Previous Versions:

Mechanics Panel - V.2 (built 2004, decommissioned 08/2008)

Most of the mechanical stuff is controlled from this panel: flaps, gear, spoilers and brakes. The landing gear switch, speed brakes switch and flaps switch are custom built. The speed brake lever is connected to a servo motor and an electromagnetic clutch to provide motorised movement for auto-deployment.

This image has hot spots that can be clicked for further information on the panel's components.

The three lights in the schematic aircraft represent the the landing gears. I used dual color red / green LED's. The common cathodes are attached to relais, so state changes can easily be programed.

For initializaton of the transition phase (gears move, LED's are red) I used FSUIPC offsets for all three gears. Offsets are also used to time the end of the transition phase. When the gears are up, the LED's are off, when the gear is down and locked, the LED's are green.

For programing details please check the epl files section.

The following photos show the panel from different angles to give an idea of it's size and dimensions.

The red parking brake switch illuminated in red when the parking brake is set.

The two knobs in the lower left corner dim the sim-instrument lights and the backlighting for this panel. This was my first attempt to do a backlit panel, and I am not happy with the results: the lighting is uneven, the 12v lamps get hot and the letters appear blurry. The backlighting issue still needs some serious consideration!