Fixed base operations

Spurned by my fecklessness of last week (and another mostly rainy weekend in San Francisco) I resolved to get the base finished and moved upstairs to the sim room. Second attempt with the plywood worked out fine. Rather than go with 2 pieces, I cobbled it together from scraps in the shop and went with 3:

Next I stretched out a piece of cheap carpet over the assembled frame and nailed it to the underside. With the wife's strong back help, we lugged the beast up to the sim room (aka "his playroom" according to the missus):

Unseen in this photo are 2 large castors at the fore end of the base. The idea being if I need to move the whole ensemble around, I can lift the back end up and wheel it back and forth. I'll attach a couple of handles on the aft end to enable this. Probably will also be working out with weights 4 days a week to get in shape for this feat.

And here is the result:

A lot to do before I can get it operating. Next up I'll make covers for the unused space in the pedestal and will fabricate some j-rails for the chair. But wait I hear you say, Revolution Simproducts makes j-rails. Indeed they do. However, it will be a cold day in hell before I buy anything else from them. My last 2 emails regarding the defective TQ have gone unanswered. I'll need to put more energy into chasing them up. And if that is your idea of good time dear reader, caveat emptor.