I?m sure the portable GPS mount recently offered is quite nice. And it probably would be fairly quick to install. But it really isn?t very difficult to make one. I just bent up a ?hat? section from a piece of scrap 0.032 and mounted the clip that holds the Garmin 296 (scavenged from the yoke mount that comes with the unit). This sets the unit back in the panel so it is flush with the face of the radios (you could set it back further or less by altering the hat section). Trim around the cutout in the panel is just some rubber edge molding I got from the local parts house. The hardest part was making the cutout in the panel ? helps to make a pattern with some stiff cardboard first. Makes a pretty clean looking installation and you can easily unclip the GPS to take with you when you land.
I?m going to try to insert some pictures into this post per the instructions in ?articles?.
If the pictures make it they will also show how I connected everything on the removable center section of the panel via a loop of wires such that it can be dropped down and rotated forward for maintenance access. I HATE lying on my back working upside down.
Hope this helps someone.
John Miller
RV8-A (to the airport today for final assembly).
