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Alt-Air knob location vs. heater knob location

dreed

Well Known Member
Hi All-

I had an aha... (more like Oh Sh..) moment last night working on the panel. I had AFS add a place for Alt Air control, but no place for heater control. I am going to reach out to Rob and team and see if they can make a new throttle/control panel that is a little wider, but wanted to see if the collective Vans brain trust would put Alt air and heat right next to each other on the r/h side of put one left of the throttle and one right of the mixture?

I am thinking maybe Alt-Air left of the throttle and heat right of mixture.

messy wiring pic of panel for reference.

WWVAFD?

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Thanks Jake! Definite possibility, but I have a feel my girlfriend may want that heat knob a little closer to her :)
 
On my 6A, I have the alternate air on left side of cockpit and the heated air control on the right side of the cockpit.
 
Just Me

I would keep the heat knob away from the engine controls; I wouldn't want the passenger pulling the throttle thinking it was the heater.
 
Thanks All- Especially good point about having heater near throttle/mixture/prop controls. I do have a little panel space left side between charging USB/spare switches and vents
 
Dan,
Keep it simple. Just make a little bracket down by your left knee.

Thanks Jake! Definite possibility, but I have a feel my girlfriend may want that heat knob a little closer to her :)

No, I think Jake means put the alt-air knob down by your left knee on one of the forward fuselage bulkheads or thereabouts. Easy to reach for pilot, but not anywhere you or a passenger might accidently pull it. (That is important because Van's alt-air setup is, once opened in emergency, not designed to be reset/closed in flight. You have to do it from the airbox in the cowl.)

Put the cabin heat somewhere easy to reach but out of the way of flying the airplane. (Mine is on the far right side of the panel just about the fwd canopy deck. Works great there.)
 
Some Use different coloured knobs for routine vs emergency function. It is good practice to separate controls to avoid confusion and accidental activation. Emergency (alt air etc.) doesn?t necessarily have to be mounted by throttle, just close at hand. Bad idea to drill &mount control cables in the main instrument panel because if you ever had to remove the panel, would make it a bigger job. One cautionary on the angle bracket method, be sure to mount it away from potential flailing legs in an accident.
 
As was said previously:
Alt Air by pilot left knee.
Heater in front of passenger.

Other things related to the engine control subpanel:
You have the subpanel mounted flush, not recessed per plans. Your cables will be too short or tend to be too short for engine motion.
This panel can also affect stick length. Stick AND HAND needs to clear throttle at full deflection of stick and throttle.
If you have moved the control group to the left, by making it wider it can also interfere with stick.
Test to make sure.
 
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