As of 4/28/08

Work on our instrument section of our web site and shopping cart is in process. We expect to have instruments in stock by late May. Orders are now being taken for May/June deliveries. Reason for delay in our instrument inventory is due to our recent  investment of resources and time with our new Select R/C Balsa product line. Balsa wood orders are now being shipped.

PRECISION SCALE

INSTRUMENTS™

AND COCKPIT ACCESSORIES

Manufactured for NELSON Hobby Specialties in the Czech Republic by Aeroteam (Propagteam).

Precision Scale Instruments™ are three dimension simulated aircraft instruments and cockpit accessories for 1/5, 1/4, and 1/3 scale R/C aircraft. Over two hundred instrument faces are available for use with USA, England, German, French, Czech, and Russian simulated model aircraft instrument panels. Also available are radio and navigational items as well as other items for detailing cockpits.

The following information will provide technical information and what the products look like. Only a limited selection of items is shown in this section of our web site. Our shopping cart features detailed photos of all of our Precision Scale Instruments™ and accessories. To go to our shopping cart, click SHOPPING CART on the horizontal title bar at the top of this page.

You can order by phone, FAX, mail, or in our shopping cart. We suggest the use of our shopping cart. If there are questions call toll free at 877-263-5766.

The prices shown in our shopping cart are net prices. No volume discounts for larger orders are offered. Our Precision Scale Instruments™ are not sold to dealers or distributors. We are trying to offer the instruments at the most reasonable price possible.

Most of the other product line items in our shopping cart have volume discounts. These discounts are not offered with the purchase of these instruments. However, when purchasing other products along with our instruments, the volume discount will apply to those other products.

Note:

In some of the photos you will see the name propagteam written across the face of the instruments. This is done for copyright purposes. The actual instruments we offer do not have this writing.

INSTRUMENTS:

All of our Precision Scale Instruments™ feature an actual body or housing made from black plastic. The instrument printing is in full color. Most instruments have a black background with white printing. Colored markings are provided to indicate caution or warning indications for certain types of instruments such as air speed and those for engine operation. A clear plastic lens is installed above the instrument face. On some of the larger instruments such as the tachometer in the photo below, the pointer needle is a individual part and is actually suspended above the instrument's printed face. Note the red low fuel quality markings in the fuel gauge. All Instruments are available in 1/5, 1/4, and 1/3 scale sizes. Many of the same scale instrument gauges are available in both the two full-scale sizes of 2 1/4" and 3 1/8".

Most all the important flight and navigation instruments are the larger size. A few of the engine instruments are also of the larger size. The less important instruments such as oil pressure, battery voltage, fuel gauges, etc. are the smaller size.

Offered is a large selection of instrument bodies, assorted frames and over 200 different instruments faces in 1/5, 1/4, and 1/3 scale sizes. Note that some of the instruments, usually the military types, have a separate mounting ring or plate that is installed in the front of the instrument panel.

Shown above is a 1/3 scale tachometer (left) item number PS31023-4, and a 1/3 scale fuel gauge (right) item number PS31921-S. Instrument body is black plastic. There is a clear plastic lens over the printed face. The tachometer needle in the 1/3 scale is actually a separate item that is suspended over the printed face. The instruments are mounted from the back side of the simulated instrument panel and glued in place. Note that both instruments are 1/3 scale. The fuel gauge is smaller and represents a full-scale gauge of 2 1/4" in diameter. The RPM gauge is a representation of a full-scale 3 1/8" dia. gauge.

Instruments are available for all the European countries and Russia, and for the USA. Many are unique to some countries. Offered are instruments in USA units (MPH and Knots) and in metric units. The basic instruments and how they present information are pretty much the same throughout the world. Instruments are offered in a series of WWI and WWII instruments and for civilian power and sailplane applications.

Many of the military type instruments also have front panel mounting rings. These are highly detailed a feature simulated screw heads with slots.

Not all instruments are shown in our shopping cart. Contact us for instruments that you are interested in and from what country. Most likely we will be able to provide you with instruments you are looking for.

