Quote from Hangar45 Admin on December 8, 2017, 4:03 pm

(Original thread started on 01-09-12 by Terry Collins)

Hi all, I made my first post on 28 December 2011 in the Welcome Center. Thanks for all the encouragement and support I have received to date.  I now want to start this thread as the kick-off to my new Learjet 45 project!

 

The approach I am taking is to start with the internal build. This is for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I would like to start flying in my simulator earlier rather than later. Secondly, I currently don't have the space to house the shell - I might have to do what Ron did and buy a new house first!

 

Last Friday I made inquiries with respect to the MIP, glare shield and TQ access doors. Two of the companies use waterjet cutting, the other does machining. He claims that the edges will be sharper and that there is less time involved and therefore cheaper. We shall see. I've heard of costs from $250 - $700 from other members. I have specified grade 5052 aluminum as suggested in other recent posts.

 

I'm currently setting up my Learjet trainer, which will run off the server planned for the Learjet 45 build. My Saitek yoke and pedals arrived today from Amazon. I purchased FSX Gold last month.

 

NOTE:  All of the photos in this thread have been lost due to a third party website!

 

(Posted by Ron Rollo on 01-09-12)

It sounds like you have done your research and have a nice plan in place to achieve the goals you have set for yourself. Planning and research are very important with this project! Looking forward to seeing your build unfold!

 

(Posted by Terry Collins on 01-09-12)

Thanks for the encouragement guys!

 

EDIT: I've received pricing for both waterjet cutting and machining..

Machining: One set - AU$615 each, two sets $425 each

Waterjet Cutting: One set - AU$430 each, two sets $280 each

 

I think I'll go with the waterjet cutting.

 

Reason for looking at two sets is I have a mate on the Gold Coast who was interested, unfortunately he has put the project on hold as he is out of work at present.

 

After a bit of research I've decided to build the MIP support tower, TQ pedestal and rear (center) pedestal from 12mm (1/2") marine plywood. This has a hardwood veneer, so will give a nice smooth finish. It comes in 1220mm x 610mm (4' x 2') sheets which is perfect.

 

I got quotes for waterjet cutting of the side panels and end panel of the center pedestal, and it came in surprisingly cheap - about $250 all up including the wood. That should make life easier!

 

It's gone pretty smoothly, although a few things to work through. The first was that the bend angle on the glareshield was not quite correct - checked with an angle finder and turned out to be only 12 degrees instead of 18 degrees. All sorted now.

 

The backer support was modified so that my Lenovo L151p would fit. That model also has a DVI input.

 

I've had some discussions with Ron about the glareshield light bracket. In the end I chose to reduce the space between the MIP and the light bracket to get the overall distance from the MIP to the front of the glareshield down to about 9" as shown on the reference photos. Hopefully I won't discover any complications later !

 

(Posted by Alan Norris on 03-07-12)

It's a little difficult to see but did you use the latest CAD file for the glare shield as it looks like the cut outs for the Reversion panels don't have the clearance for the switch assembly. I sent a revised one to Ron a while back as I had to enlarge my cut out to accommodate the switch.

 

Your consoles look great, I wish I had used a better grade of plywood. I have never heard of cutting plywood with a water jet but judging by the clean edges it did a great job. BTW judging by the amount of room in the photo you can accommodate a shell.

 

(Posted by Eric Tomlin on 03-07-12)

Terry, looking great! Don't worry about the Reversion Panel Cutout too much yet. What I did with mine is make it like the real part- I mounted the backer behind the glare and the front panel on the face of the glare. If you're getting Ron's Reversion Panels this might not work. Mine are made to where you can mount them either way, but mounting them proto-typical allows you to not worry about modding the opening for the Glare Shield:

 

Still got to paint the 6-32 screws gray:

 

(Posted by Will Sasse on 03-07-12)

Looking good Terry, I forgot how neat things look without all the wires.  Don't worry about the reversion panel cutout. I have Ron's panel, and had to adjust the cutout to suit. Its easy enough with sharp files (I used a round Bastard to quickly cut out most and a flat 2nd Cut to finish), just make dams with paper and tape to keep the filings from going where they shouldn't.

 

(Posted by Ron Rollo on 03-07-12)

If you have to open up the REV panel openings or anything else, it is not a big deal. It's when you start off with a hole that is too big that it gets tricky. My REV panel openings were barely big enough for a single AML switch. As you can see, they are now opened up large enough that all the hardware and then some can slide through the opening.

