New glareshield for a vintage panel?

[DaV8or]

Just wondering if anyone has made, bought, or had made a new glareshield to fit a vintage panel. I have the stock floppy vinyl thing, but would rather have something rigid that I can attach lighting underneath. I can't be the first guy. Lots of options for the 201 style panel, but vintage... ?

[Lionudakis]

I think it would fall under the interior requirements, which are nill other than burn testing. I'm going to make one out of lexan, and wrap it in padding and black ultra-leather, and velcro it to the dash.

[N601RX]

Quote: DaV8or

Just wondering if anyone has made, bought, or had made a new glareshield to fit a vintage panel. I have the stock floppy vinyl thing, but would rather have something rigid that I can attach lighting underneath. I can't be the first guy. Lots of options for the 201 style panel, but vintage... ?

[DaV8or]

I guess I am the first guy. Anybody interested in glareshield for a vintage panel if I build one? At this point though, I'd much rather buy one.

[ELT]

Dave,

I would be interested in the design.  I have a lovely shag carpet one put in by the people who did the STWA windshield mod.

Eddie

[Hank]

Sorry to hear that, ELT. My glareshield is made from covered in shinyl vinyl, in two pieces. One fills in the extra gap where the bottom of the windshield moved forward, then there is the original-looking one. Both are covered similarly.

I don't recall what it's made of, but it is somewhat flimsy, and the vinyl edges are not adhered to the back very well, requiring some tape to hold it together. Oh, the things we find when we dig into our planes! But it IS functional, and when assembled it looks pretty good.

[schule]

Dave,

My '67 F has a custom made glare shield which slides in above the entire dash to the defroster vents and then snap into final position.  The panel and glare shield are lit by led lights with a toggle switch on the insturment panel.  The best part is all of it is NVG compatible, except for the glaring red gear up light, STEC autopilot lights, Narco radio.......oh well soon enough a midnight flight will still require sunglasses.

 

-Mark

[markeg1964]

Mine looks like it is made of cardboard or something that has been covered in fiberglass and painted flat black.  It is held in place with Velcro.  It works very well.  I did not realize it was home built until I removed it and saw the rough edges that are out of sight.

 

[DaV8or]

Quote: schule

Dave,

My '67 F has a custom made glare shield which slides in above the entire dash to the defroster vents and then snap into final position.  The panel and glare shield are lit by led lights with a toggle switch on the insturment panel.  The best part is all of it is NVG compatible, except for the glaring red gear up light, STEC autopilot lights, Narco radio.......oh well soon enough a midnight flight will still require sunglasses.

 

-Mark

[Seth]

Before I sold my F model, I had the same guy who replaced my interior during previous ownership make a new glarsheild for me.  It replaced the torn nasty vinel black thing that used to sit on top.  He made it out of some sort of black aviation interior fabric and foam.  I do not have a picture of it, but it looked very nice. 

PM me and I'll get you Gene's full name and phone number.  He'll proabaly ask you to send him your glareshelid or to fly to Maryland and he'll do the install.  When he did mine, he made it, and then used the buttons already on the plane to mark where ot install them on the new glare sheild.  It made such a difference. 

I can check my records but it cost me somewhere in the neighborhood of $70.00.

Good luck.

 

-Seth

[schule]

Dave,

The interior was installed by Bernard Peters out of Kanab UT.  I don't know if he is still in the business, but he did a fine job with the interior and a dozen Lasar Speed Mods in '02 before I owned the A/C.  I would send detailed pictures but 477T is currently in Portland at Advanced Aircraft.  You are welcome to talk to Greg and see if he could send you some details or even use it to make a pattern for yours.

I flew a C model for several hours with a standard '63 panel and glare shield.  I like the additional coverage added by this custom glareshield.

-Mark

[Shadrach]

Quote: schule

Dave,

My '67 F has a custom made glare shield which slides in above the entire dash to the defroster vents and then snap into final position.  The panel and glare shield are lit by led lights with a toggle switch on the insturment panel.  The best part is all of it is NVG compatible, except for the glaring red gear up light, STEC autopilot lights, Narco radio.......oh well soon enough a midnight flight will still require sunglasses.

 

-Mark

[fantom]

Have any of you checked out the Mooney glare shields from Sporty's? They seem reasonably priced.

[dsimes]

I just had this completed in Calgary.  We bought a PCAS and the old glareshield simply did not have enough room for it.  Now I can put a hat, SPOT, charts, whatever.  First picture is old and new sitting on the wing:  the new glareshield has been extended 2".  Second picture gives context to the installation.  It is made from a closed cell foam, which is quite rigid, but Aerotex said they would also glue a light gauge plastic backing for more rigidity.  Upholstered with CARS FARS compliant burn rated non glare bitchin' material.  200 bones.  Heck of a deal and works great. 

