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Old October 22nd 13, 05:54 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
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Default CAD software for panel design

On Monday, October 21, 2013 9:14:39 PM UTC-7, Matt Herron Jr. wrote:
I would second what Dave said, and add: Before you cut your panel, make or get made a laser cut plexiglass versions of it first. It can be flat. Stuff it with instruments, stick it in the plane, turn it all on, and pretend you are flying. Your second plex version won't be the same at all... and when you do your final panel, everything will fit, be visible, be reachable, not interfere with other controls, be seen under the glare shield, have enough space around knobs to actuate, have the bus bars in the right place, have room for the bottle(s) behind the panel, etc, etc, etc...



Have fun! I did.



AutoCad and laser cut plexiglass saved me a lot of pain and effort. I was able to fit everything to within 0.005" and achieve an instrument layout that would have been impossible otherwise.

AutoCad sells a student version for $300 if there are any students in your house.

9B