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Cockpit Organization

mbuto

Member
Hello! Just took delivery of my RV9-A and had my transition training this week!
I'm moving from a 172, and am really noticing the lack of space for cockpit items like knee boards, water, a/c documents, etc. There is a foot bar from ASA and they have a bottle holder for it, but any suggestions for cockpit organization would be greatly appreciated. I think I may 3D print a checklist holder to fix to the side.

Mike
 
Not much of that going on in an RV-9/-9A. The cup holder for the AntiSpat bar didnt' really work out well for me...it rotated a lot, and the cup holes are too small for any of the 18oz mugs that I use. Otherwise, a (small) bag between the seats, a "glove box" in the panel, and some pretty nice and fairly roomy expandable pockets as part of the interior side panels (Flightline) is all I have. When I was younger, I might have been able to conveniently reach back into the luggage compartment...but not now. The stuff I bring goes on the passenger seat, checklists and clipboards go in the side pockets.

ETA: If you're alone, you can push the passenger seatback forward pretty easily and reach a pretty roomy storage back kept in that triangular space behind the seat. I note
 

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Center arm rest

Quite a few center arm rest ideas out there with storage in them. Not the best pic, but….
 

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I put a shelf over the baggage compartment and it solved many, many problems. Here's what I did, more or less:
* On the baggage bulkhead, I put in a C channel, aluminum, from Home Depot or some such. One one screw, with a nut, in the very center. The center of the C section aligns with the longerons.
* The shelf was 1/4 or 3/16 plywood. I eventually glued a piece of vinyl to it to keep things from sliding
* The template for the shelf was made of stiff paper / thin cardboard from the art supply section of Walmart
* The shelf rests upon the seatback cross member and the tops of the longerons. It slides into the above-mentioned C section
* The shelf has a lateral (side to side) stiffener on the bottom so things don't slide

I've got pictures somewhere if you send me your email
 
I bought two vinyl straps with snaps from Aircraft Interiors and mounted them on the side panels by our knees for headsets. I don’t much like knee boards that strap around your leg so I purchased a clip board from Office Depot cut it in half with my Dremel and glued tool box shelf liner on the bottom to keep it from sliding off my leg. When not needed it stays between the seats. I also added Velcro attached pockets sourced also from Aircraft Interiors on both sides for pilot and pax. I installed one of those same pockets under the pax knees for whatever including a water bottle if desired. My iPhone sits between the seats easily accessible when I want to take a photo. I have used the same two pen holders that I bought from ACS in numerous aircraft and conveniently have two pens accessible to write down clearances, frequency changes, etc. happy to send photos to email addresses.
My checklists are in my EFIS and I have 3X5 cards with notes that I keep on my Office Depot knee board under my writing pad held by the spring loaded clip that came with the clip board.
My cockpit stays organized and neat. Always.
 
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