[DaV8or]

Quote: dsimes

I just had this completed in Calgary.  We bought a PCAS and the old glareshield simply did not have enough room for it.  Now I can put a hat, SPOT, charts, whatever.  First picture is old and new sitting on the wing:  the new glareshield has been extended 2".  Second picture gives context to the installation.  It is made from a closed cell foam, which is quite rigid, but Aerotex said they would also glue a light gauge plastic backing for more rigidity.  Upholstered with CARS FARS compliant burn rated non glare bitchin' material.  200 bones.  Heck of a deal and works great. 

[DaV8or]

Quote: fantom

Have any of you checked out the Mooney glare shields from Sporty's? They seem reasonably priced.

[Mooney65E]

Quote: DaV8or

Just wondering if anyone has made, bought, or had made a new glareshield to fit a vintage panel. I have the stock floppy vinyl thing, but would rather have something rigid that I can attach lighting underneath. I can't be the first guy. Lots of options for the 201 style panel, but vintage... ?

[DaV8or]

Quote: Mooney65E

 Dave,

I made a new glareshield years ago by starting with a cardboard template to get the basic size and cut out locations for the heater vents and tube frame. I transferred that on to a piece of "O" condition aluminum which is very flexible and can be formed to fit by hand. I was able to rivet snaps to the aluminum to keep the finished product in place. Finally I took it to the aircraft upholstery shop to have it covered. There's an upholstery shop at the CMA airport not far from you that should be able to help you. Total cost back then was $250ish plus my time.

[dsimes]

A company called Aerotex did it. I took the old glareshield in and said quite simply, "snaps must be in exactly the same location, and add 2".  No pattern. Any upholstery shop should be able to do it. 

[MARZ]

dav8or - did you ever get your glareshield?

[AmigOne]

I made a very nice and functional (to put stuff on top) glareshield for my 1968 Ranger from an Ashby Comanche 250 gshield  that I had bought years ago but never installed in the 250 I used to own.  I posted pictures and a brief how to description a few months ago.  I had to manufacture some 90 deg angles to secure it in place but after a few months it began to sag a bit so I just added one strap from the center tube to the shield and now the problem is fixed and the gshield is firmly secured.   Ashby specializes in the manufacture of gs so obviously it is made of tested fire retardant material.   Just in case recently my mechanic inspected the installation and made a logbook entry.  

[DaV8or]

dav8or - did you ever get your glareshield?

 

Sadly, no. It's still on the list of projects. I did however recently talk to my brother, who is in the vacuum formed plastic business about making one that way. Sounds like it might not be so tough to do. I'm in the middle of a lot of business deals right now and barely have time to fly at all, but I'm thinking maybe in June I'll have time and when I do, I'll keep the forums informed. I hope to sell one, or two to help make it worthwhile.

[scottfromiowa]

Dave,

My '67 F has a custom made glare shield which slides in above the entire dash to the defroster vents and then snap into final position.  The panel and glare shield are lit by led lights with a toggle switch on the insturment panel.  The best part is all of it is NVG compatible, except for the glaring red gear up light, STEC autopilot lights, Narco radio.......oh well soon enough a midnight flight will still require sunglasses.

Hey Mark-Those lights for gear have night capability...by rotating outer black bezel they open and close lowering the ambient light at night.  Simple and effective...Just remember to open in day or you will think it is "burned out".

-Mark

[Bennett]

I suggest you consider adding "glow strips" under your new glareshield.  Aircraft Spruce sells the kit for about $150.00 for two strips with a dimmer.  Makes for very uniform panel lighting. Even though all the "steam gauges" have either Nu-Lights or internal lighting, these strips fill in the areas between the instruments. The below photo shows them in daylight, but with a bit of dimming they really do a great job at night.

[Marauder]

I suggest you consider adding "glow strips" under your new glareshield.  Aircraft Spruce sells the kit for about $150.00 for two strips with a dimmer.  Makes for very uniform panel lighting. Even though all the "steam gauges" have either Nu-Lights or internal lighting, these strips fill in the areas between the instruments. The below photo shows them in daylight, but with a bit of dimming they really do a great job at night.

 

Bennett -- why is it I drool every time I see your panel? BTW -- I have never heard back from you whether you are willing to adopt me! I'm potty trained.

 

So --- can these work with the standard dimmer from the plane? I was looking at the LED bulb replacements for my incandescent ones. Anyone do that yet?

 

I'm hoping someone can come up with an idea for a glare shield. Getting close to having my panel back together again.