INSTRUMENT SETS:

Many general purpose sets of instruments are offered. Available usually in a selection of about 10 typical instruments. Quantity and price of instrument sets will vary with the different sets. The selections offered are an easy way to come up with a set of scale instruments when you don't actually know what type of instruments to use for a particular scale aircraft project. Available are sets in all scales are for WWI, WWII, sailplane, and powered aircraft. See our shopping cart for available instruments. Call us if you have questions or don't see a set that you need.

NOTE: (As of April 28, 2008). We are inputing data for the instrument sets and cockpit accessories into our shopping cart. There are a lot of items to input. As of this moment work is being done on the 1/4 scale instruments. Then we will do the 1/5 scale sizes. The 1/4 and 1/5 scale products, with a few exceptions, look the same and the prices are the same. The actual dimensions are different. The part numbers are the same other than the first number of the part. Example would be a Aerobatic aircraft instrument set in 1/4 scale. Its part number is PS4104/2. The same item in 1/5 scale is PS5104/2.

NAVIGATION INSTRUMENTS AND NAVIGATION ITEMS:

Realistic simulations of radio communication and navigation equipment (GPS) and navigation instruments are available. There are items for 1/5, 1/4, and 1/3 scale. A limited number are in 1/3 scale. Many of the instrument gauges are available in both the two full-scale sizes of 2 1/4" and 3 1/8". See shopping cart for complete listing. Pricing is shown in our shopping cart.

Shown is a printed set of radio panel faces (PS32003) for various types of electronic equipment that are available. These are in full color. They are to be glued to thin plywood or aluminum that is used for the simulated body or case of the equipment. Included are knobs for additional realism. Available in 1/5, 1/4, and 1/3 scale sizes.

ENGINE INSTRUMENTS:

Many different instruments for monitoring engine and fuel operation are offered.

All types of 1/5, 1/4, and 1/3 scale sizes of engine instruments are available. Shown  is a 1/3 Scale Tachometer (PS31023-L). Note the hour meter detail. Other instruments available are oil temperature and pressure, fuel flow, cylinder head temperature, exhaust gas temperature (EGT), vacuum , and many  others. Many of the engine instrument gauges are available in both the two full-scale sizes of 2 1/4" and 3 1/8".

COCKPIT ACCESSORIES:

No scale cockpit is complete unless there are all of those minor items such as scale switches, gun sights, seats, rudder petals, control sticks, special compasses, seat belts, labels. etc. Selection and pricing varies with scale. See shopping cart for compete listing. If the modeler doesn't see something that is needed, call us. There may be new items from the factory that we did not know were available. Perhaps the factory may be interested in specific needs from the modelers that could be made by the factory.

COMPLETE PRE-MADE CUSTOM

INSTRUMENT PANELS:

Available are a selection of pre made complete scale instrument panels for a specific aircraft, The custom panel is designed to fit the dimensions of model instrument panel that we will send to the Aeroteam factory. Included in the package is the pre made instrument panel with all the instruments and markings installed. Even the flap handles, gear retract levers, etc. are provided. Also available are additional side panels. Call for more information for pricing and delivery time.

INSTALLATION OF INSTRUMENTS:

The instruments are installed from the back side of the instrument panel and are glued in place. A spacer may be required to prevent the instrument from protruding out to far from the front of the instrument panel's face.  For example, one could use 1/8" thick LitePly for a 1/3 scale instrument panel. About 1/16" of the instrument body flange will be exposed. This would be all right for this application. If a thin aluminum or plywood instrument panel were used, a suitable spacer from balsa wood would be attached to the back of the instrument panel to provide just a small amount of protrusion of the instrument body flange.

Most full-scale instruments use four 6-32 screws to attach the instrument to the instrument panel. Screw heads can be either a phillips head (cross) or a conventional slotted screw. The screws are located 45 degrees off center and spaced every 90 degrees. Screws are not necessary for our instruments, however they can be simulated with screws protruding the instrument panel. To hold the screws in place behind the panel, use glue or epoxy. For 1/5 scale instruments us #0 screws, for 1/4 scale use #1 screws, and for 1/3 scale use #2 screws.

