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Friday, September 30, 2016

Bell 407 Switch Panel + AFCS Unit

This is a switch panel we made a couple of months ago for a Bell 407GX simulator. 

There's only one (red) pushbutton fitted because we were simply verifying for our customer that this particular component would fit.


The Korry-type button that's shown here is a new design that we've started to use recently. It's a fairly complex arrangement and requires quite a bit of depth to be available behind the panel itself, which of course means that it's not suitable for some situations (e.g. placement in front of monitors).


The photograph below shows the panel's backlighting, and for the purpose of demonstration we've also temporarily hooked up one of the legends in the korry in order to show the clear amount of separation between the upper and lower text blocks.


Next is the AFCS unit which accompanied this particular request. Not much to say about it really - just backlit pushbuttons, indicator lights, and header.



Thursday, September 22, 2016

King Air Populated Panels (B200 and C90)

All of our populated panels (King Air as well as other types of aircraft) are now supplied with mounting plates that have all of the hardware fitted and which is supplied actually pre-fitted to the panel itself, effectively making each panel a modular unit. This hopefully means that installation is much quicker and easier, as it's no longer necessary to individually mark and cut out the hardware holes in the main instrument panel and have them all line up. All that's required is a large cut-out in the MIP with some tabs left in the appropriate places for the main mounting holes.

King Air B200 First Officer's Left Panel



With a typical populated panel like this, we would normally supply a dummy gauge with artwork etc. that would be fitted into the hole, although if a gauge from another supplier is to be used then we can simply make the appropriately sized hole and deduct the price of our gauge accordingly.


We've recently updated the knobs that we supply with these panels too, which can be seen below.


Below is a close-up shot of the Cabin Temp Mode knob.


King Air C90 Captain's Left Panel



Because the mounting of the hinge and the gang switch cover can be quite a difficult operation, we now completely fit this at the time of assembly.



And as with all of our panels, they can be supplied with the warm white lighting as shown in the previous photos (which mimics the glow of incandescent bulbs) or the cool-white lighting shown in the photograph below.


King Air C90 Captain's Right Panel


This panel is supplied fitted with one of our standard landing gear levers, which is fitted directly to the rear of the panel. Depending on how the main instrument panel is constructed, the landing gear lever (as well as every other piece of hardware that's fitted to the mounting plate) can be readily removed and installed however you wish.



The gear indicator comes pre-fitted with a pushbutton in behind it (for Lamp Test function if desired) as well as a wired set of green LEDs which can be easily hooked up to whichever interface system is intended to be used.



The two-way header that's shown here is labeled with 12V, although we can organise the backlighting for either 5V or 12V supply.


The red illumination in the handle of the landing gear lever is supplied as standard and is designed to be indicate when the gear is in transition. We often use our own 64INS and 64OUT interface boards to control this operation, as well as the appropriate lighting of the NOSE, LEFT and RIGHT indicators on the gear button (as shown below), which all come on individually and at separate times. The timing of these is a function of the way that we have things set up in our configuration files. 



Wednesday, September 21, 2016

RV-7 Panels

This was a custom job that we recently completed and which utilised something of a new technique for the specifically requested green backlighting. 

The original files for these three panels were actually supplied to us in DXF format, which reduces the amount of design time needed to make them a reality (a saving that's passed on to our customer). 

Having the DXF files supplied to us also reduces any chance of misinterpretation with regards to various measurements when translating from imperial to metric or vice versa. We supply previews prior to beginning any machining of course, and we also offer suggestions as to text placement and sizing if any potential issues are found.

You might notice that there aren't actually any rebates on the rear of these panels. This is because most of the hardware will fit through the panel from behind and will be secured in place via a screw nut. The square holes, however, will have AML21 Series pushbuttons fitted in from the front and locked in position by a tab.

Power Control Panel




Engine Start Panel



Shown being held for some sense of proportion

Instrument Switch Panel




Friday, September 02, 2016

An overview of our Citation Mustang products

Our updated range of Cessna Citation Mustang products now includes pre-fitted backing panels that are supplied with all of the necessary hardware (switches, pots, knobs, pushbuttons etc.) already in place. This hopefully allows for a much quicker and easier installation process, and means that the panels are essentially ready to be wired up and connected to whichever I/O interface that's going to be used. 

If our 64INS and 64OUTS boards are going to be used, we can also offer a custom wiring service and supply initial configuration files. This configuration is readily able to be altered and expanded upon as you see fit, of course. This is dependent to some extent on the flight simulator software that's going to be used though, as we're more well-versed in some programs than others.

All of these panels are available in either cool-white or warm-white backlighting, and can be set up for either 5V or 12V power supplies.

Left Switch Panel






Right Switch Panel





Lighting Panel




Landing Gear Panel




Oxygen Supply Panel




Test Panel



Oxygen Control Panel




Glareshield Warning/Caution Buttons


Placards