The throttle controls are made as a joystick for now, since as far as I know, the "8 analog axis" -card for FSBUS is not completely finished yet.

From the left to right you can see the following:

• Magnetos/Starter switch (yeah, OFF/RIGHT/LEFT/BOTH/START like on a real plane. You mean you dont start your Cessna with a key in flight simulator? :-)
• A rotary switch and a pushbutton (the black ones) will eventually control radios, those are just placed there for now for testing purposes. Rotating the knob changes the radio "standby" frequency - and pushing the button switches it active just like on a real radio. The challenge is to construct those two-knobs-inside-each-other -things, but I might just do separate knobs for the whole MHz and the fractional part. Or just make one rotary increment the whole frequency. Still needs testing. Special components called "rotary encoders" from www.knitter-switch.de can be used as well as specially wired "normal" rotary switches. Still trying to hunt down knitter encoders within Finland, it seems to be a pretty challenging task. Sometimes it sucks to be just a hobbyist and not a huge electronics factory that makes component salesmen bow at your feet.. :-)
• Switches. Eight for now. For master battery, alternator, pitot heat, landing and panel and navigation lights, beacon etc.
• Trim wheel. Right now it is just a potentiometer set sideways and glued into a wooden wheel. Eventually I am going to do a real-life sized trimwheel, and might even make it just adjust the yoke center point - that is how those work in reality anyway (or that is how they feel when in flight)
• The yellow knob is the carburettor heat knob. It is done with a reed-switch (a small glass tube that makes contact when you move a magnet close to it. The magnet is in the green heatshrink tube that is attached to the wire. When one pulls the thing, the magnet moves close to the reed switch, when you push it back it goes away. Works but needs some thinking to get a realistic feel, right now it doesnt feel heavy enough, it wobbles too much.
• The throttle and mixture controls. These are made from 5mm steel and (yeah right) soft drink bottle caps and real wine bottle corks. All neatly superglued together :-) On the inside end of them is bicycle brake cable that moves a lever that turns a potentiometer. And as I mentioned earlier, these are technically a joystick. You can see the white cables go to a joystick wire through the white block connector thing.
• The last thing on the console is the flap switch. It is constructed with microswitches. A detailed photo is below.

Rotary switch with wires

The flap switch mechanism animated

This is what I have so far. Updates will be posted on this page as they appear.