Here are a few photos of a Bell 407 Overhead Panel that we made recently.
The dimensions for the unit which is shown here are actually the same as our standard Bell 206 Overhead Panel, as the two panels are going to be interchangeable within the simulator for which they're destined.
Each of the circuit breaker positions has been designed to accommodate either a real circuit breaker, a dummy circuit breaker, or a toggle switch - or, where there's no hardware to be fitted, one of the blanks.
To change the hardware configuration (e.g. replacing a dummy breaker with an operational one) is simply a matter of removing the five screws down each side of the panel to allow access to the mounting plate upon which these are all fitted.
The panels that are in our standard product range are not always exactly what our customers want, and so we're happy to customise items wherever we can.
Sometimes the alterations can be fairly major, whilst other times it's just a simple word change here or there.
In this particular instance, we swapped out the standard 1/4" jacks for some 3.5mm versions, added some blue backlighting, and made some fairly minor modifications to the text and its positioning.
Subsequent to taking the above photo, we actually wired a pair of our intercom units to this panel as well. There were still a couple of connections for our customer make once it arrived (we only left them off for reasons of safe transit), although these were fairly straightforward.
As a comparison to one of our standard B200 Audio Panels, below is a photo which shows the standard engraving layout and the holes for the 1/4" jacks.
As mentioned in this blog previously, the simulator that we have in our workshop is based on an ATR-72 and has become something of a test-bed for various components over the years without having had the time to properly complete it. The overhead panels shown there were the first iteration of ATR componentry that we used to sell.
Recently though, as the result of a specific customer request for some ATR overhead panels, we have embarked upon something of a re-design process utilising the same techniques that we've begun implementing across our entire range of panels. This includes fully backlighting them.
The first panel that we've just completed is the Engine Start Panel, as shown below:
The above photo (when compared with the photo below) gives some indication as to the amount of separation there is between neighbouring legends which are housed on the same annunciator; there is no light bleed whatsoever between the two halves.
Similarly below, in the korry switch that displays 'FAULT' there is no bleeding of the amber light into the well of the legend which reads 'ON' (and vice versa, had I thought to take a photo of it!)
Another challenge was the Prop Brake switch latch, which had to be loose enough to operate but tight enough not to fall open on its own accord (it's upside-down above one's head, of course). This problem was overcome by fitting a small customised spring onto one side of it.
Below is a photograph of what the panel looks like from the rear. You can see that it's supplied as one fully-populated unit, with all of the components pre-fitted to various mounting plates. For connecting up the korry switches, we've fitted 3-way connectors, which hopefully make things a bit more convenient and will lead to our customer spending more time flying and less time soldering!
Below is a very quick video (without any commentary) which demonstrates (hopefully) some sense of how solid the korry switches sound, and how 'positive' their action is ...
