...
Happy Building,
Steve
For me, the panel was all about ergonomics.
I spent a long time studying ergonomics and cockpit designs before I cut any metal in my panel.
Here are a couple of things that I do not like about this design:
1. The fuel valve is blocked by the throttle at full (cruise) power
2. Starting requires two hands and yet the starter button is right next to the throttle lever. When starting a fuel injected engine, this is going to be real challenge with the starter button below the throttle. Where are the ignition switches?
This layout could be a real issue, if a restart in flight is required!
3. The friction lever is right where it will be bumped when moving the mixture back. This will allow all the levers to creep, which can quickly become a safety of flight issue.
Just my observation.
I have been flying for almost 1000 hours with my throttle quadrant, see picture above, but with three different panels. One thing that I really like is that with the quadrant mounted on the bottom of the panel, I don't have to move my hand very far to tune radios, turn on the fuel pump, taxi, landing, and position lights, enter new way points etc. The less hand movement, the better.