On switches that are down low on the panel, you might take your dremel and cut the bat to about 1/2 its original length. This reduces the possibility of pant leg cuffs from snagging them when your getting in and out...
This is a good point. You will find that it is remarkably easy to snag anything near the leg holes getting in or out.
Landing Gear Warning Horn - Find the loudest, most obnotious horn you can get your hands on that runs on 12vdc.... if that damn horn goes off, it gets my immediate and overwhelming attention.... A light is not enough, I guarentee (does this sound like personnal experience?), you will be looking directly at the light and thinking "Why is that light on?" as the plane gently falls on its nose and merrily skids down the runway....
Absolutely true, all of the above! Way too many canardians have 'been there, done that' without a horn (or worse, no gear warning system at all). I used a radio shack horn too and it does the job.
Correction to my earlier post. IF you want to keep the trim indicators on the panel, I'd move them down where they are more out of your line of sight since you will seldom want to look at them. The top of the panel is prime real estate for the instruments that you want to be looking at frequently (heading, navigation and altitude) or need to get your attention (e.g., warning lights, but not 'running lights'). A future autopilot like the Trio EZ Pilot which outputs GPS data as part of its display will serve you better high on the panel than trim indicators. Similarly, the center of the panel is more valuable space than the edges, particularly for instruments that don't read well off axis (from parallax or LCD display).
For engine instruments I consider oil pressure and temp to be #1. If these go into the red you want to know ASAP! You can live for a while with high CHTs (although you should never have to); but if Po = 0 psi you are going to be walking soon. Better to be walking on an airport than in the woods. I have a dedicated, single gauge with limit warnings set for these just these two parameters, and it's mounted nice and high on panel, staring me in the face. I look at it often. I found that once I really got to know my EZ I didn't spend a lot of time looking at CHT and EGT - they sort of 'are what they are'. You need to check CHTs now and again for peace of mind, but your CHTs should always be OK if your engine cooling is adequate, and EGT's really are only of interest in leaning up the engine.
The more I fly, the more I value my fuel flow gauge. It is my primary instrument for leaning the engine now that I have learned what my fuel consumption 'should be' for various altitudes and manifold pressures. Knowing your fuel state and current burn rate is about as fundamental as keeping the blue side up (attitude & altitude), knowing where you are (navigation) and keeping the fan turning (no fuel equals no fan turning!).
To the extent possible, I'd suggest keeping the stuff that needs to be tuned (Nav, Com, x-ponder, intercom) in the same general panel area. As mentioned, guys like the radios on the left so they can tune and fly at the same time. I went with the conventional layout of radios on the right and don't find crossing over with my left hand to be a big deal, but I know a lot of guys that really don't like that setup at all. Similarily, all your engine management/monitoring stuff should be reasonably close together, if possible, so you can watch what's happening when tweaking the throttle or mixture.
Keeping a standard 6-pack layout is a given since its well proven and the gold standard of panel layout.
I put all my power carrying switches on a side panel on the right side of the fuselage, ahead of the stick. Saved a lot of panel space and takes most of the power out of the panel except for the mag/EI switches located near the throttle, and Nav-Com-MKB 'audio panel-like' switches above the radio stack. I'd do it exactly the same way again.
Couldn't tell where your 'electrical system instruments' (volts and amps) are located. If you are flying at night, in particular, you need to know that the alternator is pushing the right number of electons up the line or it can really get dark when it's most inconvenient. This is particularly true if you are running an electronic ignition which can ratchet up the inconvenience factor a whole other level if your voltage regulator or alternator decide to pack it in. I had my regulator get flakey and wouldn't have known without seeing the volt meter start doing the cha-cha-cha. These instruments don't need center stage, but you definitely have to know that your electrical system is on line before launching (it's not that hard to miss an open alternator field switch), and to check every so often in the flight to be sure everything is still OK. Per 'The Electric Connection' make sure that your battery is big enough to carry your essential electrical load all by itself long enough to get to a convenient airport - where you get to decide what's "long enough". My definition is one full flight.
I strongly agree with the advice to keep your options open for future instruments - recutting your panel is NOT what you want to be doing.
Happy panel planning!
