Panel Upgrade - Lessons Learned

Well, the big ?Mikey? panel upgrade project is just about finished (all but the shouting - still have to calibrate the fuel level and figure out why the passenger PTT isn?t working, or why the number 2 Comm audio isn?t coming out of the audio panel?.), and it appears from the view count on the thread we started to track the progress (16,000 views?) that there was some interest. So maybe it?s appropriate to step back and summarize a few of the ?Lessons Learned? along the way for those who wonder what a project like this might entail?.

1) Time is relative - major airplane work takes all you?ve got! We probably began the serious planning for the work in September (Louise had been dreaming of it for a lot longer, I know!). This entailed setting the equipment list and designing the basic architecture for dataflow between boxes, power redundancy, and frankly, what would fit in the panel. Ordering equipment took a month or two, and the goal was to have everything we needed on hand before any actual work on the airplane began. We took the airplane out of service and stripped the panel and interior on Thanksgiving weekend - thee days of solid work by two of us. I then spent pretty much every night and weekend for three weeks building (and wiring) the panel at home and cleaning up the airframe wiring and sub panel at the airport. When Louise arrived the week before Christmas, we were pretty much ready to install the panel, and it looks like we spent 12 six-hour days in the holiday period working on and then test flying the plane. Overall, I?d have to guess there are about 300 person hours in the project (not counting design and purchasing time). Be realistic - everything takes four time longer than you expect!

2) Everything takes four times longer than you expect! I said that twice because if you?re used to working on houses, bicycles, lawn equipment, or even cars?.airplanes a re different. You are usually working in very confined spaces because airplanes are built small and compact. You are working with tiny wires and connectors for the same reason. You also are dealing in a realm where ?Good enough? means ?meets the standards or you do it over?. Lots of crimps get cut of and re-done. I have lots of aluminum scrap as well. And because of the compact nature, it is not uncommon to work yourself into a corner when you are building without plans or a detailed kit - this is why so many kits make it to the completed structure stage and get abandoned when it comes to wiring and plumbing. It takes a lot of vision and creativity to get through the parts you have to make up. A great example is wire bundling - you will spend hours neatening up a run of wires with lacing cord or zip ties, only to discover that you have one more wire to run the next day. Cut everything off and start over, or ?stack? zip ties - your choice, but you know what your conscience will tell you?.

3) Shop supplies are important. Order a bunch more of everything than you think you?ll need. I estimated wire and then double it - and used all but about 10% of what I had. It?s no fun to run out of a specific gauge wire than you need just a little more of - on a Friday before a holiday hen you are stuck without it. Even Steinair has to obey the laws of physics - holes in the space-time continuum are not allowed. This extends to things like switches and circuit breakers. Order extras - you will discover deficiencies in your design and purchasing plans once you start cutting metal and drilling holes. You?ll need lots of crimp-on ring lugs, butt splices, cable ties?make that HUNDREDS of cable ties? screws, nuts, washers, nutplates - in other words, order a bunch of Van?s standard-sized hardware and keep it in stock. I can?t believe I am currently out of #8 nutplates! That?s like my Mom running out of flour or sugar in her kitchen! I feel naked without at least a couple dozen on hand?. Paint, primer, etc - you need this as well!

4) As I did with the Val, I built and wired the panel on the workbench, and tested as much of it as I could before it went to the airport. Even then, I have discovered a couple of mysterious problems - why can?t I hear Comm 2 through the audio panel? Why doesn?t the passenger PTT work? Preliminary ?ring outs? tell me I don?t have them wired to the right places! How can that be?! Bottom line is to build a testing checklist, invest in a good 12V power supply, and test, test, test?.

5) Keep records/drawings of everythign you do, even if they are scribbled on scraps of paper. Ask Louise how many times I asked her to find ?a half sheet fo notebook paper from the red notebook, folded in half, with a crude drawing of a circular connector in pencil on one side, and mustard on the other?? I know what the scraps look like at least?.

