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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hey all,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'm hoping to start construction of some of my
panels once I get home for the summer, so I have a couple of questions I'm
trying to get answers to.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>First off, a little picture, to help explain my
questions:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><A
href="http://www.me.mtu.edu/~bjsikkem/ma10_13.jpg">http://www.me.mtu.edu/~bjsikkem/ma10_13.jpg</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Now, first and foremost, I'm trying to decide what
exactly to make the panel out of. As you can see, unlike a normal aircraft
panel, the Merc's basically sat out in the middle of nowhere. In other words,
it's supported in the center, not along the edges like an aircraft panel. It was
also pretty large, one continuous peice for most of it. Therefore, it needs to
be fairly strong and stiff, so pushing buttons, etc, on the outer edges won't
result in me bending and flexing the panel. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>My thoughts right now are to make the panel out of
cardboard and fiberglass it. Unfortunately the only hands-on experience I have
with fiberglass is on model rockets, and in that case you have the cylinder of
the body tube adding considerable strength - I'm not sure how strong it would be
in a flat design like this. Anyone have any experience, good or
bad?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Secondly, I'm trying to decide how to do the
indicator lights. The red arrows in the picture are pointing to the lights I'm
referring to. The top arrow is pointing to a light that has had it's cover
removed. MA-10 has been quite thouroughly scavenged, which has been helpful in
this case, allowing me to see how the light worked. You can see it has two red
lights on the outside, and one in the center. The second arrow shows one with
the cover still there. And then on the bottom, I've pasted in the indicator
light graphic that we're using in Mercury 5.0, to give you an idea of the three
states.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>My questions are these: 1st, any suggestions on how
to make the cover "boxes?" And 2nd, what material should I use for the front
face? It needs to be translucent to allow the light through, and I also need to
figure out some way to put words on the front. The graphic I've put on there is
blank, but each of the lights had writing on the front face - Retro Seq, 05g,
etc. etc.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>As always, any and all help is greatly
appreciated!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Brian</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The ultimate responsibility of the pilot is to
fulfill the dreams of the countless millions of earthbound ancestors who could
only stare skyward and wish.<BR></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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