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Builder's notes:

• Compare this panel to page 70 showing the panel for the C-65 installation. If you think the engine compartment is crowded, that's nothing compared to the instrument bay! If you use standard-size instruments, as I've done, you may want to increase the depth of the bay - even adding half-an-inch forward and aft would greatly ease the crowding inside the bay (remember that cabane struts come down through the outer edges of the bay volume, further restricting the useful space).

• The main (large) instruments, left to right:
  • Air Speed Indicator
  • Altimeter
  • Vertical Speed Indicator
  • Engine tachometer
• Smaller instruments, top row, left to right:
  • Slip indicator
  • Compass correction card
  • Oil pressure
  • Oil temperature
  • Hobbs meter (engine time)
  • Ammeter (to right of main panel)
• Engine controls, left side, top to bottom:
  • Magneto switch
  • Master electrical switch
  • Engine primer
  • Auxiliary fuel pump switch & fuse (to right of primer)
  • Throttle quadrant & fuel shutoff (on fuselage side)
• Instruments not shown (on front cockpit panel):
  • Vertical card compass
  • Engine Exhaust Gas Temperature (EGT)
  • Engine Cylinder Head Temperature(CHT)
  • Fuel pressure

• Beneath the ammeter on the right is the handle of the trim tab crank (an old hand-operated drill converted for the purpose).

• Just aft of the trim tab crank is a cigarette-lighter-style electrical power socket for hand held radio or GPS use.

• The yellow box cut across by the control stick is the Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) - required for passenger- capable aircraft.

• Cockpit coaming. A pretty finishing touch, but I'm not entirely happy with the outcome on mine. The covering is a naugahyde-like upholstery fabric; the cushioning beneath it is flexible foam pipe insulation, split lengthwise to fit down over the edges of the top longeron and the instrument bay plywood cover edges. The edges of the fabric are hand sewn to the cockpit sides with wide stitches of leather laces. It is not a continuous covering, but sectioned to allow for removal of the instrument bay covers without un-stitching the coaming. The section running across the top of the instrument panel is actually stitched closed, then finishing washers used with the cover hold down screws to affix the coaming. Were I doing this again, I would probably put short sections of coaming on the top longerons to provide a more comfortable arm rest, but leave the coaming off the rest of the cockpit edges. If you do put coaming on your airplane, I suggest you do so before putting the wings on! The process was extremely difficult with the wings attached and great care and attention was necessary to keep from putting a foot or tool through the lower wing fabric or breaking a rib. I didn't use a professional upholsterer just for that reason - too much danger to the wings from the "un-initiated"! The front cockpit was similarly finished, with the door segment of the cockpit edge line causing additional complications.

  A note on "sewing" with the leather lacing. The stuff had too great a cross section to use through the eye of a large upholstery needle, and the holes through the wood would have had to have been larger than I was comfortable with to accommodate the passage of needle and "thread". My solution was to cut the last inch or so of the leather lace with a razor, lengthwise, tapering to very thin at the end of the lace. I coated this cut portion with a 5-minute curing epoxy, stiffening the end of the "thread" enough to allow it to be its own "needle". Stiff enough at least to be pushed through the awl-punched holes in the fabric and the drilled holes through the fuselage plywood sides and airframe covering fabric. Dope up a bunch of these lace ends while you're doing those you'll use initially - for the future when you may have to un-do and then re-stitch the coaming. Another trick: after pulling the lacing tight, one stitch at a time down the row after pulling the leather "thread" through all the pre-punched and drilled holes, tie a good knot in end, close to the fabric and big enough not to be pulled back through any holes. That's not the trick - here it comes. Then, coat the knot with a few drops of varnish. This will ensure that the knot will not work itself loose nor be untied by the occasional bored child or curious non-aviator fly-in attendee.

  Of course no one who was a pilot or homebuilder would ever touch your aircraft inappropriately or without permission. Right. I watched one man come right up and make sure all my flight controls worked, without so much as a word to me, and another "gentleman" who leaned on the un-finished fuselage like it was a fence rail while he tried to suck me into some kind of pyramid-scheme business and ingratiate himself to me in order to "help" me fly off the test time on my airplane. Mind you, these were people I didn't know from Adam. I've heard of worse spectator behavior from other homebuilders. It boggles the mind.