SparrowBomb: DIY - You Can Make a Kneeboard Too!

We've all seen it. Papers flying everywhere, coffee cups and water bottles clanking, as the flush of frustration deepens in the face of your friend as he/she desperately searches for the directions they swear they had just a minute ago. (Hell, this has even happened to me!!)

This scene has played out many of times in the car, but the last thing you want is for this to happen in a plane - played out by the pilot!! Organization and pre-planning are important factors to ensuring a safe flight, and keeping them accessible is key. Each pilot has his/her own system - cockpit organizers, yoke clips. Inspired by a fellow pilot's own creation, I chose the kneeboard - and decided to make it myself.

I don't have a lot of money, so I surveyed my resources and came up with a design that cost me less than $15.00 (not including the work I contracted from my friend Gino). Here's how I did it:

Step One: Find your Material

I used sheet metal, but you can use just about anything you want - plastic, old clipboards etc. Because I like shinny and it was convenient, I chose sheet metal.. I grabbed a few thin pieces from the scrap pile at our maintenance hangar.

Cut to the size that you desire. I chose two pieces: one smaller in width than the other, but both the same size. Then use a steel file to round the edges.
You can use sheet metal scissors, or a nice big cutting machine like I'm using.

Step Two: Find an old ring binder

Preferably one with seven rings, like this one.
I found two binders at Creative Reuse in Oakland for $1.00 each.I ended up giving this one away to a friend and using the thinner one. This one might have gotten in the way of the yoke, but it gives you an idea of how I excavated the ring assembly from the binder to attach to my sheet metal.

Step Three: Put it all together

Mark your attachments on the sheet metal and drill out holes. I drilled two holes on the large sheet to attach my ring assembly, and seven for my kneeboard cover. Of course you can use any method of attaching the ring assembly that you desire. I chose rivets so that if something broke, I wouldn't have to start all over again from scratch

I used cherry max rives that my friend Mark gave me, and a rivet gun borrowed from my friend Franck to put it all together. My holes were a fraction of an inch too close, so I ended up having a slight curve between the base and ring assembly. But as you'll see next, most mistakes can be utilized creatively!!

Step Four: How the hell am I gonna get this attached to my knee???

This was the hardest part of the whole project. (and most expensive). I thought about Velcro, maybe reusing an old kneeboard fitting, I bought anti-slip rubber tool box liner to affix to the bottom of the board, but this didn't really work at keeping it in place when open. Finally I went back to my original idea of using a belt.

I found an old cotton rivet belt at a my favorite thrift store for a dollar. I cut the buckle end off close to the first rivet duos, and attached the two pieces to the board like so (see picture to right).

Description: I slid the severed-end of the longer belt piece between the ring assembly and baseboard and then attached the belt (utilizing it's rivets) directly to the ring assembly. The smaller segment of the belt, containing the buckle is attached in much the same way, but directly on top of the ring assembly and slightly off-center. This way, the long end of the belt loops under my left knee, and the back up to fasten into the buckle in a way that my kneeboard opens and rests center my lap. Again, things didn't go perfectly. I cut too close to the rivets, so as a fast fix I glued the ends of the frayed buckle and covered with duct tape until I find a better solution.

Step Five: Assemble and Organize (woo-hoo!)

I purchased several plastic sleeves to hold approach charts. I plan to highlight the sheets instead of the charts, so that I can quickly find important information like frequencies, and color code processes -- and I don't have to do it to every chart!! I purchased re-writable tabbed dividers to organize checklists and other information.

I also got adhesive dry erase sheets and put them on the baseboard of my kneeboard and first tab divider for quick copy of ATIS information, etc. I use a grease pencil instead of dry erase marker so I don't have to worry about losing a cap!! (all costing under $10.00 online)

Overall, I love my new kneeboard. I don't waste paper, I have everything organized, and it's my own. I even had it engraved by my friend Gino at G Merch who did an excellent job! The only thing I have left to do is design an image for Sparrowbomb, and Gino will engrave this and color each engraving in with a copper or bronze tone to give the lettering and design some distinction. Then it will be all perfect. But for now, I think it's pretty awesome!!