6) Buy some overstuffed pillows at a garage sale or cheap flea market. Get some high-density foam blocks. Save packing material from those expensive avionics shipments - use it all to fill the foot wells in your airplane, because you?re going to be lying on your back under the panel, and you need to bring the floor comfortably near the level of the top of the spar. Have a loose pillow or two to protect your head from the rudder pedals! You?ll do a lot better work if you?re comfortable, and can spend a lot longer time working if you aren?t in pain. If you?re building with a partner, trade off ?under panel? duties, and use the person on the outside to grab all the things you forgot in the tool box.

7) Some of my favorite specialty tools include a butane soldering iron (very portable, heats quickly, and no cord to snag), sharp tiny scissors (to cut lacing cord cleanly), and a can of ?Goof Off? to remove sticky stains and residue from tape and previous Velcro installations. Good shop lights are also essential. I really liked having an old-fashioned incandescent drop light hung up under the panel - nice light and warmth (it was a chilly time of year in the hangar). We also bough a new set of halogen lights on work stands - they not only give you great flood light, but can be used overnight in the cockpit to dry paint.

8) As in any RV project, having extra 3/8? and 7/16? wrenches and sockets around will greatly expedite the work. Half a dozen #2 Phillips drivers aren?t a bad idea either. They don?t have to be expensive - you just want something at hand when you want it, rather than going hunting outside when you?re already inside?.the cost of several sets is inconsequential compared to the overall project budget.

9) Take the time to spruce things up while you?re doing an upgrade. We had Mikey stripped to the bare interior and just a few wires coming in from the wings, tail, and FWF. It was a great time to repaint everything so that the interior will match the newness of the panel. New wiring FWF is cheap and renews everything as well - you?re going to be splicing in to it anyways, so why not just go all the way to the end. We even bought a new ignition harness because the plug wires were the only old things left. It makes it a better airplane!

10) Take breaks for lunch and pace yourself. I tend to work long and straight through when I am working alone. When you?re working with a partner (and Louise was the driving force in this project), you need to keep everyone happy. Besides, we solved as many problems over a Subway sandwich as we did buried in the airplane. Stepping back and talking through the plan is a great way to speed things up.

I know that Louise has her own list, and there are many more things I could put down - and I am sure that others have some great suggestions as well. Upgrading an existing plane is a good way to get into building, or a great way to get back into a build if you are flying and missing the work. And that new-panel smell is great when you taxi out for the first flight!

Paul

Panels...

Paul... would a modular panel have helped?

Along the lines of the Affordable Panels design...

gil A

Paul,

You have done a fantastic job of detailing your panel build, and some of your exepriences helped me in my recent upgrade of my relatively 'new' -9A. With reference to Gil's comment about using a modular panel, I found that making the panel with removable 'sections' that are easily removable with disconnects/plugs, and riv-nuts/screws really, really helped with the wiring and much reduced the time I spent under the panel in confined circumstances.
I recently added a Trio vertical AP to my panel, and decided to make the horiz and vert AP instruments part of a removable panel 'plate', with enough of a maintenance loop of wiring to enable the panel to be removed as a whole (all instruments and switches on one 'plate'). This then could be moved out and down out of the way to enable its wiring to be readily installed and tested before buttoning it all up finally. In addition, I made 2 more modules - one of which encompassed virtually all of the area where a glove box may go.... and time with a nibbler/saw and riv-nuts made this an easy task. Access to the area behind my instruments is now much easier, and enabled connections to fuse busses and exisitng wiring and switches a breeze.

These 'plates' were painted with a different textured matt black which goes well with the gray background, and labelled with your recommendation of a 'Brother' label machine with white letters on clear.....

Allan

Modular....

Good question on modular panels guys. In effect the entire panel is "modular" - six screws, and the entire thing comes off the airplane in about 30 seconds. That said, I have nothing against a multi-modular design - it makes later upgrades very convenient. in this case, with large EFIS screens dominating the design already, I doubt that we'll do another "major upgrade" to this plane, so I felt an overall finished panel would be fine.

