2T09 Installation

Day 19 - September 20th

Today SimX completed the cabling to the projectors and the CAE Visual Specialist mounted the projection lenses and worked on the projector setup. The visual mirror setup appears to be complete and the mirror is stretched smooth with the vacuum pump running.

The non-skid flooring was installed, but the carpet installation was delayed due to a shortage of a special sound-deadening underlayment.

Itegration and QTG testing continues.

Non-skid flooring aaplied to the catwalk area

It's hard to tell from the reflections, but the mirror is nice and smooth

Projection lenses mounted in front of each projector

Day 18 - September 19th

Those brackets for the motion maintenance jack that I introduced yesterday got tested today. A couple of the motion jacks have a small leak at the top so SimX and CAE needed to swap them. included in today's post you'll see photo's of the first jack being changed out. Seems simple, but these jacks weigh in at about 1400 lbs. As always, safety precautions must be adhered to when dealing with this kind of project or someone could end up seriously injured. I ended up chasing a part for CAE so I missed taking pictures of the reassembly, but it's just the reverse of taking it apart.

Also today the visual mirror vacuum pump was started and the mirror was being stretched and adjusted. Visual projector power was applied and the projector setup got underway.

SimX packed their tools and are getting ready to leave since all the heavy rigging and installation jobs are nearly complete.

Jean-Pilippe removes the electrical connections on a leaky jack that will be replaced

The newer-style maintenance jack has a massive bearing on top

Inserting the base of the maintenance jack into the lower bracket

The upper bushing is rotated allowing the jack to be extended into the upper bracket and take the weight of the simulator off of the motion jack

A strap is installed at the motion jack center-of-gravity so the jack will balance when lifted

After finding the "sweet spot" where the minimum amount of force is acting on the upper pin, the pin can be removed freeing the upper end of the motion jack

Oops! Ran outta gas after removing the motion jack

Adjustments being made to accessway ramp 'down' switches

One power cable to a visual projector was found to have a broken wire and had to be replaced

CAE visual specialist, Henry Ng, arrived today

Day 17 - September 18th

Today the QTG testing continued, we ran a cable from the host to an upstairs briefing room for the new Brief/Debrief station and the motion was driven to it's excursion limits. Some more hardware was installed on the motion base and work continued in and around the flight deck.

The visual projectors have been mounted on their pedestals

These two pictures show the brackets where a brace can be installed to support the sim while a motion jack is removed for maintenance.

Sim carpet laid out to flatten before installation

Seems like every time I turn around there's another Engineer on site

Today SimX removed the protective paper from the cockpit windows. The wrinkles you see are the unstretched visual mirror beyond.

The third instructor's seat was removed at the request of the A320 Fleet Manager to make more room in the cockpit. In most cases there will only be one instructor in the sim at a time, so the 3rd seat was extraneous and would most likely just be in the way.

Day 16 - September 17th

The visual projectors have been unpacked and attached to their mounting plates. EMM setup continued and the motion was erected for the first time today. Some of the QTG (tests to ensure fidelity of the simulation to the aircraft) are being run. Our deadline for submitting the initial QTG to the FAA is early in October and there's a lot of tests to run.

Projectors ready for installation

Linkage area on the side of the simulator

On older sims these cabinets would have been jammed full of input/output card racks and power supplies. Now, with all the high density components and high speed data transfers, the linkage takes up far less space.

Electric load cell
'Load cells' provide force feedback and position information for the cockpit controls. The new electric load cells have replaced the hydraulically operated units found on older simulators. The electric units are about 60% cheaper to operate than hydraulic, take up far less space and there's no fluid to drip all over and make a big mess. (YAY!)

Motion system erected to the 'neutral' position during a quick test

Day 15 - September 16th

There seemed to be a lot of work going on today, I'm just not sure what all of it was! The smoke/fire detection system got tested, the setup and testing of the Visual Image Generator continued and the installation of the pedestals for the visual projectors got underway.

I was busy restoring a disk on another simulator, so I missed out on some of today activities. I saw that there's a terminal connected to the Motion Cabinet, so I suppose the EMM was getting set up. The accessway gate got installed and adjusted and I think some testing was being done on what we call the linkage, which controls input/output communication between the equipment and the computers.

A little bit of power distribution, a little linkage and and the sound equipment

New accessway safety flasher that activates when the ramp is in transition

Accessway gate installed

Intructor's station running

It's hard to see, but these are the pedestals for the visual projectors getting installed

Day 14 - September 15th

Today the electrician came back to change the taps in the transformer for the Motion Cabinet (EMM), some more connections were made for the vacuum on the visual mirror and the last big piece of trim was installed.

Setup of the Visual Image Generator continued, the motion Jack connections were finalized, the breathing air for the crew oxygen masks was plumbed and many more minor components were installed or worked on.

Making some more connections for the mirror vacuum?

Reworking the transformer to provide 480VAC to the EMM

Michelle installing the last major piece of trim

We need to get one of these mobile work platforms!
Believe it or not, it can lift boxes too!

Stephane and Jean-Philippe Topping off the gear oil on a motion jack

Patrick modifying , uh....something

Brian, the Integration Specialist, hard at work on the Image Generator

(Just look how fast his hands are moving!)

Day 12 - September 13th

SimX continued making connections here and there and installed the last two roof panels on the visual dome. The host wiring was completed (I think) and the Integration guys from CAE fired up the host computer and engineering terminals.

The EMM setup got underway, but was stopped because the incorrect voltage was coming in from the supply transformer. The motion jacks got a nitrogen charge that acts as 'bumper' for smoothing out jolts and turn-arounds.

From here on out there won't be any big changes, so the number of pictures will probably wane. I'll continue to log the stuff that happens each day and try to find interesting things to take pictures of.