Hello from sunny Wigan England

[wiganpilotsteve]

My name is Steve and I have been interested in aviation since about the age of ten. My dad would always take me to Manchester airport to watch the planes landing and taking off, I used to tell people when they asked what I wanted to be that I would like to be a Pilot. Of course that never happened and over recent years I have been itching to build a simulator, I have bought lots of Saitek panels and a few old computer monitors, also built a very powerful pc, but I have still not got to the point where I can place them all together in a realistic cockpit. I would love to go for those replica controls, like the radio and autopilot panels but they are very expensive. Well I am here now and Hello to you all Hope I can pick up enough tips to get my project completed and pick up some great friends along the way.

[den19]

Welcome Steve, I thought the sun never shone on Wigan! It never has when I've been there.

[samfranklin]

Ah, good to see another English builder! Throttle on!

[wiganpilotsteve]

Thanks for the welcome Gents. The sun is rare den that's for sure.

[steveeverson]

Hi Steve, nice to have a fellow simmer in the manchester area. We're only up in Bacup and are just starting a business called Flightdeck Experience as the hobby has now outgrown our house !- you're very welcome to pop up and have a look around and a play on the 737 . just drop me a PM
cheers
Steve

[wiganpilotsteve]

Hello Steve, yes you are only up the road! Just had a look at your pictures, looks really good The sim I am trying to get built is just a Captain's side, it has to fit into my spare box room upstairs. I have just bought a MIP that is just a facia but looks very accurate, I was assured that it is backlit compatible, it saves me carving up a piece of plywood. I have the Saitek Proflight yoke and two throttle quadrants, I also have the multi panel/ BIP panel/ 3 x radio panels, and the switch panel. Along with the MIP, I bought some modified throttle levers and flaps/ speed brake levers from the same site, not sure when they will arrive. I am running Xplane 10 on Windows 8.1.

[Geremy Britton]

Hi Steve, welcome to the forum, great to see a local sim builder and would like to wish you well with the project. Perhaps you can start a thread with some photos?

If there's any questions all members here are happy to help, and I would definitely encourage you to get in touch with Steve Everson, as he would be an invaluable local resource for inspiration as you set out on your interesting journey.

Happy new year....

[wiganpilotsteve]

Hiya Geremy, happy new year to you too. Will I find Steve on here? I will be seeking lots of advice shortly, one of the first questions I will be asking is the measurement from the floor to the bottom of the MIP, all the other measurements I will be working around the MIP itself and extending out from the right to house in the Saitek panels. I will of course be making the top detachable for if/when I manage to get hold of a decent MCP and EFIS. Cheers Steve.

[Geremy Britton]

Hi Steve, he just posted on here further up the page

Also dimensions can be found on a wide variety of websites, not least www.737ng.co.uk as well as the downloads section right here at MyCockpit.org.

[wiganpilotsteve]

Yes he did! Sorry Steve. I will have a good scout around on here and look at the link thanks.