74 M20E Panel upgrade completed with some details

[pagirard]

Hi all, we finally completed the panel upgrade of our '74 M20E

I asked many moons ago your wise advise on panel upgrade suggestions in this post (

Fast forward 6 months and the upgrade is done, the plane flies beautifully and I'd like to share some details you may find interesting.

To recap we went from a steam gauges + 430W&530W to a complete glass panel G3Xt, GTN750Xi, G5, GFC500 and a second NAV

Mandatory pictures:

Before

During (the one you never show to your spouse)

After (no Yokes but instruments on)

 

Here are a few things you may find interesting:

* The integration of the new autopilot switches into the yoke was not trivial. We worked with our A&P for solutions and settle on a custom made yoke "hat" that is minimally intrusive to the original yoke. After making several 3D printed prototypes in ABS to perfectly capture the outside shape of the original yoke, I machined in 6061 aluminum the part that slides on the hole left by the original vacuum button:

The Hat is held in place with one screw and a custom machined plate where the original vacuum button was located.

The hat houses the PTT, AP Disc & Trim switches and the wires are routed on the side of the yoke and later on leather wrapped, the Hat is powder coated.

We removed the clock in the center so I machined a custom plate with the Mooney logo and it hosts the push to voice command switch for the GTN750:

 

There is a baby version for the co-pilot side since we only have to house the PTT:

If you are interested and would like more details, feel free to contact me.

 

* The new panel is now one piece and the solid state instruments have much less depth than the vacuum based one, so we took that opportunity to "push" the panel forward and gain a bit of cabin space. But that required a modification of the glare shield. So again working with our A&P we CNC'd a foam mold with the exact front profile of the panel and the best guess of the back profile from the plane and molded a 4 ply carbon fiber glare shield

* I've 3D printed a few gizmos for the plane since we got it (like a removable fuel tab or a mount for the Bose headsets control) using ABS for strength and longevity but only after we contemplated using a 3D printed housing for the compass did I learn that you can buy flame retardant ABS filament. I have then reprinted everything going in the plane with this filament. I tested it and it truly is self extinguishing. If you are interested here is a link https://www.3dxtech.com/product/firewire-flame-retardant-abs/

* I had to paint some access panels a touch up on the cowling after a small fiberglass repair. I can honestly say I wasn't prepared for the rabbit hole of aircraft paint. Tracking down the paint used, finding a small batch and painfully learning what you are missing (primer, top coat, accelerator, part B,...) at every order was ... difficult !

* We re-upholstered the seats with the same 2 tone leather scheme we used for the cockpit, the yokes and the glareshield:

Summary:

It was quite a process but we couldn't be happier with the result.

Feels like a brand new plane, ready for new adventures !

I learned a lot about the systems during the panel upgrade and the annual and I want to thank this community for the support in selecting the avionics.

 

[DCarlton]

Curious.  I’m no expert, but did you consider upgrading the yokes to the more modern style? With the amount of work here it seems like it could have been a good time.  

[carusoam]

Wowwwwww!

This is one of those projects I’d like to send to Al Mooney to get his thoughts!  
 

Where did the Cad drawing, 3D printing, machining, and finishing skills come from?

Hobby? Professional? Outsourced from a good idea?

Thanks for sharing the details.

Best regards,

-a-

 

[pagirard]

7 hours ago, DCarlton said:

Curious.  I’m no expert, but did you consider upgrading the yokes to the more modern style? With the amount of work here it seems like it could have been a good time.  

We did - got a quote from Mooney for 2 brand new Yokes for 8k$. Yokes in the 78-late 90 are basically un-obtainium and you run the risk of shaft incompatibility

[pagirard]

38 minutes ago, carusoam said:

Wowwwwww!

This is one of those projects I’d like to send to Al Mooney to get his thoughts!  
 

Where did the Cad drawing, 3D printing, machining, and finishing skills come from?

Hobby? Professional? Outsourced from a good idea?

Thanks for sharing the details.

Best regards,

-a-

 

I'm a mechanical engineer turned electrical engineer by trade but woodworking, CNC machining, composite fabrication are just another time consuming hobbies - I built a shop and acquired over the years a large collection of tools.

 

[pagirard]

2 hours ago, M20Doc said:

Nice, but I’m partial to having the AI centered in front of the pilot. I would’ve moved the G3X left and the G5 to the right between it and the 750.

