Pictreed

Ha, no Don, I'm confident. I just don't trust myself...lol. What I mean is that there are a lot of gotchas in changing that panel. I guess the only thing easier than mocking it up from plexiglass is to get one from someone that's gone through the hassle of the whole mock process. I talked to LASAR today. I think I talked to Dan? He said they have a panel for $250 + $80 for the standoff kit. That may be the route I go because my time is worth more than that. Tim

I knew you'd post that! Lol. I was just waiting on it. I saw that you posted that on other threads during a search. You must have that on copy/paste. Seriously though, there are many reasons but mainly it's not the only plane I fly and during IMC you don't want to go looking for things. I wish I could leave it but it's not safe for me.

Awesome. I think it was easy for you because you prepared well. Congratulations!

I didn't have WAAS, my 430 had a bad CDI board (not sure how I did that but it wasn't working when I sent it so it was just -800 off my rebate) and I needed new antennas as well as a new tray for the transponder so my total was $10.5k. So it's kind of like buying the GPS and getting everything else, including WiFi and Bluetooth activation, for free. So I got 2 aging pieces of equipment out of my plane.

Thanks for the ideas guys. I am just worried about making a panel and it not fit....boo!

I need to get my instruments in the standard 6 pack but I have a few questions. I read that some "trimming" but can the instruments be rearranged or does the panel need to be replaced. If panel replacement needs to happen, I've been thinking of a couple ways to get the panel made. First the layout. I'm a CAD operator and there's a water jet close as well as Discount Steel. My question is how to get the design started. I could take off the existing plastic, trace the outline on a large sheet of paper, scan it into CAD and work with the layout. Or is there some predesigned panel patterns out there? Tim

I didn't know you had the standard 6 configuration. Nice!!! It was nice that when I lost my alternator I was transmitting in the blind on the KX155 and they still heard me, albeit scratchy. They knew there was someone out there headed towards the field so they diverted a couple planes inbound. The GPS Com was the first to tank when the alternator started going out even though they say they are low powered.

I just saw that today. That thing is awesome. Super Cop and I got too good of a deal to pass up though.

The 3rd might be possible for me but otherwise mine may be in the shop. Let me know if you still need a ride.

Tried the pot switch. Bose still works flawless.

There are dip switches that have gain control. I may try one of those. Tim

Argh...I was avoiding reading your thread because you're not making that beauty for my 65 E yet and you post it here! I will check them out. Thanks

Ya lo hice. That's what I thought but it didn't work. Tim

I just found a few articles that say that Icom radios produce the RF problem. Ferrite loops get rid of it so I assume the Bose has it built in :-/ So if you're using your Icom as a backup radio with your Lightspeed or David Clark headset it may not work...my plane looked like a Pong game on my iPad as I turned away from the Class D airspace today when they didn't respond...lol. I will keep a set of Bose with me. I might like them better...who knows. There should be some electrical engineers here, right? Is there a way to fix this? Can you get a really large ferrite 'ring' and wrap your wires through it? Tim

Not a cell phone issue...I think. Let me test that idea. So far I think it's an issue with the Zulu 2 headset. The Bose worked fine. Not sure if it's just the way the headset is or if there's a problem with them. But I'll also hold the phone near the Bose and see if I can recreate the issue.

I'm trying to fly my plane to another airport to have the radios worked on so I have to use a hand-held radio but when I connect my Lightspeed headset to my Icom with the adapter they sell I get the high pitch feedback sound you get when you put a microphone too close to a speaker. Tried adjusting squelch, hold radio behind me, and other things. If I hold it horizontal right in front of me it stops. I tried turning off noise cancelling too. It happens inside or outside the plane. Any ideas? I'm going to try an A20 headset tonight and see if it still happens. Tim

Sounds like I need a tent...lol Thanks. I thought Plane Covers is who I needed to call.

Now that transition training is over the mission for my Mooney will be taking me to meet with Inspectors, handling licensing, and so on around the region. So I will fly in and rent a car but that leaves my plane out in the open. I have a cover for the cabin but what do you guys use for the cowl openings? I have a '65 E with the lower cowl enclosure. I'm also curious if you guys carry your own tie downs? Thanks, Tim

Congrats and welcome. Looks like the previous owner took good care of it. Tim

Well more news on the avionics. I sent the King 155 off to Bevan Rabell. Bill tried to replace some of the components on the boards but the leaking capacitors really screwed up the board so now I need a new Nav/Com/GS 2. OUCH! I knew I'd have to upgrade these old things but not at once. I may have to look at a Garmin 255 and get it over with. Tim

Did you get my email? Tim

That lift is some much better than a creeper. I liked being able to see what he was talking about. For as much as Bob shows off his panel here I was surprised he parked on the other side of the airport. Probably better since his battery would be dead from all the demos Tim

As John and Clarence have said, access panels on the instrument panel would be the best. I've seen some of the RV10 guys doing this. I met a guy this week that has installed a few so I might look into it. Tim

There's a switch on EBay from an E model. Will that work?

So what should I use? A Mooney specific toggle switch? Or can my avionics guy install another type of switch? There is a blank space to put it. It's next to the alternator switch.