Need feedback on panel

[StevenL757]

Paul, you forgot "not necessarily in that order".  :-)

(evil grin)

[KSMooniac]

Here is a friend of mine that has a 1 piece panel in his F. This is the look I was going for.


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Awesome! I've never seen one before...looks great!

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[FBV]

12 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

And the remote transponder they are including (AXP322) will free up panel space for the IFD540 (or 550) so you have a larger screen.

So after a little digging, It appears that the Avidyne promo gives you a free ADS-B transponder only if you get the IF550, not he 540. The 550 is about $21K retail. Which is a deal breaker. Did they offer this on the IF540 at one point? I ask because the web address says IF540 in the address, but the page says 550.

 

http://www.avidyne.com/landing/ifd540-xpdr-promo.asp

[gsxrpilot]

No, they were previously giving away only the SkyTrax100 with an IFD540 purchase. Evidently now it both the AXP322 and Skytrax100 with an IFD550 purchase.

[glenn reynolds]

I fly IFR as often as not and have the following thoughts:

When I need to look at the engine information I need to see it all in one glance or assessment.  You have followed that same logic for your flying instruments with a well organized flying layout, so then why do you break your engine info by putting the engine analyzer in the lower left and the remaining engine gauges on the right?  To make an engine scan you would be required to look in two places, not good.  When you stop looking at your flying gauges is when IFR starts to go bad, your planed engine scan is not a head motion i would want IFR.  you want to be able to look at the engine instruments as a whole and then get back to looking at your flying instruments.  One idea is to make your glove box the size of an Iphone (no door, just a lip) and then you would have room for an engine instrumentation layout.  

I recently installed an Angle Of Attack and really really like it.  A panel rebuild is a good time to look at your options.  I find that the Angle Of Attack can be wonderful on night landings at unfamiliar airports as my touchdown is slower yet safer.

it looks like you will have two radios.  typically i am talking to approach on com1 and I preload tower (com2 primary) and ground (com2 standby).  When aproach hands me to tower, I put my hand on the dash eyebrow and punch the com2 button on the audio panel.  I do this for several reasons: there is often turbulence down low so I like to have my hand supported by the eyebrow, on approach - in the pattern, this is a time when I need my eyes looking at anything but where the buttons are.  I'm either looking for traffic of flying the needles.  

I agree with the others that one of your priorities must be ADSB and there is really no sense in re-installing your transponder.  The current backlog for avionics shops is six months and it won't be getting shorter.  

 

[FBV]

I finally settled on a layout for my panel. I just got it powder coated. It’s going to be a really busy weekend.kitchen pass has been pre-approved.


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[Raptor05121]

Holy cow that looks good! What method are you using for stencils?

[FBV]

Got my panel laser engraved today, built a felt lined glove box too.


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[FBV]

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[FBV]

I built this wiring harness myself. No smoke on first power on!!


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[carusoam]

FBV, this is a great thread!

Even The precision of the glove box door is amazing.

i read through the whole thread again today to make sure I didn’t miss anything.

How Long until everything is mounted and ready for test flights?

Best regards,

-a-

[FBV]

Holy cow that looks good! What method are you using for stencils?

I had it lasered to removed the powder coat. It exposes the raw metal beneath.


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[Igor_U]

On ‎1‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 2:14 AM, FBV said:

Got my panel laser engraved today, built a felt lined glove box too.

 

You've done a great job and have a great panel!

Who did the engraving?

Would you care to share the cost of panels as I'm looking for similar solution for my '67F?

 

Thank you

 

[FBV]

You've done a great job and have a great panel!
Who did the engraving?
Would you care to share the cost of panels as I'm looking for similar solution for my '67F?
 
Thank you
 

I should start by saying I’m a mechanical engineer. I designed the sheet metal panel in CAD and the engraving artwork in Adobe Illustrator. I had a friend with a laser at his place of business that did the engraving as a favor. So I got it all done for the cost of a nice bottle of Bourbon. I’m frugal though and spent hours working on this myself. I did pay $175 for the powder coat though. It came with a matching can of spray paint for touch up.

To have it done, I’d expect you’d pay $800 for the panel and another $300 for the artwork & laser.

Here is a pick of the current status..


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[Igor_U]

Yes,

It does look well designed and engraving is much better then usual labels you see around.

I could do CAD myself (Airspace engineer driving CATIA V5 for living), but I would need to take measurements of my plane first and then find someone  to manufacture it... I think it downtime would be longer and I am already not flying enough since my work is out of state.

Instead of that, I am looking into getting panels kits from LASAR with some modifications, of course. I'll do work myself as well (with my IA oversight), install of the G5 and such, similar what you'll have.

BTW, what will you install into rectangular cutout on left panel? It looks like Brittain Autopilot could go there...

Good luck.

Edited January 17, 2018 by Igor_U

[HRM]

8 hours ago, FBV said:

Here is a pick of the current status..

Super nice job.

[tony]

How can you have an accutrak installed without the brittain turn and bank indictiator?

Edited January 19, 2018 by tony

[FBV]

How can you have an accutrak installed without the brittain turn and bank indictiator?

My m20E has a Brittain stabilization gyro that is completely independent of the turn coordinator. It’s located up above the pilot’s left knee.


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[carusoam]

+1 For all the various types of engineers on MS....  

my 65's wing leveler gyro was in the tail next to the wing leveler's hardware.....  you could here the gyro winding down as you exit the plane.  The 65s had the old small TnB left over from some government program overstock...

Best regards,

-a-

[tony]

I learned something.  If you're panel is still apart and its not to much trouble, I'd love to see a picture.

[FBV]

Worked on the panel again today. No power yet. I still need to redo the buss bar. But getting closer..




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[Igor_U]

Nice panel.

Any reason DG is not under G5? Did you have any issue with trimming surround sheet metal structure?

 

Thank you

[EricJ]

2 hours ago, Igor_U said:

Nice panel.

Any reason DG is not under G5? Did you have any issue with trimming surround sheet metal structure?

 

Thank you

I was wondering that, too.   Plus the OCD in me is twitching from the autopilot being on its side. 

 

[FBV]

Nice panel.
Any reason DG is not under G5? Did you have any issue with trimming surround sheet metal structure?
 
Thank you

Per my layout, my vacuum driven DG is really deep and it hit the control column behind the panel. So I either had to revert to square one or settle for a non standard 6-pack layout. I decided on the later. I’m in way deep on the existing panel and have no time to change the layout again.

Yes, had lots of trimming to do. Dremel, snips, nibblers are all required tools.


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[FBV]

I was wondering that, too.   Plus the OCD in me is twitching from the autopilot being on its side. 
 

I worked through a lot of scenarios to figure out this layout. I didn’t want the Auto Pilot head on the right panel, so this layout worked best. If spent a lot of money with Brittain in the last year and they sent me a brand new vertically oriented faceplate for my accutrak. So it should work out great.


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