Before beginning construction of my main instrument panel, I decided to model everything in CAM to see if there would be any issues such as interferance.

2/10/2012: Update

Since the last rendering, the following corrections have been made to the main instrument panel design:

• MIP thickness reduced from 1/4" to 1/8". Now the edges of the MIP are not visible through the openings in the standby instruments. This also reduces the depth of the LCDs from the surface, which was an eyesore.
• Corrected a dimensional error with the DU frames, which was causing the landing gear panel to sit too low.
• Swapped 20" Acer LCDs for 18.5" samsung LCDs, which provides clearance for the outboard clocks.
• Added clocks and screws

 

1/10/2012

The proposed monitors include two 20" Acer widescreen LCDs (16:9) and one 15" Viewsonic (4:3?).

After rendering everything, a number of issues were observed:

• The width of the center (Viewsonic) LCD interfered with the switches and handle mechanisms on the landing gear panel
• The frame of the center (Viewsonic) LCD was visible through the openings of the standby instruments
• The landing gear panel was SLIGHTLY too low, but couldn't be moved up due to the position of the display unit frames
• The edge of the co-pilot's screen was slightly visible when viewed from sharp right angles
• The distance of the screen image, from the surface of the bezels, was more than 1/2", which causes the on screen image to become obscured when viewed at an angle

Some of these issues, are reminders of the first version of my 777, which suffered from many of these issues so I definitely don't want to repeat the same mistakes. The design will be modified to compensate for these issues.

 

  

For more photos of the MIP , visit the Main Instrument Panel (MIP) album.

11/1/2011: With the initial fitting of the lower DU, the LCD prevented the throttle qudrant from sliding in place. So I had to cut a 1/2" (approx) notch in the back wall of the CDU stand. Synoptic software shown is Pro MFD 777 Collection.

 

10/8/2011: The 777 MFD frames don't natively fit my classic 767 CDU bay, so some modifications had to be made. I turned to my trusty Dremel tool yet again and proceeded to cut away any piece of metal material that was causing interferance, including two stubborn screws that were holding the center support in place. Quite a bit more cutting will be necessary to allow the screen to fit properly.

 

Click Here for More Photos of the CDU stand restoration

Almost all the digital components on the center pedestal have been successfully wired! Only the transponder remains. The radio comm panels are from a B747-400 and are now functional. I completed wiring the DC bus for the radios, but have to add an AC bus before the backlighting and button annunciators will function.

 

More Photos in the album "Center Pedestal Restoration"

I'll never forget how I felt when my mom called me, while I was leaving class at Prairie View A&M University, telling me the World Trade Center was under attack. I remember the feeling of helplessness I felt as my roommate and I pondered what to do; Rush to join the military? We watched in horror as the rest of the day unfolded live on the news.

In memory of all the innocent people who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, I have decided to dedicate the registration number of my aircraft to their memory. My 777's tail number will read N91101 as a constant reminder of those people who died for our freedom, and also as a reminder to never take life for granted.

All the floor components, including the CDU bay, throttle quadrant and center pedestal, have all received a final 400 grit sanding (over the primer) and have been painted. The CDU bay had to be repainted since I initially matched the paint using a 767 part instead of a 777 part. The brown color used on the 767 is slightly darker than the 777, and appears to have a bit more red.

With the help of an electric paint gun, I was able to paint all three large modules very quickly and with a nice texture. I used flat finish latex paint.

Please see the  "Assembly Photos" album in the photo gallery for more pictures.

One of the notable visual elements of the 777 center pedestal is the dark brown rail. On the 757/767 pedestal, the rail has a dip in it, which I wanted to get rid of. In order to do that, I used a 1/8" sheet of wood and traced the "missing section" onto the wood. Then I cut out the missing piece with a Dremel tool and fastened it in place with Gorilla Glue (a strong wood glue).

Once the glue was completely dry, I sanded it down a bit and removed the large chunks of glue. I then applied a layer of fiberglass cloth/resin in order to mask the seam between the newly added piece of wood and the original fiberglass structure.

8/28/2011
After much consideration, I decided that I wasn't happy with the thickness of the rail around the edges of the floor console. On the 767, the rail is roughly 1/8", but on the 777 the dark brown rail is more than 1/4" and is a significant visual element.

In order to thicken the rail, I cut strips of 1/8" wood to the length of the straight edges of the rail (not overlapping the curved area). I then used Gorilla Glue to attach the pieces to the rail, as shown below, and clamped it until it dried. I then cut strips of fiberglass mat and rolled it over the wood and the original rail, making the rail seemless again.

Once the fiberglass completely cured, I sanded it to the correct size and shape using a random orgital sander and 120-220 grit sandpaper.

