The project continues to move ahead steadily. The copilot’s panel is now fully wired and labeled, and the engine panel has also been reinstalled.
At this point, nearly all instruments have been converted and are ready for operation, with the exception of the fuel used indicator and the standby attitude indicator on the engine panel and ADI on both pilots panels.
I’m deliberately taking my time with the wiring process and checking everything two or even three times — as if the aircraft actually had to fly again. The goal is simple: everything should work correctly the first time, or at least as close to perfectly as possible.
This careful approach has already saved me from a lot of trouble by allowing defective solder joints and damaged wiring to be identified early before they could become bigger problems later on.
The captain’s panel will be next very soon. Before that can happen, however, a section of sheet metal underneath the captain’s rudder pedals has to be repaired first. That repair has turned out to be much more difficult than expected.
As is often the case in restoration projects, it’s the small details that end up delaying the big installations. Electronics installation is being prepared in the radome…still in 2026 the first components of the sim will come alive!
