RV-6 Panel Upgrade Question....

Hmmm....now what am I doing in the RV-6 forum? Have I taken a wrong turn or something? This is the land of side-by-side seating - if the Val finds out, I might get in trouble! Maybe I should be using an alias....

But actually, I do have another airplane enterign my sphere....Louise's RV-6 is a classic - Kit serial number "4" I believe! It is very well built, and has gone through enough owners, each of which have made their own contributions to the panel and avionics...to the point where Louise is ready for a complete re-do. Among a re-wire and addition of some expensive boxes, she would like to relocate the throttle, mixture, and prop controls, if this is possible. They are currently mounted on a vertical center "support", and she's like to have the horizontal on the bottom of the panel, getting rid of the center support completely - if this is possible.

I have not had a chance to really crawl around in there and see how it is built, and not having built a -6, I don't know how critical that support is - but I know I haven't seen it on the -7's, so maybe it can be don away with? I guess I'm wondering if anyone has experience with converting this, and if so - any advice? Pictures? Drawings?

We're probably going to be building a whole new panel (if possible), and doing it mostly on the bench, with the intent to minimize down-time by "dropping in" a fairly well completed package. I know this works on an -8 - my entire panel comes out in about 5 minutes. Don't know if the -6 will work as easily or not. Again - any experience and/or photos would be great!

I promise to be respectful in the land of the wide-bodies...just don't expect me to give up on my Tandem anytime soon....("soon" being defined in a geologic time scale.... )

Remove it

Paul.... just remove it.

A lot of RV-6 owners did to get a "clean" look, but the battery box becomes more exposed.

Remove the upright, and relocate the battery to the front of the firewall and the interior will look a lot larger....

I bet Van saw the nicer look of the modified -6s and made the -7s that way...

gil A

Get rid of the vertical throttle quadrant.

Paul, I was one of the first to do this mod. In 1989 I asked Van if this were structural. He said no, go ahead and do it. Many others have followed since. I also recently (last Fall) replaced my panel. I had modified it several times over the last 14 years. Ann said it was beginning to look like a patchwork quilt. We are very happy with the new one. Feel free to give me a call. 972-784-7544

Ditto what Gil said. The interior is a lot more roomier (?!?) without the center console. It is completely not necessary from a structural standpoint. Depending on what battery she has, you'd do well to swap it for an Odyssey and relocate that forward of the firewall (should be plenty of room there.)

I've flown with people who commented that my 6 is "much roomier, more like a 7" even though the important internal dimensions are the same for both.

After building the stock panel, I ended up scraping it and using it as a template to make a new one from 090 stock. I added the little inserts on both corners for the air vents, and in the middle for the engine controls. If I understand you, this is what she wants for her panel.



Don't feel bad about slumming amongst the -6 "classic" geezers. Some of us have even found religion and are building 8s, but don't tell anyone.

I am planning on doing these changes to my 6A also; but as the panel is larger than an 8, I want to do a modular panel (rather than a single panel) with a lower sub panel for switches and engine/prop controls.

Similar to this one:

Thanks folks! I figured this was a topic I coudl get lots of help on.

Mel, I'll definitely give you a call when I get a little closer to the nuts and bolts on this....my hope is to "kit" as much of the change as possible to minimize overall aircraft downtime.

Paul

Tip-Up?

Paul... is it a tip-up?

If so, the other item to look for when re-planning the panel is the location of the release handle, and it's vertical tube behind the sub-panel.

Many options exist for what to do with this, but if you leave it stock it does affect the location of a traditional radio stack...

I converted my panel to an "Affordable Panels" by just carving out the panel, and leaving a strip about 5/8 inch around the edge. I plan on three separate screw on overlays that the instruments will actually be mounted in...

gil A

Good point Gil - yes, it is a tip-up! I'll have to make sure I understand that release mechanism. I like your idea of just carving out th existing panel and living a "rim" around the edges to attach a new one - in essence, that's kind of how the -8 panel is attached. I haven't had a chance to really examine Louise's to see how it is put together - I know that the left side currently has an isolated "super panel" that sits about a half inch aft of the main panel. Since we'll have no more mechanical gyros, I'm not gong to do that again.....but making sections removable is nice!

Paul

.......would like to relocate the throttle, mixture, and prop controls, if this is possible. They are currently mounted on a vertical center "support", and she's like to have the horizontal on the bottom of the panel, getting rid of the center support completely - if this is possible.....)

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Paul,

It is not only possible to lose the vertical brace, but highly desirable for many of us. Though almost any angle stock will work, I took advantage of the multiple bends in a F-605-F BULKHEAD TOP (the seats lean against it) to fabricate many parts including this sub panel containing the cables. Attached with 3 screws through nutplates attached to the bottom of the instrument panel, it is easily removable in minutes. Just data point to consider.

Tip up release

Good point about the tip up. You should consider doing what many of us have done with the tip up release handle- eliminate it completely. There is some question that the canopy is jettisonable in the first place, especially the newer style canopies, or those that use the gas struts.

You can get rid of the T handle on the panel, but still retain the release mechanism behind the sub panel. It is a fairly simple trick to reach behind the sub panel and release the canopy by moving the actuating arm 90 deg by hand. This makes getting the canopy on/ off for maintenance pretty simple.

Avionics length

sprucemoose said:

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You can get rid of the T handle on the panel, but still retain the release mechanism behind the sub panel. It is a fairly simple trick to reach behind the sub panel and release the canopy by moving the actuating arm 90 deg by hand. This makes getting the canopy on/ off for maintenance pretty simple.

Click to expand...

You can also extend the vertical rod down to the bottom edge of the sub-panel.

Whatever you do, you need to make sure that any avionics that penetrate the sub-panel (almost all of them) will miss the mechanism, as well as the UHMW blocks that make up the hinge assembly itself.

No big deal, but some advance planning is needed...

The -6 has a smaller dimension panel to sub-panel than the later -7s.

gil A

Oversize panel

If you plan on completely redoing the instrument panel....keep in mind that you do have the option of ordering an oversize panel for the -6 series that adds 2.2" of panel space. Sometimes that extra real estate can make a real difference in your choice of instrumentation. You do give up a bit of knee space with the oversize panel so that must be considered in the mix. In my experience, I've never had a problem with it and the occasional long-legged passenger has not complained yet.