My first goal is to make a flyable cockpit with the most important parts working. Therefore a autopilot-unis (MCP) is a must in round 1.

As this is a cockpit on a budget the €600 panel from CPflight is out of the question. I have been looking a bit at some other different options. To begin with OpenCockpit and HispaPanels. OpenCockpit is (from what I can read on various forums) well known reasonable quality at reasonable prices. Of course you get what you pay.

The OpenCockpit MCP-module is plug’n’play where as the Hispapanel you need to mount you self. I have had a few talks with Manolo from Hispapanels. He is a nice guy, very helpful and answers fast. Mounting means soldering all parts on to a circuit board and building the unit. So I started comparing prices:

• OpenCockpit MCP (Without box) is €288. Plug’n’play. From what I can read all you need is a USB-cable.
• HispaPanels you need a PCB (Printed Circuit Board) with components (resistors, connectors) and the panel it self including switches and displays. That is €100 + €134. A total of €234.

So the prices are almost the same. But regarding the Hispapanel you also need both a inout-board and a output-board which adds to the €234.

So in a total – on paper – the best buy is the OpenCockpit MCP. It is more or less the same price as HispaPanels, you don’t need extra input/output boards and it will arrive ready assembled. To me that is a no-brainer.