aerobubba(at)earthlink.ne
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 Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 6:37 am Post subject: Ergonomics |
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Expanding a bit on where this thread has gone, let me toss out some
thoughts on cockpit ergonomics and safety. I'm building an RV-8, which of
course has a narrow panel. Economy of acreage is important. Also, a
fundamental of crashworthiness is to not put switches where you will be
impaled by them. Hence, I don't have any switches on my main panel.
My basic concept for switch location is to put the highest usage switches
on the stick, with the next highest usage rate and 'use 'em quick' safety
related switches on the left (throttle hand) side, leaving the right side
(stick hand) for the rarely used stuff.
The application of this philosophy to my particular equipment list leads to
the following:
My RAC / MAC stick grip has PTT, 2 axis trim, A/P disconnect, and EFIS
engine page call up / dismiss. Nothing on the throttle. The lower edge of
the throttle quadrant ass'y is home to the cockpit light dimmers. Just
above / fwd of the throttle on the left sub panel and within very easy
reach of my throttle hand are my 'oh crap' switches. They include fuel
pump, A/P arm / off, rear seat stick switch disable / trim sys disable, and
flaps. The next row up has the music auto mute function, ARC, and OVM
reset switches. Just above are the clock and the flap position indicator.
The left side of the main panel holds xpder, coms, back up EFIS, and nav.
Central and right is the main EFIS display. The right side of the panel
holds the audio panel. The right sub panel has the trim indicators, remote
ELT head, battery switches, ignition switches, EFIS 2 switch, and start
switch. The right console has the exterior lights, pitot heat, Hobbs
meter, and power distribution CBs.
So far, I'm very happy with this layout. Of course, it' the 12th iteration
of the design. I would encourage folks to take their time and prioritize
and group switches according to some consistent and user friendly scheme.
'Chair flying' complete flight profiles, imagining / simulating the whole
process from power up through engine start, T/o, ldg, and securing will
help a lot. Besides, then you'll have a good excuse when the spouse
catches you sitting there making airplane noises...
glen matejcek
aerobubba(at)earthlink.net
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