Instrument Panel

Now that my panel layout is finalized, I'm finally beginning to get some things done here on the panel. Recently, I bought some headset jacks from Pacific Coast Avionics and I'll be copying the design of the RV-7 being built by the CEO of Pacific Coast Avionics and his son, Trevor Conroy. That is, I'll be wiring up the jacks to accept both the standard duel-plug style, or the LIMO plugs for Bose headsets. I own a Bose-X headset that is like brand new, and I really like it. So I want this option built in. Once I decided to put the jacks behind the panel on the sub-panel, I fab'd a pair of these brackets. You can see how the Bose jack will go in the middle, and the two regular plugs on either side:

Here is one bracket with the jacks installed to check the fit, and the other one ready to go:

Here's how they look from the front:

Finally, here they are primed and painted a nice flat black. I still need to do the wiring, but they're ready to install.

They'll be riveted to the sub-panel's bottom flange. I tested it out while sitting in the plane, and I really like this arrangement. I'll probably install a hook or maybe a velcro strap of some kind to hold the cables and route them rearward, and keep them up off the floor, aft of this position.

As viewed from where you would sit, looking under the panel forward to the sub-panel. This is the pilot's side, on the left side. A velcro strap wrapped around the air vent tube, for example, would work very well to route the cables and keep them off the floor and out of the way, yet easily changed if you wanted to change to a different headset.

One last picture, showing the Bose jacks installed and the jacks for the regular plugs as well.

Once I get the wiring finalized, these will be ready to rivet in place. The Bose jacks came with wiring instructions, as seen here. I'm really happy with this! It's not like you're going to be changing headsets all that often, so I like the idea of putting them forward out of sight, yet still easily accessible. I can reach right under there and work with the jacks, and I could still change to a diffferent headset in mid-flight if I had to, for instance, if there was a headset failure.

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