The panel in my -8 is essentially modular - the entire thing comes out and has disconnects to that I can take it out of the plane, and even build a different one to slip in if I wanted.

I think the choice depends on the particular application - in this case, I chose a one piece with each unit having it's own "native" disconnects.

Paul

Paul - Seriously - Chilly?

Paul,

I really liked having an old-fashioned incandescent drop light hung up under the panel - nice light and warmth (it was a chilly time of year in the hangar).

I got your "chilly" right here in the Twin Cities! Don't tell the boss I snuck out for .7 on the hobbs today......

It was 3 below outside when I went out to work on my project i the garage yesterday (it's an unheated garage, but it still was a toasty 17 in there.

I couldn't use the kerosene heater because it's low on diesel and it just burps smoke (and occasional heat). So I did, in fact, use a 65 watt drop light to keep warm while I puttered around (nothing major, just adding the end caps on the center section).

While I was down underneath there (as Paul described, using the cushion of an old chair ... the rest of which met the trashman Monday), I kept thinking, "how do you guys do this?." Tight spaces, cramped legs, fuel selector valves sticking up your... well... you know.

I drink a toast of hot chocolate to all of you!

Paul, could you give information on what type of disconnects to use to make the whole panel come out without cutting wires? If that has been covered in another post could you direct me to the location? Are there several different types of connectors or just more or less plugs? The fuselage is getting close to being finished and I want to start planning the panel. Mine will be strictly day/night VFR with an EFIS, 2 axis autopilot,and one Nav-Com plus the normal other essentials. The panel looks really nice BTW.

rv9aviator said:

Paul, could you give information on what type of disconnects to use to make the whole panel come out without cutting wires? If that has been covered in another post could you direct me to the location? Are there several different types of connectors or just more or less plugs? The fuselage is getting close to being finished and I want to start planning the panel. Mine will be strictly day/night VFR with an EFIS, 2 axis autopilot,and one Nav-Com plus the normal other essentials. The panel looks really nice BTW.

Click to expand...

On the Valkyrie I used a combination of D-Subs (for signal lines), Molex connectors (for power), and of course BNC connectors for antennas. Nothing exotic - just obvious stuff you can pick up. One comparison I can make between the Val's "dsconnectable" panel and Mikey's "hardwired" on is that Mikey took a whole lot less wire, as I didn't put in anywhere near as much service loop - just enough to get the discrete instruments disconnected if required. In the Val, I have enough wire to get the whole panel in my lap.

Paul

My 10 lessons learned from the Mikey project

Paul encouraged me to post my 10 lessons learned and this Saturday morning is my first chance. Many of my top 10 would be the same as Paul’s, but I’ll try to come up with a different set.

1)It will take longer than you (I) can possibly imagine – Okay, this was on Paul’s list but it is the overwhelming lesson. When I bought the plane and knew it would need a panel overhaul and attention to the interior, I thought I was looking at $7-10k and 40-80 hours. My more knowledgeable friends warned me that it was hundreds of hours but I just couldn’t get a grasp on why it would take that long. Well, the cost estimate was in the ballpark but my sense of the time required was grossly underestimated. (Right again, Pardue!)

2)Take everything out at the beginning! – Yes, get the fire extinguisher holder out of there! It will take five extra minutes in the beginning and end, but the bloody thing annoyed us the entire project. Just get it out of there!

3)Take the vertical panel out and leave it out! – I’ve mentioned this one before, but it is in my top ten. Removing that vertical panel (the original design for -6s and, if I understand Pierre right, -7s) provides far better access for working under the panel and is much more comfortable for flying. I admit that I had a little problem finding the throttle on my first flight with the control knobs moved to the horizontal plane (I kept reach for the prop instead of the throttle), but I seemed to have completely adapted by the second flight.

4)Prop the tailwheel up before you start – This is probably obvious to many, but I had never done it before unless I was working on the tail. Inevitably, all my previous under-the-panel work involved constantly slide-away tools and lost screws. Leveling the plane from the get-go made life MUCH easier.

