New panel is finally coming together

[phxcobraz]

All the things are in. Mechanic is finishing up some last wiring and hopefully can start up soon. 
Went with 2xG5s and a PAR200B audio panel with a remote com to clean up space. Left some space to do an autopilot soon and probably will swap the 430W with an IFD440 eventually. 
Passenger ptt will be a button on the panel rather than a janky ptt wrap on the yoke. 
Stoked to have the CGRs in front of me and not all the way on the right side. 
 

 

How it looked before

[phxcobraz]

I repainted all the interior plastics as well, and cleaned up the sidepanels, re-glued/stapled peeling leather, looks much nicer.

Need to get an order into Hide House one of these days and take the seats over to the shop to get recovered. But I want the plane back for some flying this summer, then will get to it this fall probably. They are fine for now.

[phxcobraz]

Finished up and flew home the other day. Loving it!! Still a few things to finish with a cover plate on the new left yoke and some nice labels/decals. So tidy, exactly as I had in mind!

The PAR200B is incredibly high quality, no alternator whine like my old KMA24. The Trig remote com also works flawless.

[Ragsf15e]

1 hour ago, phxcobraz said:

Finished up and flew home the other day. Loving it!! Still a few things to finish with a cover plate on the new left yoke and some nice labels/decals. So tidy, exactly as I had in mind!

The PAR200B is incredibly high quality, no alternator whine like my old KMA24. The Trig remote com also works flawless.

Looks awesome!

can you describe exactly what you did to the plastics?  They look great and im considering doing mine.

[phxcobraz]

8 minutes ago, Ragsf15e said:

Looks awesome!

can you describe exactly what you did to the plastics?  They look great and im considering doing mine.

I ended up just lightly sanding and painted them all to match. Most of them are in great shape other than around the screw holes, so I used some interior washers in those areas to reduce more fatigue. 
The windshield trim has always been poorly fitting and I’m still trying to get that better against the metal backers. Currently just have some Velcro holding it in place. 

[TaildraggerPilot]

Nice, clean and tidy. And 20 lbs lighter without the vac system. Nice job!!

[robert7467]

Looks beautiful and capable

[Echo]

Really looks beautiful.  I bet flying behind that new panel puts a huge smile on your face.  I would have to put a nice big Aera in an air gizmo on that huge piece of real-estate on the co-pilot side.  lol.

[Pinecone]

Especially if you often fly with other pilots in the right seat.

 

[Vance Harral]

16 hours ago, TaildraggerPilot said:

And 20 lbs lighter without the vac system.

At the risk of being "that guy", I don't understand why these claims are always exaggerated.   RC-Allen vacuum powered gyros weigh 2.7 lbs and a Rapco vacuum pump specs out at 4.75.  The PVC hoses (usually) and clamps that connect the stuff weigh about 1lb max, so total of about 11 lbs.  That gets replaced with dual G5s and a GAD29 plus wiring plus an engine accessory cover plate that adds up to about 3 lbs, so the delta is less than 10 lbs.  Take one less gallon of fuel or spend a few weeks skipping hamburgers and hitting the gym, and it's break even.

There are valid reasons to remove the vacuum system in an upgrade, but massive weight savings isn't one of them.

[phxcobraz]

36 minutes ago, Echo said:

Really looks beautiful.  I bet flying behind that new panel puts a huge smile on your face.  I would have to put a nice big Aera in an air gizmo on that huge piece of real-estate on the co-pilot side.  lol.

It for sure does, getting used to the G5s a bit still, but I did do an RNAV approach and the CDI function works great, nice to have it right along side the attitude/alt. Also nice having accurate TAS without having to do math.

My plan for the right is a magnet ipad mount that a passenger can use, but otherwise clean when I am flying solo. There is a tray behind the right side holding the Trig com and CGR data boxes, so not as much room as it appears. We did leave enough room to put an autopilot control head just to the right of the 430, probably an Aerocruze or Trig(once it's released)

[phxcobraz]

7 minutes ago, Vance Harral said:

At the risk of being "that guy", I don't understand why these claims are always exaggerated.   RC-Allen vacuum powered gyros weigh 2.7 lbs and a Rapco vacuum pump specs out at 4.75.  The PVC hoses (usually) and clamps that connect the stuff weigh about 1lb max, so total of about 11 lbs.  That gets replaced with dual G5s and a GAD29 plus wiring plus an engine accessory cover plate that adds up to about 3 lbs, so the delta is less than 10 lbs.  Take one less gallon of fuel or spend a few weeks skipping hamburgers and hitting the gym, and it's break even.

There are valid reasons to remove the vacuum system in an upgrade, but massive weight savings isn't one of them.

My goal definitely wasn't weight savings. I could probably ditch the spare tubes or the spare screw bin in the back and save more weight haha. 

It is nice not having the vacuum pump in the way now though, makes oil filter changes a little easier.

[M20E for me]

I put a PAR200B in mine just over a year ago and love it!

[TaildraggerPilot]

11 hours ago, Vance Harral said:

At the risk of being "that guy", I don't understand why these claims are always exaggerated.   RC-Allen vacuum powered gyros weigh 2.7 lbs and a Rapco vacuum pump specs out at 4.75.  The PVC hoses (usually) and clamps that connect the stuff weigh about 1lb max, so total of about 11 lbs.  That gets replaced with dual G5s and a GAD29 plus wiring plus an engine accessory cover plate that adds up to about 3 lbs, so the delta is less than 10 lbs.  Take one less gallon of fuel or spend a few weeks skipping hamburgers and hitting the gym, and it's break even.

There are valid reasons to remove the vacuum system in an upgrade, but massive weight savings isn't one of them.

Calm down Vance. It’s just a round number that I “mistakenly” wrote. You are being “that guy” with the dissertation of parts and weights. Jeesh. 

[phxcobraz]

3 hours ago, M20E for me said:

I put a PAR200B in mine just over a year ago and love it!

I never used the nav function in my old KX155 secondary. I figured it wasn’t worth going for a secondary source this time around. I don’t plan to fly hard IFR, and I have an iPad for navigation backup that does a great job. 

[ArtVandelay]

At the risk of being "that guy", I don't understand why these claims are always exaggerated.   RC-Allen vacuum powered gyros weigh 2.7 lbs and a Rapco vacuum pump specs out at 4.75.  The PVC hoses (usually) and clamps that connect the stuff weigh about 1lb max, so total of about 11 lbs.  That gets replaced with dual G5s and a GAD29 plus wiring plus an engine accessory cover plate that adds up to about 3 lbs, so the delta is less than 10 lbs.  Take one less gallon of fuel or spend a few weeks skipping hamburgers and hitting the gym, and it's break even.
There are valid reasons to remove the vacuum system in an upgrade, but massive weight savings isn't one of them.

Many have backup vacuum pumps, I had an electric one which was 12lbs, plus vacuum pump and hoses, etc added up to almost 20lbs.

All together I was able to reduce my weight by about 75lbs, and that’s not an exaggeration.

[TaildraggerPilot]

10 hours ago, phxcobraz said:

I never used the nav function in my old KX155 secondary. I figured it wasn’t worth going for a secondary source this time around. I don’t plan to fly hard IFR, and I have an iPad for navigation backup that does a great job. 

I’m taking the opposite approach, of sorts. I’m swapping out my GTR 200 for a GNC 215. I ran the ARINC 429 and RS 232 cables needed from behind my panel to the aft avionics bay this past annual to prepare for a pretty simple install. I will feel better having two certified nav sources with precision approach capability, much like my Comanche was decades ago. I chose a ground-based option rather than GPS, because honestly, satellites will be war fodder, IF that becomes a thing.