L-1011 - CPT Installation at the Museum - Component Assembly

L-1011 Flight Engineer (Second Officer) Station and CB3 Panel

Got a lot of work done at the museum today. We have started the assembly of the flight engineering station, as you can see in the image above. This is a really neat step in the process because after sitting forgotten in a warehouse for a long time, the L-1011 is suddenly taking shape again. What you see in the image above is the L-1011 Flight Engineer station on the left and the Circuit Breaker (CB) Panel number 3 (CB3). Unlike with many other trainers, the circuit breakers in the panel are all real and will be used to secure the flight instruments in the trainer. 

L-1011 Trainer - Room Dimension

We also took a moment to validate that the room dimensions are correct (just in case :) ) prior to use moving the very heavy simulator platforms into the room. The platform that the simulator sits on comes in two pieces; a forward piece that is roughly 18" tall and the main section that is 12 inches tall. The room under the platform will be used cabling and for the control column actuators.

Here are a few more images of the assembled Flight Engineer's station. The tank panel in the lower left of the panel is removed because I am currently working on it. All of the simulated hardware has been replaced with functioning real flight hardware.

L-1011 Flight Engineer Station - Detail

Below is an image of the outside of the station with all of its service covers removed. Most of the original cabling of the trainer will be reused, however, the entire system will be interfaced with National Instruments I/O cards and the V1 Avionics SIM42911 interface for ARINC 429 components.

L-1011 Trainer - Flight Engineer Station

The L-1011 cockpit has quite a few circuit breakers. Actually, there are a total of 3 circuit panels (forward, overhead and aft) that are loaded with several hundred circuit breakers. While not all of them are relevant to the type of flight simulation we are planning on doing, most of them are and will actually work. Below is an image of the Flight Engineer station with the CB3 panel (right) and with the CB2 (overhead).

L-1011 Flight Engineer Station, CB3 Panel Left, CB2 Panel Top