9/1/2011
There were lots of uneven spots and small holes in the fiberglass, so I used body filler to even and smooth everything out. After adding each layer of body filler, I allowed the body filler to completely cure, then I manually sanded (using 220 grit sandpaper). I repeated this until the surface was completely smooth to the touch. I then sanded the unit using 400 grit sandpaper to make everything extremely smooth, then I wiped everything with a damp cloth to remove all dust particles. Once vitually no imperfections could be felt, I sprayed the unit using a high-build filler primer (can be found at most auto repair stores), which helped to fill in tiny imperfections.

9/6/2011
I masked off the painted areas and used a spray gun to color the rails. I used a flat latex paint called Dark Cavern, made by Behr. Unlike the beige color, I didn't have panels to match the paint with other than pictures and paint swatches. I'm quite happy with this color. The spray gun I used is by a company called Preval, which turns any small quantity of water or oil based  paint into an aerosol.

I mounted some test panels on the floor console to see how everything would come together and I was excited with the result. I didn't think such a modification would take SO much work, but I'm really happy with the results!

 

Original 767 center pedestal

 

Stage 1 (8/5/2011): Thorough sanding using 120 grit sandpaper and a random orbital sander.
 

Stage 2 (8/22/2011): Filled space with wood
 

Stage 3 (8/23/2011): Added 1st layer of fiberglass
 

Stage 4 (8/24/2011): Fiberglass cured and sanded
 

Stage 5 (8/28/2011): Wood added for thickness
 

Stage 6 (8/29/2011): Rail covered with 2 layers of fiberglass. The air bubbles significantly increased my sanding/filling sanding time.
 

Stage 7 (8/29/2011): Fiberglass cured and sanded but very uneven
 

Stage 8 (9/1/2011): Added body filler then sanded. Added spot putty then sanded. Repeated until the surface was completely smooth. Took 2 days of repeating this to get a smooth, even surface.
 

Stage 9 (9/1/2011): Sanded entire unit with 400 grit sandpaper, then cleaned with a damp cloth. Sprayed with high-build primer.
 

Stage 10 (9/2/2011): Sanded primer with 400 grit sandpaper then sprayed with 777 brown paint.
 

Stage 11 (9/6/2011): Rails painted with dark brown color. All modifications are done and she's ready to go back into the sim room!!

More photos in the album "Center Pedestal Restoration"

Removing the stab trim area was very difficult, since the screws were in VERY tight spots. It took hours just to remove the three screws holding one side in place.

Once the assembly was removed, I attempted to fit a Phidgets LCD behind the stab trim opening, but the circuit board was in the way. Instead of trimming the circuit board, I decided to notch the metal assembly using a Dremel tool with a metal cutting disk, so the board could slide in place without modification.

As you can see in the photos below, the LCD slides perfectly in place, allowing the entire assembly to mount back into the throttle quadrant without interferance.

On top of the assembly, I placed a plastic frame with a piece of tinted plexiglass, to give the unit a finished look. After painting, and addition of the parking brake area, this area will look pretty sweet!

Today, I removed the paint from the center pedestal. I used a random orbital sander with a fine grit sandpaper to remove the layers very carefully. This unit was apparently repainted numerous times, so it had 3-4 layers of paint, one on top of the other and the top layer was scratched and chipping badly. It was a slow and arduous process to remove all the layers using 120 grit sandpaper, but I was quite happy with the result.

I also sanded the throttle quadrant, which was a lot easier since it is all metal. I used 60 grit sandpaper to blast off the paint. A detail sander was used to get into the odd shaped areas such as the parking brake assembly.

 

More than 20 years of dirt, grime, crumbs and God knows what else was caked up on the inside of the center pedestal. By suggestion from my mentor Matt Wietlispach I used Formula 409 cleaner, a scrubber, a toothbrush and a towel to thoroughly scrub the inside of the fiberglass unit. The ending result is a night and day difference from the unit that arrived.

Sweat beads were dripping from my forehead as I dismantled the 757 throttle quadrant in my sweltering hot 105 degree Texas garage. A long handle Phillip’s head screwdriver was extremely helpful, given the tight spaces some of the screws were in. One by one, I removed the screws that were holding down the metal and plastic pieces on the surface of the throttle quadrant. I had to strip down the throttle quadrant so I could sand down, clean, then repaint all the visible surfaces. It's apparent the unit has been repainted a number of times, so the paint was very streaked, bumpy and chipping badly. One screw in particular, located in between the flap gate and the throttle handles, wouldn’t budge so I eventually had to bore it out with a drill bit. Some of the screws were quite difficult to turn, but most just required a bit of force to break the seal.

Once the covers were removed, I could see that years and years of dust clumps were built up in between the levers. I used a leaf blower on the highest setting to force out as much of the dust as possible. With the initial prep work complete, the throttle quadrant and floor pedestal are now ready for some serious scrubbing and sanding.