[MVP] Mugga

Thank you @Flappie

Along with the reticle dimmer on the top right hand side of the cockpit glare-shield, you can switch on the secondary sight lamp element, by selecting the bottom right hand switch on the centre console. This will give you maximum sight reticle illumination. Also remember, that the Sabre's electrical system is limited at absolute idle power. You have to increase the throttle slightly to excite the generator, which powers your entire electrical system, including you radios.

Many thanks to [MVP] Slaxor who has taken on the job of converting the aircraft instruments to work with DCS World. Our goal is to preserve the original instruments as much as possible, rewiring them to communicate with the Arduino controller and DCS Bios. The Gun, Bomb & Rocket control instrument in the centre console is a particularly complicated mechanical/electrical unit, but hopefully we can configure it to provide the necessary outputs. The instrument comprises of three selector knobs, which are easy enough to extract signals from. The real challenge, are the four (see above in yellow) reference indicators, which are attached to discs that are moved via stepper motors inside of the instrument. Months of searching have failed to turn up a parts manual or operators manual for this unit, so we are having to reverse engineer to make this work. Whilst [MVP] Slaxor was busy with the Gun, Bomb & Rocket instrument, I took some time to finish off the Bomb Adjustment instrument that is located on the top left hand side of the cockpit glare-shield. The control box has been completely restored and has a new electronics that are ready for a wiring harness to be attached. Before finishing up for the day, we took some time to inspect the right hand console radio instruments.

Trial fitting some of the centre console instruments today.

Went in late tonight to try and make some progress on the forward fuselage top cowling. After giving it a scrub with a scotch pad and a clean with detergent, it will now be paint-stripped and the corrosion cleaned up. All three cowling latches will be removed and all the moving components given media blasting, prior to painting and reassembly. The entire cowling will be painted matte black and given three coats of satin clear to both protect it and make it easier to keep clean and free of oily fingerprints!

Will be a lot happier once I have things re-assembled too!

Centre console looking much better than it did just weeks ago! Can't wait to install all of the electronics etc.

Because the headrest had a red high-density foam pad glued to it from the factory. They shipped like that from North American Aviation.

The centre console was lastly given two coats of matte black paint, and unfortunately I managed to get some runs in it! So... they have been left to dry out this week, following which I will given them a light wet-sand by hand, and then repaint them. Once the centre console has received three good coats of black, it will be given two coats of durable clear. And before leaving the workshop today, we gave the throttle quadrant outer left hand side cockpit fairing a coat of black paint. This fairing closes the gab between the throttle quadrant and the left hand side cockpit sidewall. It also houses a selection handle, which we are missing the knob off.

Work has continued on the cockpit instrument panel centre console. The last of the electronics/instruments were removed and the console was media blasted back to bare aluminum. Unfortunately, corrosion had eaten away the left hand side lower corner of the console and it required a quick repair. We first drilled out the remnants of the old corner doubler, then took a paper template from the right hand side. The template was cut out and a new doubler was cut from aluminum sheet stock and all the corners rounded off and given a coat of grey etch primer. The new doubler was then match drilled to the existing rivet holes on the centre console and then new rivets installed.

The team were back in the workshop this Saturday, finishing off the restoration of the Emergency Stores Jettison handle and attachment bracket. Finish colour coats and clear have been applied, with the completed assembly looking better than new in the 1960's. The stores jettison bracket mounts to the cockpit left hand wall, underneath the instrument panel. During the week ahead, we will source a Pull/Push style switch and fabricate a shaft that will run through the attachment bracket and connect to the handle itself. When completed, the handle will pull out and push in, with the electronics connected to an Arduino controller.

Our collection of Sabre canopies have been stored up on top of the office in the hangar to make room in the workshop. Space is a premium!

Another milestone achieved tonight with the trial installation of the production spare forward windscreen assembly! The unit slid straight into position and will require very little adjustment for its final installation. The forward windscreen section will be removed later this week, as we continue stripping out the cockpit tub ahead of a major pressure washing this coming Saturday. Both the left and right hand side rudder pedal assemblies were removed from the aircraft for restoration. Both units will be dismantled, cleaned up and given fresh paintwork, with all bearings and pivots lubricated etc. The right hand pedal is missing a backplate, which we will have to fabricate and fit.