We had restriction in the placement of the avionics in the panel due to the central roll cage frame tube that split in a V and restrict the max depth of the device around the center of the panel.

 

In essence we could only put "short" devices in the top center - so GFC500 panel was the best option.

As it turns out, in bumpy condition, you can rest your fingers on the glare shield and have positive control of the autopilot inputs

 

[pirate]

Amazing transformation, love the layout, yoke mode and color combo. 
 

 

[Dick Denenny]

9 hours ago, pagirard said:

Hi all, we finally completed the panel upgrade of our '74 M20E

I asked many moons ago your wise advise on panel upgrade suggestions in this post (

Fast forward 6 months and the upgrade is done, the plane flies beautifully and I'd like to share some details you may find interesting.

To recap we went from a steam gauges + 430W&530W to a complete glass panel G3Xt, GTN750Xi, G5, GFC500 and a second NAV

Mandatory pictures:

Before

During (the one you never show to your spouse)

After (no Yokes but instruments on)

 

Here are a few things you may find interesting:

* The integration of the new autopilot switches into the yoke was not trivial. We worked with our A&P for solutions and settle on a custom made yoke "hat" that is minimally intrusive to the original yoke. After making several 3D printed prototypes in ABS to perfectly capture the outside shape of the original yoke, I machined in 6061 aluminum the part that slides on the hole left by the original vacuum button:

The Hat is held in place with one screw and a custom machined plate where the original vacuum button was located.

The hat houses the PTT, AP Disc & Trim switches and the wires are routed on the side of the yoke and later on leather wrapped, the Hat is powder coated.

We removed the clock in the center so I machined a custom plate with the Mooney logo and it hosts the push to voice command switch for the GTN750:

 

There is a baby version for the co-pilot side since we only have to house the PTT:

If you are interested and would like more details, feel free to contact me.

 

* The new panel is now one piece and the solid state instruments have much less depth than the vacuum based one, so we took that opportunity to "push" the panel forward and gain a bit of cabin space. But that required a modification of the glare shield. So again working with our A&P we CNC'd a foam mold with the exact front profile of the panel and the best guess of the back profile from the plane and molded a 4 ply carbon fiber glare shield

* I've 3D printed a few gizmos for the plane since we got it (like a removable fuel tab or a mount for the Bose headsets control) using ABS for strength and longevity but only after we contemplated using a 3D printed housing for the compass did I learn that you can buy flame retardant ABS filament. I have then reprinted everything going in the plane with this filament. I tested it and it truly is self extinguishing. If you are interested here is a link https://www.3dxtech.com/product/firewire-flame-retardant-abs/

* I had to paint some access panels a touch up on the cowling after a small fiberglass repair. I can honestly say I wasn't prepared for the rabbit hole of aircraft paint. Tracking down the paint used, finding a small batch and painfully learning what you are missing (primer, top coat, accelerator, part B,...) at every order was ... difficult !

* We re-upholstered the seats with the same 2 tone leather scheme we used for the cockpit, the yokes and the glareshield:

Summary:

It was quite a process but we couldn't be happier with the result.

Feels like a brand new plane, ready for new adventures !

I learned a lot about the systems during the panel upgrade and the annual and I want to thank this community for the support in selecting the avionics.

 

Hpw did you string the wires through the yoke. The holes are extremely small

[ArtVandelay]

Nice, but I’m partial to having the AI centered in front of the pilot. I would’ve moved the G3X left and the G5 to the right between it and the 750.

You can adjust the screen layout, move the engine gauges right side and go split screen (PFD left, MFD right ) will get the AI centered, or pretty close.

[DCarlton]

4 hours ago, pagirard said:

I'm a mechanical engineer turned electrical engineer by trade but woodworking, CNC machining, composite fabrication are just another time consuming hobbies - I built a shop and acquired over the years a large collection of tools.

 

Mechanical Engineers make far better systems engineers than Electrical Engineers.  Electrical Engineers can get really trick things to work on the bench but they never survive in the "real world".  ;>   

[pagirard]

4 hours ago, Dick Denenny said:

Hpw did you string the wires through the yoke. The holes are extremely small

I was also very surprised, my A&P told me to drill a small 0.121’’ size hole on the side of the yoke to fish all 6 wires going to the hat (ptt, trim up, trim down, ap disc, power and gnd) and to my surprise they all fit !
inside the hat I machined a channel to go from one side to the other in order to have no wires running on the left side (outside) of the yoke where the hand rests.