I was very surprised, when I had the opportunity to sit in a Dak cockpit, how very little room there seemed to be in there. The windscreen is very close to you and of course so is the control panel,nearly said dash then!, it is a very snug fit.
I guess it is so that there is plenty of room behind you for the revenue earning area of the aircraft!
Interestingly the DC6 cockpit is quite a bit larger and the Electra cockpit seemed like a living room in comparison to the Dak!
Sorry I can not give you a pilots perpective though, if I see one in the future I will try to remember to ask.
Alan.

As the airlines always like to say empty space doesn’t pay its way