Ergonomics in the Cockpit

[oldenavy]

The newer units have addressed some of the problems. The’20 Tiffin Phaeton we had came with stalk mounted transmission and engine brake controls as well as steering wheel mounted audio controls & cruise control. That was a Freightliner change in 2020-ish.

The comment about the curvature of the Phaeton dash is important and we found it to be a negative factor. We like to use cockpit resource management when traveling, for lack of a better term. By that, I mean a division of duties so the pilot doesn’t become overloaded or distracted from the primary task. With us, the copilot is responsible for the HVAC, infotainment and navigation. With the layout of the Phaeton dash, the copilot could not reach any controls and was only able to be a passenger. That’s probably great for some people but it didn’t work for us.

The poor ergonomics of the class As is one of the several reasons we moved on to our super C. The dash and controls layout on the M2 Plus cab is generally very good. It has the same stalk controls as our Tiffin, better switch layout and the copilot can reach any control in the center dash section. We have added a dedicated rear view monitor as Renegade wires the cameras into the Garmin GPS. I don’t like losing sight of the toad every time I hit the turn signal.

[triplewide]

Originally Posted by oldenavy

The newer units have addressed some of the problems. The’20 Tiffin Phaeton we had came with stalk mounted transmission and engine brake controls as well as steering wheel mounted audio controls & cruise control. That was a Freightliner change in 2020-ish.

The comment about the curvature of the Phaeton dash is important and we found it to be a negative factor. We like to use cockpit resource management when traveling, for lack of a better term. By that, I mean a division of duties so the pilot doesn’t become overloaded or distracted from the primary task. With us, the copilot is responsible for the HVAC, infotainment and navigation. With the layout of the Phaeton dash, the copilot could not reach any controls and was only able to be a passenger. That’s probably great for some people but it didn’t work for us.

The poor ergonomics of the class As is one of the several reasons we moved on to our super C. The dash and controls layout on the M2 Plus cab is generally very good. It has the same stalk controls as our Tiffin, better switch layout and the copilot can reach any control in the center dash section. We have added a dedicated rear view monitor as Renegade wires the cameras into the Garmin GPS. I don’t like losing sight of the toad every time I hit the turn signal.

That freaked me out every time it happened. (Did the same, dedicated screen for rear camera)

[DarkSideJeep]

I just replaced a 2018 Thor ACE with a 2022 Entegra Aspire. All and all I am generally pleased with the control placement on the Aspire especially compared to the ACE. In the Aspire I can actually touch the touch screen for example, I can also adjust the Dash HVAC controls and still keep my eyes on the road, another vast improvement is the instrument panel. In the Aspire I can actually see and read it during the day. On the ACE I had to turn on the running lights to provide light to see and that even required replacing the incandescent bulbs in the dash with LED bulbs. The most important switches are located right next to the instrument panel. the controls for the windshield sunscreens are on the panel under the window. I do not need to look to find the right switch. I can find them by touch along with the engine brake and other controls in the panel under the side window are all findable by touch once you have learned where they are.