[MVP] Mugga

The next series of photos are the main canopy which was removed to give full access to the cockpit for cleaning and restoration. The frame is in average condition and the perspex is heavily damaged. I do have another canopy frame and between the two I am certain I can construct a good one! The next series of photos are just to demonstrate the condition of the fuselage skins. whilst they look good, there are areas on them that are corroding. The main fuselage centre section is assembled using steel monel rivets, which with time react with the aluminum skin and corrode. Where this happens, it bubbles up. The above series of photos are just to demonstrate the condition of the fuselage skins. whilst they look good, there are areas on them that are corroding. The main fuselage centre section is assembled using steel monel rivets, which with time react with the aluminum skin and corrode. Where this happens, it bubbles up.

Back into the workshop hangar today to get stuck into cleaning up the forward fuselage section, along with removing all of the aft plumbing, electrical and mechanical items. As you can see from the two photos above, everything aft of the main canopy is going to be cut off, shortening the forward fuselage section to a more manageable length. This means, everything you can see in the back of the aircraft has to be disconnected, so that we can run a 5-inch power-saw around the aircraft! Whilst a friend of mine was busy inside the back-end of the fuselage, I spent some time trying to remove some of the extremely corroded panels. The aluminium has suffered what is called "inter-granular corrosion" which causes the metal to separate into thin layers... much like a pile of paper. As the panel exfoliates, it swells up and then applies significant pressure and stress to the structure around it, which in turns creates further damage. Unfortunately, the airframe was stored outside for the past 40 years and during this time, just about all of the steel bolts and hardware have rusted badly, making removing things very difficult. The Ryobi angle grinder made short work of anything that refused to budge.

The looks from people in the cars around us was awesome! You could immediately note those who had a genuine interest in aircraft and aviation, as they sped up and took time having a good look. Then there was those who just drove past and took no notice whatsoever!

You can follow the entire build on the DCS Forum @ Home Cockpits, using the link below:

I am super pleased with the condition of the fuselage skins, which under all of the grime and dirt are in great condition. In fact, they're so good that I am contemplating not painting the aircraft in RAAF silver, but instead performing a mirror polish.

The big move day has finally happened and the MVP F86 Sabre has now been relocated into the workshop hangar! I honestly thought the team would have been able to move everything in half a day, but ended up going from daylight to dusk. Thankfully we had access to a 20 tonne excavator on the property, which enabled us to lift everything effortlessly onto the truck. However, on the workshop end things got a little tricky with just a 1.8 tonne forklift with slippers to unload! The truck driver came up with an ingenious method of winching the fuselage off the truck, which involved lifting the front of the aircraft from its cannon ports and stacking pallets underneath it, whilst winching everything down the tilt-tray. Several hearth thumping moments as we almost tipped the forklift over. In all it took approx. 40 minutes to unload the fuselage, ensuring we did not break anything on the aircraft unnecessarily. We managed to haul both wings on one load, stacking them on top of each other. The wings are substantially damaged and corroded, so whilst we took care to not create any further damage, we were not as concerned with moving those. They are both at the workshop hangar now, and stored outside on pallets. Both wings will be raised onto stands on Sunday afternoon, so that we can commence stripping the undercarriage, ailerons and accessories out of them. Both wings are being converted into event and board room tables, which will look immensely cool when they're finished! We unfortunately ran out of time for the rear fuselage section, which has remained onsite. It will be picked up next saturday, where it will then make it's way to Western Australia! With the airframe now in the MVP workshop hangar, we spend a couple of hours starting the external airframe cleaning.

Quick update... the big move is planned for this weekend coming with trucks and crane booked. Saturday 10th, we will load up the fuselage and wings and bring them back into the workshop at YSBK Bankstown Airport in Sydney, where the fun will really begin. Lots of cleaning up to be done! Whilst the logistics have been sorted out, a contact of mine has donated a set of USAF F86F Sabre wings to the MVP team. Not sure what we are going to do with these at this stage, however, they may end up being converted into epic gaming desks! If anyone has any ideas for what the wings could be used for, post them!

