pirate Posted February 8, 2023 Author Report Posted February 8, 2023 1 hour ago, TheAv8r said: That's smart, I did the same when I was shopping around. I loved the look of the 1-piece panel, but it wasn't worth a huge $$ increase over 2-piece. Super biased, but heavily recommend the 1-piece panel if in your budget. 1000x cleaner than the pieces. The metal and the finishes aren't super expensive, it's the labor that this comes into play with. With a 1-piece panel, everything has to come out. Engine controls (Throttle, Prop & Mixture), parking brake cable, cabin vent cable, cabin heat cable, etc. Those all have to be re-run and rerigged. The yokes have to be taken off the shaft and PTTs/switches reconnected. Then with a 1-piece sometimes the frame has to be adjusted here and there to get everything to fit right, the new panel actually fit to the existing frame, etc. That's where the cost difference is, all the labor it takes to do all of that. With a lot of 2-piece or even 3-piece panels, those can all stay where they are at and you work around them. But, in my opinion, it makes the finished product look like a Frankenstein instead of a clean, polished design. I went with a 1-piece panel for mine, but to be fair, I also replaced all the engine controls, all the switches, all the circuit breakers, etc. with new and new wiring (which I also highly recommend... replacing 50+ year old stuff as you're going to be touching it anyways). The cost difference between the 2-piece and the 1-piece was about $1800 more. I paid $3700 for the panel, this included everything: cutting the panel, fitting it, the powdercoating, laser etching, all labor for removing everything and putting it back in. I did pay extra (10 hours) for installing a new Mixture & Prop cable. Thank you for the detailed information. After seeing the photo of your beautiful one piece panel I think that’s the way I will want to go. When did you have the panel work done ? Quote
PT20J Posted February 9, 2023 Report Posted February 9, 2023 Call Aerocomfort soon. I hear their lead times are getting pretty long. Quote
TheAv8r Posted February 9, 2023 Report Posted February 9, 2023 45 minutes ago, pirate said: Thank you for the detailed information. After seeing the photo of your beautiful one piece panel I think that’s the way I will want to go. When did you have the panel work done ? Sure thing! Thanks for the compliment. Slowly modernizing this plane… All work was done last year. It was before several shop rate increases for inflation so today the same work might have been $4k Quote
TheAv8r Posted February 9, 2023 Report Posted February 9, 2023 23 minutes ago, PT20J said: Call Aerocomfort soon. I hear their lead times are getting pretty long. +1, I have an August slot this year and I snagged it last July. 1 Quote
PT20J Posted February 9, 2023 Report Posted February 9, 2023 I think the parachute is only a small part of the appeal of the Cirrus. The parachute was never intended as a substitute for good airmanship. It came about because one of the founders was once involved in a midair collision and he realized that there are some incidents that are unsurvivable without a parachute. 1 Quote
Bryan G Posted February 9, 2023 Report Posted February 9, 2023 https://superioraircraftcomponents.com I met superior at Oshkosh, they did this design for my 67F. Did everything via email and a few phone calls, ordered a plexiglass cut to verify the dimensions and once I was happy with it, it was cut, printed, and arrived at my doorstep 3 days later. About $1700, install is almost done… 2 Quote
carusoam Posted February 9, 2023 Report Posted February 9, 2023 Of all the goofy things we have had forever…. That could be changed by swapping two wires… Why is the order of the ignition switch… 1) Off 2) R 3) L 4) Both IOW… why is R left of L? Bryan, really great graphics… I can read them from here! Best regards, -a- 1 Quote
EricJ Posted February 9, 2023 Report Posted February 9, 2023 14 hours ago, carusoam said: Of all the goofy things we have had forever…. That could be changed by swapping two wires… Why is the order of the ignition switch… 1) Off 2) R 3) L 4) Both IOW… why is R left of L? Bryan, really great graphics… I can read them from here! Best regards, -a- It may depend on how the switch is made/configured. Generally only the Left mag is active during start, so if that is done internally on the switch they can't be swapped. 1 Quote
McMooney Posted February 9, 2023 Report Posted February 9, 2023 Kit panels - Pacific Coast Avionics 1 Quote
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