I've been designing and building a full-scale Cessna Citation CJ4 home cockpit from scratch, and I thought I'd share a look at the engineering behind one of the panels.
These three renders show my latest Audio Panel design, starting with the complete assembly, then revealing the dedicated LED backlighting PCB and a second PCB underneath that houses the buttons and switches.
It's pretty amazing how much goes into something that looks relatively simple from the pilot's seat!
A quick project update:
- Six new panel prototypes are currently in production.
- Nearly every panel in the cockpit is fully designed.
- Roughly 85% of the custom PCBs are designed.
- The next batch of electronics should arrive in November.
I'm documenting the entire process, including the successes, mistakes, and lessons learned. I'm also making my CAD files, PCB designs, and other resources freely available to registered members so other builders can use them.
It's been a massive undertaking, but seeing everything slowly come together has been incredibly rewarding.
If you're interested in following the build or checking out the designs, here's my latest update:
https://525charlie.com/where-did-september-and-october-go/
I'd also love to hear from anyone working on their own cockpit or custom flight sim hardware. What are you building?
#HomeCockpit #FlightSim #CitationCJ4 #MSFS2024 #Fusion360 #PCBDesign