For the F86F Sabre fans across the DCS World... The MVP team are converting an ex-Royal Australian Air Force CAC CA27 Sabre Jet into the ultimate full fidelity DCS World Sim Pit for the Ultimate KOREA1952 Combat Experience! What started out as a journey to build a sim pit from original F86 aircraft components, vastly got out of hand and transformed into the acquisition of a genuine airframe for conversion! Each update, I will give this post a bump with one of the latest photos, for the DCS World F86F Sabre fans that don't regularly scroll the Home Cockpits section of the DCS Forums. Hope you all enjoy and look forward to chatting with fellow F86 Sabre virtual pilots along the way! You can follow the build and all the challenges we encounter on the DCS Forums at:

The beautiful Sydney weather gave the MVP team the perfect opportunity to get out to the Sabre Jet today to get things organised onsite for a possible move next weekend. The access road to the property was much worse than what I had remembered from the first visit with some seriously steep inclines and declines to travel along. Our plan is to bring a tilt-tray truck onsite and to use a 12t Excavator to lift up the sections using load slings. Worse case scenario, if the tilt tray truck cannot navigate the access track, we will use the excavator to sling-load the airframe components down the access road and load outside of the property. Given the dimensions of the airframe sections, we will need to do three (3) deliveries to get everything back to Sydney, Bankstown Airport.

This Saturday coming the MVP team are heading back out to the location where the Sabre airframe is stored to work out our recovery and relocation logistics. The site is approx 45 minutes drive from where we are based and is down a lengthy bush/forest track which is just barely accessible with a 4x4 utility, so some careful planning will need to go into how we get everything out safely. In addition the forward fuselage section is approx 2.2 tonnes, so we will require a sizeable tractor/crane to safely lift things out and most likely a sizeable tilt-tray truck to load everything onto. Cannot wait to get everything back to our facilities, where we can give everything a pressure wash and clean down. I will post more photos and updates after Saturday this week.

Great news... after quite a few months of back and forth negotiations, I have been successful in closing out a deal to acquire ex-RAAF CAC CA27 Mk32 Sabre for conversion into the MVP Sabre Sim Pit! For a while there I thought there was no possible way to get the deal done, but things came together in the end. At this stage, the plan will be to move the airframe back to our workshop facilities at YSBK Bankstown Airport in NSW, where we can get stuck into cleaning the airframe out of the accumulated debris etc. Just moving the airframe is going to be a solid effort, as the property the airframe is located on is very much in the middle of the bush. The sheer weight of the airframe means we will be needing a serious crane/lift to get it up onto a truck/trailer. Then I have to work out what I am going to do with all the additional airframe components that are of no use to the sim pit build. Either way.... what an adventure.

Jagged myself an original F86F Sabre rudder pedal and arm assembly this evening. Another great score for the sim pit build.

The F86 sim pit project is still alive! Have managed to track down an original CAC CA27 Sabre airframe and am currently negotiating to purchase it so that I can convert it into the ultimate DCS World F86 Sabre Sim Pit! More photos to follow as things progress.

Can this script be used with WW2 aircraft?

In parallel to the F86 SIm Pit build using all original hardware, [MVP] IndianaShane is working to create detailed replica hardware and has spent some time designing an ejection seat that can be constructed out of plywood and MDF. A major advantage in designing replica units is having access to original items so that they can be duplicated in detail. Whilst the replica design below is in an early prototyping stage, it is looking fantastic and will provide a pathway for others who may be seeking to build an F86F Sabre pit for their DCS World flying fun! As mentioned in the posts above, we intend on launching a web-store where interested persons can purchase replica seats, accessories, cockpit items and more.

Another small step forward today, having located all of the accessory brackets for the Manual Bomb Adjustment unit. I had managed to take these out to my workshop and placed them in obscure drawer for safe-keeping! Only problem was, I entirely forgot where they were and only found them again by accident! At any rate, I now have all the components back and will spend some cleaning them up and painting them, so that they can all be reinstalled. Out of interest the two angle card attachment fixtures are made from brass and have been carefully braised, whilst the retainer clip on the back is thin stainless steel.

Many thanks to [MVP] Indianashane from our community who has been spending time designing up our original F86 Sabre cockpit accessories into 3D so that new replica units can be manufactured. His latest work is the Canopy Declutch handle, which is located to the top right hand side of the instrument panel. We will be setting up an online store shortly, where each of these will be listed and you can purchase them - more on this when we get it live.

