When I last updated this blog with work on the instrument panel, it was about three months ago. Since then I simply continued the path I was on, cutting holes for each instrument and making them all fit nicely.
There was a lot of hole cutting to do, and back then I did not have the “Rotozip” tool that I have now, so I did it the hard way by drilling out each corner and using a jigsaw to cut from corner to corner.
Once all the holes were cut, and I made sure each piece of equipment would fit, I covered the entire thing with a sheet of Polywall (1/16th inch thick plastic). This stuff has a very subtle texture to it (one side more than the other) and, when painted metallic grey / silver, looks almost like aluminum. Almost! It’s certainly a lot easier to work with.
Of course I then had to cut all the holes again, but at least this time I could use a sharp box cutter, and the edges would come out nice and straight with nice clean corners. Once those were cut I could insert the equipment, and the result is shown in the picture below:
Of course, the monitor for the main flight instruments is missing here, as is the yoke. I will cover those later. You might also notice a small hole in the lower left: that is where a GoFlight ATC panel will fit: I just hadn’t inserted it when I took the photo. You can also see the early beginnings of a center console, which will hold the throttle quadrant and other stuff. Again, more on that later.
The picture below shows the panel when viewed from behind. All the cables are taped up to keep them out of the way; eventually they will all feed through a cable duct into space where the PC will sit. Also visible in this picture is the horizontal “deck” that I can attach stuff to as needed, and the small shelf that the yoke will sit on. And you can see the whole through which the yoke shaft will protrude.
The final picture shows a wider angle shot of progress so far (at least when the photo was taken: I’m a bit behind posting these updates!). The cockpit has a roof, two walls, and a door, and the panel is just resting in place in this picture (not yet secured). The dining chair is just a temporary fixture!
flightsimathome 
Hi. I am also building a cockpit and have gathered a lot of good information in your page. Only question is regatding the 1/16 polywall plastic material that you used on top of the MDF wood. I cant seen to find this material. Is it sticky like tape or how did you attach it to the MDF? Do you have a direct link where I can purchase? What is the reason you use it and not only the MDF?
LikeLike
I bought it at Home Depot but I think this is the same stuff : https://www.doitbest.com/products/118702. I picked it mostly because I didn’t think painted MDF would have the right texture when painted. This stuff isn’t exactly what you might find in a real cockpit, but IMO it looks better than wood once painted that silver/aluminum color.
I attached using adhesive and also the screws you can see in this picture https://flightsimathome.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/panel-12.jpg … the plastic is not sticky.
LikeLike