Customised B200 Captain Left Panel

We recently customised a B200 Captain Left Panel for a customer, as the layout they required was different to the standard King Air sub-panels that we sell via our website. We'll be adding this new configuration to our product range shortly. 

This panel was backlit with warm-white LEDs to mimic the appearance of incandescent bulbs, and if you look closely in the second photograph, you can see what the backlighting looks beneath the fluorescent  lights in our workshop, and in the third photo, with no backlighting on at all.

Cabin Pressurisation Panel

This is another custom panel that we made for one of our good customers a couple of years ago.

The adjustable front on the Cabin Altitude gauge is connected to an encoder, and the gauge faceplate was engraved onto translucent material which allows it to be backlit.

C206 Main Instrument Panel

This was large custom job that we finished back in mid-2017, although we've been so busy that it's only now that we've had some time to write something up about it. The job itself was co-ordinated between our customer in France and ourselves in New Zealand, with some of the items being sent to us to fit (the General Simulator G1000 units, the TRC mixture pots, and the Flight Illusion standby gauges) and the rest of the parts being manufactured in our workshop and the entire instrument panel assembled and wired.

After spending a long time calculating various angles etc. to get our drawings correct, we had the glareshield formed for us by a local company and upholstered.

A quick note: as this was made more than two years ago now (back in 2017), we've since modified a couple of the components to better reflect the actual aircraft. Small details perhaps, but more aesthetically pleasing (see below) ...

The flaps lever: 

Pull switches:

Updated vinyl flaps labels:

Some examples of custom work ...

Over the years we've made a lot of custom components, a small sample of which are shown below. Most of these items will only ever be one-off pieces ...

Customised King Air B200 Captain Left Panel

Customised King Air B200 Captain Right Panel. The Gear Lever
Panel was another item that we made separately.

A set of AS350 buttonheads

A custom Audio Panel

The rear of the customised Audio Panel, utilising one
of our modified PCBs for the purpose.

This panel was part of a large custom job that incorporated our 64INS and 64OUTS 
boards, gear lever with transition lighting, backlit panels, a customised
interchangeable flaps system, as well as various parts that our customer 
had already purchased elsewhere (Flight Illusion radios, iPad, etc.)

This is how the rear of the aluminium panel looked with all of our wiring completed

Another free-standing main instrument panel ...

An operational KAP140 incorporating LCD screen. 
The dummy blank panel above it helps to disguise the real size of the LCD.

This was a custom, fully-enclosed, stand-alone MIP that again incorporated
many of our own components in combination with those from other vendors,
which our customer had already purchased before sending them to us for installation.

A custom B200 MIP

Autopilot System

Custom Autopilot Knobs

EFIS System

A custom bezel designed around hardware our customer was already using.

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

A customised King Air MIP

We've recently completed a full King Air main instrument panel for a customer who will be using LCD monitors in behind it to display the gauges etc. Outside of the extents of these main monitors, a separate couple of small 8 inch LCD screens will be employed to display an additional couple of gauges.

[Also, please excuse the variety of colours in these photos, which makes the same panel appear to be different shades of grey in each photo - this was merely a result of poor lighting, poor photography by myself, and poor colour correction!]

The buttons on the above DME bezel are operational and are fitted to a small circuit board that's recessed into the rear of bezel itself, which allows for it to be set away from the surface of the LCD monitor that will be placed behind it (see the photos below for the rear view).

As you can see here, the rear of the encoders are also well forward of the LCD screen's surface whilst still allowing some room for the wiring.

On this occasion we left room for one of our RNS530 units, an operational Altitude Alert System, and six of our Collins-style Dual Radios (as shown partially mocked-up in the next photo). As we try to assemble parts as fully as possible in our workshop prior to shipping, all of the hardware that's shown on this panel has been fitted onto a separate mounting plate which has then been fitted to the rear of the main panel. This hopefully makes installation a little easier ...

In the photo below, because of where the outer limits of the LCD monitors finish, the large switch on the EFIS Aux Power bezel could still protrude out the back of the panel without causing any issues. All of the other buttons have low rear profiles however, so that they can be used on other jobs in the future if necessary.