Cessna Cokpit

[ruffin23]

iv been looking at building a Cessna cab cockpit does anybody have dimensions of how wide and long and tall the cab should be

thanks

[Tom_G_2010]

I have the cockpit portion of a Cessna 172N fuselage that I can get the dimensions off of for you. However, I may not be able to get to it for the next week or so. If I can't get the measurements this weekend, I should be able to next weekend. There's also a website http://gallery.tigert.com/gallery/c172dim that has several pic's with dimensions. And, there are some other GA builders on the site that may be able to help.

[Tom_G_2010]

I wasn't able to get those dimensions this weekend. I'll have another shot next weekend. Hopefully others who have one or the needed info will be able to respond sooner, but if not I will be sure to take the measurements next weekend.

[ruffin23]

ok thank you
and also the mearsurment of how far the bottom of the instrument panel is from the floor
thanks

[Tom_G_2010]

Sorry for the lengthy delay. Work has been nuts . . .

Here are some of the dimensions from my fuselage. The fuselage exterior is 43" wide. The width inside between the front door posts is about 38 1/2".

The Instrument Panel is 42 1/2" wide by 18" high. The bottom edge of the Panel is 18 1/2" above the floor. The dept from te face of the panel forward to the fire wall is 13" The yoke shafts are 25 1/2" above the floor and 18" apart (9" either side of center). The center column runs from floor to the bottom of the instrument panel and is 6" wide. The space between the center column and the sidewall on each side is about 16"

The floor is flat across the seating area but about a 1/4" forward of the Panel it sloped down several inches. The firewall is jogged out 5" just below the instrument panel to allow enough leg room. As a result the depth in the lower portion where your feet are is 18" from the face of the instrument panel to the fire wall. and the face of the rudder pedals is about 8" back from the firewall or conversely 10" forward of the instrument panel.

I don't have a headliner installed yet so I can't give you an accurate interior height at this time. But I can give you the ball park door opening. Center dimensions not counting the angles the door is about 35" wide by 40" high. Also from the face of the instrument panel back to the face of the rear door post is 48".

I hope these dimensions help. Let me know if you need anything more.

[ruffin23]

oh thank you very much that is so helpful and should the ceiling about a foot higher than your head when sitting in the seat ? and once i get done building ill put some pictures on here for you to see..... will my saitek yokes pedals and panels go good in a cockpit like this?

Thanks, Jesse

[Tom_G_2010]

oh thank you very much that is so helpful and should the ceiling about a foot higher than your head when sitting in the seat ? and once i get done building ill put some pictures on here for you to see..... will my saitek yokes pedals and panels go good in a cockpit like this?

Thanks, Jesse

I'll put one of the seats in next weekend and take a measure of headroom for you. However, without the headliner that will be a measure to top sheet metal surface.

Regarding the Saitek hardware, whether it's suitable or not depends very much on how close to the real thing you want to get. The Saitek panels are much larger than the avionics you would have in a real Cessna. However, there's ample space for them if you are not going to use any of the space in front of the co-pilots position for additional guages or avionics.

If you look around here and other online sources you'll find some GA pits done using Saitek gear that look real good. Do they look like the actual instrument panel of a Cessna, not really, but that wasn't the builders objective. They were shooting for function more than form and in many cases built some very impressive pits using Saitek hardware.

If however, you are looking to create a very high fidelity replica of an actual Cessna the Saitek gear is likely not the ideal hardware, and you may find yourself doing a great deal more custom fabrication, or purchasing some more expensive sim replica avionics from one of many vendors making them.

Feel free to take a look at my website http://www.mycessnasim.info to get a better idea of what I'm up to. And make sure to look at the other sites I provide links to on my resources page. There are several other builders well ahead of me in their builds or finished and you'll get even more ideas from them.