Our Aircraft
The first OEM aircraft cockpit cut we are working to restore into a flight simulator was cut from a Boeing 747-300 MSN 23640, which was 668th off the line and first flew on Jan 25th, 1987 before being delivered to JAL on Feb 2nd as JA8179. She served with JAL until being delivered to TransAero in 2007 and re-registered VP-BGY. In 2002, she was the first JAL 747 classic to undergo an avionics upgrade, including FMS and glass ADI and HSI instruments.
JAL's JA8179 as she originally looked
She was scrapped in 2022 at which point the cockpit was saved, complete with all instruments, and transported to St. Athan's for storage. We acquired the cockpit in the Fall of 2024. Then began the long process of traveling to Wales to strip out all the avionics for air freight to California and to prep and arrange ocean shipping of the cockpit on a flat rack to get it to California. After several months, our ship landed in the Port of Oakland with our cockpit still onboard!
