The new home of 737DIYSIM UK!

We have landed in the UK and taken over our beautiful home in Cornwall.....

OM GOSH...IT'S COLD!!!!

Our family was so excited to be back home after 48 hours of travelling, but.....within 1 hour of landing and leaving Heathrow airport, I instantly knew why I left the UK to become an ex-pat in Brunei.

My family was waiting in line at the airport lift to the taxi rank for over an hour when some obnoxious idiot and his family physically pushed my family back with their trolleys and stood in front of them for the next lift. I was away looking for a ramp down to the next level. I had come back to see this guy staring at me and asking what are you going to do about it?

In the last 10 years away, I have never come across this situation and had forgotten this happens. Honestly, this was the point I had thought we had taken a wrong turn in life!

Emotions instantly ran full throttle (zero to red mist) and Helen grabbed my arm and said calm down (Thanks Helen). It wasn't the start we needed back, and I watched the not so pleasant family board our lift and I sighed. In all honesty, it still winds me up now. WooSaar......(chill dude).

That's when things took an unexpected turn for the better. We ended up taking a locals advice at the taxi rank who got us a taxi at half the price of the ones offered. Being a black London cab, I was unsure it could do the distance required, but he got us there flawlessly, safe and sound and truly was a genuinely nice guy.

What followed next, was something I have only dreamed of. We landed a house in an amazing village in Cornwall called Bolingey, Perranporth. People are polite and friendly, and the seaside town rocks! Our neighbours invited me into their home and offered all the help I could ever need. Our new garden is amazing too!

In the following days, we had two cars delivered and after spending the last 10 years telling my wife off (Helen) for overshopping on Amazon, I went full bonanza! I think it is safe to say I have outdone my wife's shopping tenfold over! We now have a garden full of amazon boxes.

Never, has one man had so many deliveries in one week! From cars to laser machines, to Ikea shop, Dunelm, mountain warehouse and many more. Jeff Bezos would be proud!

You might think this is excessive, but being told your container will not arrive until October at the earliest, is cause enough for a bit of spending, especially when none of this was achievable in Brunei. In the last week alone we have owned two camping chairs and a blow-up mattress.

This was my first purchase from Amazon, a Crealtiy CR10 printer. There are a few points to note from this picture:

1) We still have no furniture

2) The sim appears to come first

3) The UK is expensive!

4) Next day delivery is a thing!

Despite this, the good times keep coming.

Who knew Tesco and Sainsbury stock every bad thing in one store. Mr Kippling Cakes have never seen such a massive rise in income. Of course, there are not just cakes, there's, the fish 'n' chips and kebabs (extra chilli sauce), which I have so dearly missed over the years.

As for the family. Another massive thank you goes out to Marcus Green and his wife Kerri Green. Marcus (better known as Jan, visits Brunei as the chief helicopter instructor pilot regularly) and little did I know he was to be our neighbour.

It's funny you can meet someone 7000 miles away and come back to find he lives walking distance away. He really did tuck me under his wing and get us sorted here in Cornwall. (Thanks Dude.)

This brings me to Perranporth, our new home. Its stunning, and raw nature from the sea beating the cliffs, to its beautiful rolling hills. This place has it all. The sea is that lovely pale blue and when the sun shines, it truly becomes spectacular. However, right now FOG has ruled for the last week! WTF!

It took less than a week for the children and Helen to invest in wet suits and become surf Dudes and Dudettes!

I want to share with you today's golden family photo at our new Ikea table. Despite it being a balmy 15 degrees celsius and the locals all wearing shorts and Flip flops, we are at home with the heating on and blankeys on!

I used to laugh at the guys that came out to Brunei as contractors and say it was hot. After all that time there, I never really sweated unless it was in the Bell 212 hell hole. Payback is a b+t&h! Lol.

Life here is everything I hoped it would be and better. Now on to more serious things, the Sim. This is so cool and big things are coming! Next day delivery baby!

Let me show you the new home home 737DIYSIM UK:

We have 3 rooms and a greenhouse available for the sim. The greenhouse gets the new laser machine and CNC powered by solar panels. Helen gets the Website and admin room in the house where it's warmest.

Outside in the Annex, is the workshop for the printers and part construction and Sim room. This is a great filming location (youtube) and should take the sim to the next level. I think what I would ultimately like, is for this space to become a makers space for sim builders where they can come and use the machines to create the parts they need.

I could offer CAD advice, build advice and of course wiring/soldering help to those that want it. A fun place to build sim parts and learn over coke/tea or beer, depending on Helen's input in a fantastic part of the UK.

The backroom will host all the different various cockpits in front of a single 65" 4K tv.

The idea is that any cockpit can be pushed in front of the tv and people can fly the one we have available:

1) The 737 single-seat cockpit

V4 will be modular, a full 737 cockpit designed from the floor up again, but encompassing all the knowledge from previous builds. For me, it will be a single-seat due to space. But will have the pedestal, and overhead, but no FO.

2) Cessna 182 cockpit

The current build. Get in and go!

3) The Heli Sim.

Something I have wanted to create for a long time. As a helicopter engineer, it's close to my heart and I know exactly how the controls should act and feel. What pressures one should feel in both force trim on and off. The design is done and now I have a printer, it's time to test. I can already see there's nothing out there like it already and this should make heli-simming fantastic!

I know a lot of you think we are back online and up and running right now. But that is not the case. Our internet does not get installed until 25th May. I have no idea why it takes a month! So for now, I am using my phone. It has no signal! I also find that the internet is worse than in Brunei! I shake my head back and forth just thinking about that.

Bear with us for a little while longer, I do try and answer when I can, but we are super busy right now in every aspect. However, things are starting to settle down and I am now starting to use the laptop to design with an external screen. But as many as you will know, Fusion 360 does not like to work without an internet connection.

Take care guys, Karl, Helen & Family.