Originally Posted by
Vessbot
Yes. The scheme is, on any vertical surface (like the instrument panel, or a wall) up = on, same as any switch in the rest of the world. On any horizontal surface (center pedestal, or overhead) forward = on. For the center pedestal, the forward = on scheme elegantly matches what you're used to (toward the top of your eyeball = on). But I've always thought that that's a stupid application on the overhead, which gives the feeling of upside down switches since it reverses the "toward the top/bottom of your eyeball" relationship, and instead it should just be treated like a wall.
And the 737 seems to have very few switches in places that aren't the overhead, so the overhead upside-down scheme prevails. But the stab cut out switches are on a place where the normal (up = on) scheme is in place.
In ground school, I was taught to think that toward the windscreen was on. That provides an alternative to thinking up/down and (at least for me) makes it feel consistent for both the panel and overhead switches. I suppose this might not feel natural to all.