Cessna 02 Cockpit — Quite a Big Ask!

It was decision time. Knowing that there was certainly something amiss in the panel's proportions I had two choices. Firstly to just wait until the time came when I would finally find some photograph or illustration that would provide the elusive answer. Secondly, to soldier on with what I had until that time came...

I took the second option. 

I cut out all nine of the main instrument holes in their 'imagined' positions on the shock panel— a process that took a couple of hours with the Olfa hole cutter. The result was pleasing but I immediately knew that it was wrong headed. To the left of the 'six-pack' would be two smaller instruments, a clock and another whose purpose I could not work out from photographs. 

These had far too much space as things stood. In the real plane they are positioned really close to left edge of the shock panel and the upper of the two almost crosses that edge and touches the glare shield.

Oh dear!  

However, I carried on. Having done so much work cutting these holes I thought that I might as well experiment further with them and so I made some pretty crude instrument bezels from hardboard and zip ties. 

  

I then offered one of these up to the largest instruments that I could create within the limitations of Air Manager running on the I-Pad.  No chance of a 'six-pack', I'm afraid — that would require the purchase of the I-Pad pro which I reckon would just about accommodate them all...

But also outright kill my current financial state!

Wait. As always!

Crude though this rapidly fashioned bezel was, the effect was good (through squinted eyes!) and I could see how they might work very well if only I could find an alternative material to hardboard. Preferably one that was cheap, would be easily cut and shaped with the tools I was already using, was available readily and locally too...

Quite a big ask!