The large diameter holes that are drilled into the plywood or aluminum instrument for the model can be easily drilled with a spade drill found at hardware stores. The spade drill is a flat edge drill with a sharp pointed cutting edge at each tip. The drill is placed only into a drill press. Run the drill press at its slowest speed. Do not run at high speed. Place a piece of wood onto the drill press's table. First drill about a 1/8" diameter pilot hole at the center of the instrument hole that is to be drilled. Holding the plywood or aluminum panel with a glove covered hand, gently bring the spade drill into the pilot hole. The two outer tips of the spade drill will neatly form the hole required.

Spade drill size for 1/3 scale large diameter instruments is  1 1/8" diameter. For the smaller 1/3 scale instruments use a  13/16" diameter spade drill.

Spade drill size for 1/4 scale large diameter instruments is 13/16" diameter. For the smaller 1/4 scale instruments use a 5/8" diameter spade drill.

Spade drill size for the 1/5 scale large diameter instruments is 5/8" diameter. For the smaller 1/5 scale instruments use a 1/2" diameter spade drill.

Full scale instruments have a 1/8" flange that protrudes from the mounting surface. When mounted on a typical 1/16" thick full-scale aluminum instrument panel, the flange will stick out about 1/16 of an inch. For the best scale appearance, only a small amount of the flange should be protruding from the model's instrument panel.

SHOPPING CART ORGANIZATION:

When first entering the shopping cart, notice the column of products on the left side. Click on INSTRUMENTS. From there you will be presented a list of products related to instruments and accessories. These are in turn separated into 1/5, 1/4, and 1/3 scale groups and by country. These groups are then in turned into sub categories. These categories are, engine instruments, flight instruments, navigation instruments,   radio equipment, and cockpit accessories.

Engine instruments are: RPM, oil temperature, oil pressure, fuel flow, fuel quantity, exhaust and cylinder head temperature, etc.

Flight instruments are: Air speed, altitude, rate of climb, attitude indicators, G-meter, etc.

Navigation instruments are: Artificial horizon, compass, Omni VOR), ILS, clock, etc.

Radio equipment items are: GPS, communication, transponder, DME, etc.

Cockpit accessories are: Control sticks, seats, labels and placards, seat belts, scale switches, etc.

PART NUMBERING SYSTEM:

It may be helpful for our customers to understand better our part numbering system for the instruments and accessories. The item number (part number) consists of four components. For example, lets look at a 1/3 scale airspeed indicator, item number PS31005-L.

In this example the first component is the letters PS. PS indicates Precision Scale Instruments™. The first number in the series of five numbers indicates the scale. In this case the 3 stands for 1/3 scale. A 4 would be 1/4 scale, and a 5 would be 1/5 scale. The next four numbers, 1005, are the actual part or item number. This is the factory number for that particular instrument. The last or fourth component is the letter L or S. The letter L indicates a Large size full-scale instrument (3 1/8" dia.). A letter S would indicate a Smaller full-scale instrument (2 1/4" dia.). Items such as instrument sets, cockpit accessories, and radios usually do not have the last letter.

ORDERING INFORMATION:

If there is an instrument or accessory item that is not shown in our shopping cart, let us know. That item may be readily available or perhaps the factory may be interested in offering that item. The factory does create new instrument faces on a regular basis. We are having them make a different type of G-Meter that is not part of their inventory of items.

Precision Scale Instrument™ items listed in our shopping cart that have *Stock Item* mentioned at the end of their description indicate that these are items we maintain as an inventory item. Items that do not have *Stock Item* indicated are special order items, however they are available from the factory. As we gain more experience with the marketing of these products, we will increase the quantity of *Stock Items*. There are too many items to have all of them in our initial inventory.

We estimate that orders for instruments that are not in stock will be processed and shipped to us by the Aeroteam factory in one to two weeks. Orders will be sent to us by airmail should take less than a week. Figure a total lead time for new orders of two to three weeks.

PRICING:

The 1/5 and 1/4 scale instruments are $2.25 each. The 1/3 scale instruments are $4.50 each. They are individually packaged in a plastic zip lock bag and are supplied with appropriate instructions.

Pricing on all the other Precision Scale Instruments and accessories is shown in our shopping cart.

Prices and specifications are subject to change without notice. Major Exchange Rate changes can cause prices to vary each time we receive a shipment from the manufacture.