Learjet 45 Simulator Project

Well, the port side final shaping is under way. I’m using adjustable flexible sanders from AFS that are typically used on cars, but they work great on any curved surface.

Learjet 45 Simulator Cockpit Shell Final Shaping

Learjet 45 Simulator Cockpit Shell Shaping Close-up

AFS Adjustable Flexible Sanders

I’ve been battling bronchitis, so the last few weeks haven’t been very productive. Sanding tends to be bad for already irritated lungs. I’m ready now, with respirator in hand, to start the final sanding and shaping of the foam on the outside of the shell. After that, a coat of hardener and some green paint and then it’s on to the work I’ve been really wanting to do on the interior. Expect more activity here in the coming weeks.

Hey all, just a quick update to let everyone know I’m doing well. I have the sim temporarily set up with a DLP projector and controls, mainly so the family could fly it over the holidays. I’ve been flying it too, and am hesitant to tear into it, ’cause even in this state it’s lots of fun. However, I will be resuming the shell work as soon as I’ve worked off the pounds I gained drinking all that egg nog.

The rough shaping and sanding is done. Final sanding requires a guide coat, so I found some old acrylic paint I had sitting around and used that. What, you thought I wanted a purple plane? Only if I was Prince or a rabid Vikings fan.

Learjet 45 Simulator Shell with Sanding Guide Coat Applied

Just a quick update on my progress:

Phase 1: Rough trimming -Complete
Phase 2: Rough shaping -In progress
Phase 3: Foam putty (Fill in bubbles and other voids) -In progress
Phase 4: Final shaping (Various automotive block sanders) -Not started
Phase 5: Foam hardener -Not started
Phase 6: Paint -Not started

Learjet 45 Shell Foam Shaping Progress

…took longer than expected, but the Bondo finally cured, and I was able to fill the shell wall voids with foam. It was more than a little surprising that it took so many cans to get it done- 12 in all. The clerks at the local hardware store where I was buying all this spray foam were, not surprisingly,  giving me the twenty questions routine. I’ve learned that telling the truth in these situations is not always the best policy.

It needs to stabilize for a few days before I can start trimming and sanding it down.

Learjet 45 Simulator Cockpit Shell with Foam

Smelly and messy is all I can say about that stuff. Make sure you get some ventilation and/or wear a respirator when working with it.

In preparation for the foaming process, I am filling the grooves (fluting) I made in the outside of the hardboard wall pieces with Bondo to help strengthen and keep their shape if  things ever need to be disassembled. The filler foam will be sprayed on top of that and then shaped with hand tools and automotive finishing sanding blocks (used for body fenders and such).

Learjet 45 Shell (Now with Bondo!)

In my ‘pit, I will be using the Jet 45 Advance Avionics Suite by FlightDeckSoft. A 15-day demo is available and they are having a pre-release discount for a limited time.

If you’re building or flying anything that uses the Honeywell Primus 1000 avionics suite, this may be the package you’ve been looking for!

So far I’ve got my E8600 (3.3 GHz) processor up to 3.9 GHz with no problems. FSX is running great.

Sorry all. It has been too long.

I’ve been enjoying the remaining good weather up here in the northern U.S..

I haven’t made too much progress on the shell, however I have been playing with my PCs trying to figure out what is the best setup for my ‘pit.

Although I love FS9, I also love eye candy. That said, I have decided to take the leap back into FSX. After some reading, and some purchasing, I think I’ve come up with a very strong FSX system that will last for awhile, or at least until the i7 processors come down in price.

FSX seems to be CPU bound, so given a great graphics card, check, fast memory, check, and a fast hard drive, check, the biggest item is the fastest CPU you can find. I won’t get into any of the debate over quad or dual core. I have come to the personal conclusion that quad cores won’t do me any good on a machine that’s only running FSX. Yes, SP2 does take advantage of multi cores, but not enough in my opinion to make a difference.

I purchased a Intel E8600 Dual Core processor (3.33 GHz). This is the new 45nm chip that runs cooler and is more energy efficient than the older 65nm chips (Be sure that your motherboard supports the 45nm chips! My old board did not, even though it supported the older dual cores).

The board I have allows overclocking and it appears that you can get this thing up to 4.0 GHz with no voltage modifications at all and just simple air cooling.

So far, so good. I’m getting good framerates at the default processor settings, so it will be fun to push this processor to se what it can do.

It appears that I can get FSX to run at least as well as FS9 did on my previous dual core chip. Plus, FSX has some features that I have been really missing with FS9.

It’s time for some fun!