The team made another big push this evening in the workshop with the focus on removing all of the cockpit accessories and fittings. We aim to have completely empty by this coming weekend so we can drag the fuselage outside and pressure wash everything, removing 50 years of accumulated dirt and debris. Once we have everything de-greased and clean, we will then get stuck into the sheet metal repairs where the structure has corroded. There is extensive corrosion damage to the flooring on the right hand side of the cockpit, which is the side that had the broken front quarter window. many decades of exposure to moisture and collection of water has taken its toll. Around five new floor ribs will need manufacturing so that the floor panels can be properly supported. There is also extensive corrosion of the alloy structure that supports the stainless steel cockpit canopy rails, as a result of the dissimilar metals. We will need to remove the canopy rails and clean back the aluminum supports and fabricate flush patch repairs and new channel angles to replace the badly corroded areas. Whilst it looks terrible at the moment, everything will clean up nicely and when the paintwork is finished it will look like it has rolled off the production line.

Great to welcome three new MVP members at the restoration workshop, we are very much looking forward to seeing 'Slaxor' and crew on the weekends.

Took a quick scan of the cockpit centre console The Emergency Stores Release handle and attachment bracket have been media blasted and given primer coat. The attachment frame will be cockpit black, whilst the handle itself will be red with white lettering. There is also a stainless retainer cage, which we are yet to polish. The assembly will be modified to accommodate an electronic switch setup for the sim pit, doing away with the old wire system used in the actual aircraft.

The team got back on the tools this weekend, with the cockpit centre console removed for restoration. All of the console instruments, wiring, relays and switch gear have been removed. The structure will be media blasted, primed and painted before all of the new sim electronics are installed.

Will be doing exactly that... filling with rivets and then re-drill to fit everything neatly.

Reassembled the A4 gun-sight components. This will now be wrapped and stored until we are closer to reassembling the cockpit. Many thanks to Judd from the MVP team who pulled down our worst A4 gun-sight box this evening. This unit box will be cleaned up and repainted, and the internals modified to accommodate the sim. This will include the use of an LCD display for the gun-sight, and digitisation of the wingspan adjustment and cage/uncage levers.

Managed to get a little more time in the workshop at lunch today, this time focused on the instrument panel and the associated support beam and brackets. The panel attaches to a back-frame which was salvaged from the aircraft and is cracked in two places. I folded up an aluminum support bracket and then drilled and riveted the broken sections together.. Tomorrow I will media blast all of the components and then prime and finish paint them. Got the clear coats applied to the gun-sight HUD frame today. Will now let these components sit for the next 7 days to cure and harden.

Went back to the workshop tonight to drill out the forward windscreen attachment brackets out. This was a little easier said than done and It took turning the entire forward structure upside down to get clear access and managed to burn through several good drill bits removing the fixings that held them in. The aluminum castings attach to the windscreen hoop frame and tie the structure into the main fuselage cockpit and are integral to the overall strength of the cockpit hoop. Without them, if you hang on the hoop frame lowering yourself into the cockpit, they're likely to move and fatigue crack. When we removed the forward structure of the aircraft we salvaged the brackets as the ones on the production spare have been cut through. We have now discovered that the brackets are hand-drilled at the factory and do not line up! NO jigging is a PITA. I have taken some photos comparing the silver (one recovered from the aircraft) and the green (one from the production spare). Interestingly the part numbers are not the same either. Am going to do some research to work out why that is. Once the salvaged brackets have been cleaned up, we will have to blind rivet them and hand-drill them to match the holes in the production spare frame to get everything to fit. More work... who said building a sim pit out of 100% original aircraft parts was going to be easy!

Managed to get several coats of matte black paint onto the gun-sight HUD frame and accessory brackets. Once these have cured overnight, they will be given two coats of clear to protect them and to make future cleaning easier. Without the clear layers, over time cleaning can erode the surface layer paint, so the clear helps provide some longevity.

The coloured lens on the G-LIMIT push to test light when pushed, illuminates a distance in front of the depressed light unit. It appears that the illuminated lens remains fixed, but the unit moves forward when pressed. I will screenshot and capture a video and update this post.

We spent some time flying the F86 Sabre last night and with tanks it is the same issue. At higher gross weights an excessive rotation angle should result in the same ground stall situation, and would be far more amplified than at lighter loads.