 

(Posted by Terry Collins on 03-08-12)

I'm fortunate to find such a helpful company here in Brisbane. I had the manager come out and do the bending of the panels - must have taken him a good 20 minutes and the charge was a very reasonable $25. The idea for using plywood actually came from them as they have done a lot of work for hobbyists in the past.

 

UPDATE:

It's been a while since I updated this thread, but I have been making some steady progress the last few months. A few weeks back I got my MIP and glareshield back from the spray painters and I'm please that the color matches the panels from Ron and Vince as good as could be hoped for.

 

(Posted by Ron Rollo on 11-24-12)

Those aluminum parts look good and from what I can see, they look like they are one of the latest reversions.  Again, if you have to make an adjustment here or there, your not alone. Eric and I have the two very first sets and I have had to do many mods to make things fit. In most cases I had to remove aluminum.

 

(Posted by Shane Barnes on 11-24-12)

MIP and Glare panel look really good. I think minor adjustments will be a part of a sim builders life especially when you take on a build such as the Lear45. I have modified my MIP several times as we progressed with the build. "The build" is a work in progress as none of us have reached the final stage where we can step back and say "It is finished" so minor adjustments are to be expected.

 

Building the Lear 45 is definitely a "hands on" project and requires a lot of the builder. We are lucky that we have a lot of parts that can be purchased from builders at the Hangar. . not much is available to purchase commercially.

 

(Posted by Terry Collins on 11-25-12)

Everything seems to fit okay with the exception of the two smaller standby gauges from Ron. The one has a small electrical connector on the back for which there is no cut-out on the MIP. I will have to come up some solution to avoid hacking into my MIP. My fear is that the paint will chip off.

 

(Posted by Ron Rollo on 11-25-12)

Hey Terry, I had to notch a section out of the MIP for the altimeter bezel encoder. (I'm pretty sure we have all had to do this.) First I marked the area that I wanted to remove with a pencil and used a drill to remove the bulk of the aluminum material. (Make sure not to remove more than what that bezel will cover!) Then I used a Drimel tool to remove 90% of the rest of the material. Finally with a hobby file, I cleaned up the edges and squared off the inside corners. You'll have to tape the wires to the back side of the MIP.

 

(Posted by Terry Collins on 11-26-12)

Ron, what I'll do is mount your two outer standby gauges onto a 1/8" thick square plate which I will then secure in place using the four large screw holes already in the MIP. I had already drilled an extra hole for the center standby gauge before painting, so all okay for that one.

 

EDIT: Ended up cutting the notch instead. I cut two sides with a mini-hacksaw blade, then bent the piece back and forth a couple of times to break off the piece. I then used a file to tidy up the three edges.

 

UPDATE:

Finally have my base complete with the lower control column mounted. The second photo shows my variation on Ron's design for the lower springs. I've made mine so nothing protrudes beyond the bottom of the base. I can also tweak the spring tension.

 

I decided to build the lower control column myself, with Ron supplying the poly parts and some other components. Let me tell you there is more work to it than meets the eye, and Ron's price was looking more and more attractive each day! I was hoping to do without the lower springs and initially tried using counter-weights hung off the bottom. I came to the conclusion that the lower springs are essential and now that it's all done I'm happy with the result.

 

I used two 6" x 4" x 3/4" pre-drilled galv steel angles, with the 4" section in the vertical. The cross-brace is a 3/4" galv steel strip. I then attached a 1" x 3/4" x 1/8" thick aluminum angle to each leg and positioned the eye-bolts as low as I could.

 

UPDATE:

Finally managed to get my control columns adjusted to the optimal height for the CH yokes.  Looks real good with the panels from Vince and Ron, and that magnificent TQ from Mark! Looking forward to getting Eric's panels in there too! I'm keen to get some wiring done so I can start flying!!

 

I'll start the big task of wiring in the next few weeks. I want to get the flight controls wired first so I can start flying. I still have problem with the elevators - I get the yokes returning to the neutral position in one direction but not the other. I can adjust it so it returns in the other direction but that just switches the problem around. I'd be interested in how others who managed to sort this issue out.

 

(Posted by Alan Norris on 02-20-13)

Terry, you will have to play around with the spring tension to get the column to return to center. I had the same issue. It's best to have your spring anchored to the floor such that you are able to add tension by moving the anchor point in very small increments. Hope that helps.

 

(Posted by Terry Collins on 03-03-13)

Thanks to Dugald today I was able to visit one of the Learjet 45's operating out of Gold Coast airport. I took down Mark's TQ and it was given a big stamp of approval by both pilot and engineer !

 

NOTE:  All of the photos in this thread have been lost due to a third party website.