask why im building a boat, a bed, play fort, etc.
Being that I live in a community where houses are 8ft apart, our street turned into a traffic jam this last weekend as everyone seems to have heard about the mad man building a plane in his garage with a jig saw, a chop saw, a finish nailer, lots of screws, some basic hand tools, a broom and a very patient wife.
The skynis the limit Neil. You can do it.

Hi Andre.

My dad was a joiner (specialist carpenter who hand-builds furniture) by trade. He could do beautiful things with wood. I picked up a few tips from watching him work. I learned a bit at school, too - I went to a school where woodworking & metalworking was compulsory for the first three years - and I turned out some nice stuff that's still in use in my parents' home today. So I can, in theory, do better than my current 'straight cuts and lots of screws' effort. But I also learned how to build quick structures Ikea-style.

What I lack, more than anything else, is space and time. I'm building in a back bedroom on the first floor. The property is rented so everything has to be stand-alone and non-destructive to the room. The room itself is 2.4m x 3.2m (that's 8' x 10'6"), and that has to accommodate the shell and the workspace and the tools (though I suspect I'm going to spill over into the lounge pretty soon). Oh for a proper workshop-sized cutting table And to be honest, the raw materials available to me are not fantastic either. Half my batons and planks are warped, and I'm mostly using ply instead of MDF to keep the weight down (as I mentioned, it's a first floor room - and the floor has weight limits). I can only really work on the shell at weekends, for a few hours a day, when I can use power tools without being anti-social to my neighbours upstairs and downstairs. Right now, due to personal circumstances, I have to be away every third weekend, and of course I have a life so some weekend days are just taken up with other stuff. All of which means I get maybe three full days of work done every month on the project. Once I get to the post-shell phase and I'm doing mostly electronics and small partwork, I'll be able to work in the evenings, and the pace should pick up. I hope.

I made a conscious decision, when I started, to keep it simple and concentrate on the inside, not the outside. So I'm going mostly with straight lines and cuts, keeping the fundamental structure simple, at least for the big parts. I've been inspired by the FDS aluminium shell range - though mine is all wood and is more bizjet than 737. I do have a nice table fretsaw ready for cutting the complex bits for my TQ out of MDF

I've almost reached the point where I'm willing to post some photos again. If I get a fair bit done at the weekend I might do next week.

Thanks for the kind words, though... I had a distinct slump a while ago and I need all the inspiration I can get Will be great to see how your project turns out.

Vidar's right, BTW - all the best shells seem to be Nordic. Ivar Hestnes, the Norwegian 737 Project, I know there are others too. Must be growing up with all those trees <g>.

[vidarf]

Yeah, Vikings are known for their wood.........

[AndreNordheim]

Yeah, Vikings are known for their wood.........

I was going to say something slightly different Vidar but decided it would be best keeping it to myself