The Shetland Flyer
C172 Panel Project Update January 2004

C172 Panel Project Update

I've had a very busy period over Christmas and New Year. The cockpit has been totally stripped and rebuilt using an aluminium panel, and my trusty CH USB yoke was modified to protrude through the panel in the correct location. I now have a fully functional lower panel with most switches in place, including push/pull style throttle and mixture controls.

The Yoke Mod
The yoke was modified using 22mm chromed tube available from plumbing suppliers. After removing the front plate (there's 10 screws at the back of the yoke plate) I hacksawed through the original 1" plastic shaft flush at the shaft/yoke stem, then cut the wires. The whole yoke and panel assembly was mounted to a wooden frame (using the original two screws with the clamps removed) and the extension shaft fitted through the panel using a plastic 22mm bulkhead fitting, reamed out slightly larger. Behind the panel I used a 1" to 22mm plumbing reducer (compression fit) to connect the extension shaft, after terminating extensions to the 11 wires. The yoke end was internally reamed out to 22mm and the chrome shaft fixed in with epoxy resin. The wires were then connected to the yoke terminals. The whole thing is modular so the panel/yoke assembly can be removed for maintenance.

I didn't have the camera available when I modified the yoke, but I will take pictures of the assembly the next time I have the panel out.

Throttle and Mixture Controls
The latest 2002 version of the Simkits CCU software supports many more controls, including switches, throttle and mixture. I made up a mount for two 10K slide potentiometers to link to the CCU throttle and mixture connectors, then used two flexible wire control cables routed from the lower panel to link to each pot slider. The travel is just over 45mm, so not quite as much as the real thing, but not far off! See the pictures below for details of the throttle/mixture assembly as well as the latest developments to the cockpit (click to enlarge any photograph).

For the complete story, see the project page here.

	Top and centre: four photographs showing the latest developments to the cockpit. Note the modified yoke and the new lower panel. Photo's of the yoke mod to follow soon. Above and Left: the throttle and mixture assembly. Slide potentiometers are operated by flexible control cables conected to the slider using solder-less nipples. The assembly is mounted to the panel frame and the cables routed through the lower panel. The potentiometers are connected to the CCU directly using the three-way ribbon cable and IDC connectors.