I was not going to spend Sunday working on the sim pit, but boredom got the best of me and so I went out to the hangar to get back on the tools. Todays work included mounting the arm-rest assemblies and bolting them in with all the new hardware. I also spent some time preparing the ejection seat control actuation mechanisms and their associated mounting brackets etc. I also had some time to repair a bent bowden cable mounting bracket, which at first glance seemed as though it would not be an easy fix. However, a quick mounting in the benchtop vice and a tap with a rubber hammer and bingo, it was back straight as an arrow. I have included some photographs of the micata (phenolic board) mounting bases, which I have sanded back and prepared for clear-coat paint. The micata is a really interesting material, it is effectively a compressed sandwiched fabric/canvas that is saturated in phenolic/formaldehyde resin. It's quite toxic material and if you are sanding it you must wear a mask or breathing regulator etc. The dust generated is extremely toxic and linked to all kinds of nasty health side-effects. My methodology has been to immerse the part in water, and to wet-sand the item and then disposing of the waste water.

Managed to get around 4 hours in at the hangar today, before life got in the way of all the sim pit building fun. Have focused on finishing off the ejection seat arm-rest side guards and accessory brackets, so that I can get the seat closed out. These had a leather protective edging riveted to them, where the seat belt passes through each side of the seat. Both the left and right hand sides were pretty rotten, so I have removed them and will order some fresh leather this week. I took some time to dress the curved sections of the panels and knocked out any dents that were in the panels. These are all ready to be media blasted, primed and painted. I also removed the canopy jettison handle to take measurements etc, which is located on the top right hand side of the instrument panel. [MVP] IndianaShane has been doing a superb job of making up 3D models of each of these control handles etc and then prototyping into 3D printed plastics.

The new old stock IFF control panel arrived in the post today and it looks as it was advertised - new and never used! It's hard to imagine that this stuff is still out there to purchase. The new old stock G-Suit pressure regulator valve unit arrived today in the post. Now that we have the unit, we can start running some tests with compressed air to see if we can come up with a method to simulate G and deliver air-pressure to the g-suit. The new old-stock cockpit step arrived today. This will be installed into the side of the simulator unit, so that you can step up and into the pit. Just as it is on the real aircraft.

Got some time this afternoon after work to get a coat of clear on the ejection seat and arm-rest assemblies! One more coat to go and then I can move onto the smaller accessories, including the top canopy breaker assembly, seat side panels, ejection handles and activation connections etc.

A massive shout out to [MVP] IndianaShane who has taken time this past week to design and prototype the stores release mechanism, of which there are two located on the lower left hand cockpit panel. Whilst our goal is to use 100% original manufacturers components, in over 2.5 years of research, we are yet to turn up an original mechanism which is frustrating. So.... in the absence of an original unit [MVP] IndianaShane took on the challenge of recreating them as accurately as he could using 3D software, and then 3D printing the prototype for functional testing.

Another painting update.... kind of feels like groundhog day! Got time after work today to apply the last coat of black paint to the ejections eat and arm-rest assemblies! Next step will be to apply several clear coats, sealing everything up. Once the clear coats have been applied, I will then let it sit and cure for a few weeks, before anyone tries to sit in it or use it. Once I have the seat structure completed, I will shift gears and tackle the accessory items (ejection handles and connecting arms and pivots etc) and then reinstall everything to the frame. And before I forget, i'd like to send a big shout out to Paul Macguire from Aviation Parts & Equipment at Bankstown Airport (YSBK) who donated all of the new cad-plated aviation nuts, bolts and screws for this project. Thank you very much Paul! Overall I am really happy with the finished achieved so far and once it has a couple of good strong layers of clear coat, it will look a million dollars. Importantly, it will be ready for some epic DCS World flight simulation adventures!

Took some time today to take a good look at the ejection seat lap belt, which includes an air-activated buckle release. The seat came with both the left and right hand side of the belt, with the buckle/latch seized. A search online for the manufacturer found little to nothing, so some more research is in order. If I cannot find any information, I will just set about dismantling it, to see if I can get it moving again.