Turn Coordinator

Physical Turn Coordinator for the Cessna 172SP Six-Pack panel — bezel, miniature aircraft mechanism, inclinometer, and X-Plane dataref mapping.

4 min read Updated 2026-06
Cessna 172SP

Overview

The Turn Coordinator sits bottom-left in the six-pack "T" arrangement. It shows rate of turn via a miniature aircraft silhouette banking against a graduated scale, with an inclinometer ball below for slip/skid indication.

Construction

Like the other six-pack instruments, this gauge is built as a self-contained module:

  • Bezel / Face Plate — 3D-printed bezel with a printed turn-rate scale around the miniature aircraft cutout
  • Dial / Needle — miniature aircraft silhouette in place of a needle
  • Internal Mechanics — single-axis servo driving the miniature aircraft's bank angle; the inclinometer ball is a separate sealed, fluid-filled tube — purely mechanical, no electronics
  • Back Housing — 3D-printed enclosure mounting to the MIP frame's instrument cutout
  • PCB & Controller — ESP32 driving the servo from the X-Plane turn-rate dataref
  • Lighting — backlighting for night/IFR panel illumination

X-Plane Integration

sim/cockpit2/gauges/indicators/turn_rate_roll_deg_pilot

Status

Planning — design not yet started.

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