5)If you are a novice, find a “Paul” for the heavy hitting – I’m not going to kid anyone by claiming to be an equal partner in this venture. I found plenty of things to do (including paying most of the costs) and I spent time under the panel and working on the engine, but I could not have accomplished this project in less than maybe a year while working a full-time job without the expertise and very active participation of Paul.

6)Even the experts and brand new equipment occasionally fail – I hope Paul forgives me for revealing this information, but he made a few blunders along the way. And, brand new equipment failed. But, it was events like these that really emphasized the need for a heavy-hitter’s assistance. Paul could quickly trouble-shoot and either fix the blunder (his or mine….we both made them) or tell me when it was time to call the manufacture. If I had been muddling along on my own, these problems would probably have set me back for weeks.

7)Blue-to-blue, white-to-white….and you still will probably not get it all right – Part of the time sink is the need to work precisely. The old measure twice, cut once theme. And, I tried to do so. While wiring up the engine sensors, I was very aware of the need to match colors and, I thought, I was extremely careful. I’m sure that I double-checked. Yet, we discovered I had mis-matched one set. I guess I got distracted at that moment? Paul made a similar mistake elsewhere. It seems whether expert or novice, you WILL make these sorts of mistakes. Assume it will happen and strive to ensure that it doesn’t. Or, at the very least, doesn’t get into the air that way.

8)Only one person in the cabin at a time – Most of the needed work was in the cabin once Paul had the panel build up at home. Not only was there the panel work, but I also wanted to clean and prep the entire cabin for a paint job (and, of course, do the paint job). The cabin was a mess. Lots of contact cement to remove, 18 years of grime in the nooks and grannies, and lots of spots with missing paint to sand and prep. We also had some work in the fuselage (elevator autopilot servo). Although we occasionally tried to both work in the cabin, it rarely succeeded. For one thing, having a person outside the plane to fetch things or observe external responses adds so much value that it usually made sense to keep one of us outside the cabin. Thus, we also put on a Bell tailwheel, replaced a landing light lens, installed the Dynon OAT sensor, installed engine probes and other engine work, worked on the detached canopy to install LED strip lights, paint, and spruce it up, cleaned and organized the hanger, and, when really out of other useful things to do, detailed the outside of the plane.

9)Agree on the mission, and (mostly) stick to the mission – Our stated mission was to install a clean, reliable, IFR-lite panel at minimal expense. The goal was a functional, flying aircraft. It was not a restoration project, nor did we want to win any shows. Remembering the goal (i.e., avoiding mission creep) was essential to getting the project done quickly. Two issues came up during our work. First, I didn’t completely articulate my goals to Paul at the start. I had always envisioned the panel overhaul time as an opportunity to spruce up and paint the interior. I didn’t tell him that when we first discussed our plans. However, we were able to accomplish that objective while keeping the panel as the first priority by grabbing opportunities when they arose. Use of solvents and painting were generally done at the end of the work day to allow fumes to dissipate and paint to dry overnight. Secondly, only one of us was able to directly work on the panel at most times. But, the presence of a second person to fetch tools and such has great value. So, it made sense to have interruptible projects outside the cabin. We had them, but it is easy to become annoyed when the guy upside-down, under the panel wants a different size screwdriver and seems to think his need trumps your little project. Fortunately, the previously agreed-upon priority of “panel first” and trading off time under the panel kept us from drifting into such a conflict.

10)Communication skills go a long way – Someone suggested to me that the panel project was probably about as stressful on a couple’s relationship as a kitchen re-model. I expect that was true, at least in our case. If so, Paul and I are in great shape for the future. Paul is as skilled at interpersonal communication as he is at writing on the forums. Early on, we clearly defined our mission and (most of) our expectations. We both knew why we were doing things, not just what we were doing. Most changes were made after consultation, despite living some 1400 miles apart during much of the project. Occasionally (once or twice), Paul made an executive decision but let me know about it (and why he did so). Occasionally, I added a goal but we discussed why it was important to add and how we might achieve it without jeopardizing the panel project. While Paul was lying nearly motionless under the panel or seemingly puttering aimlessly around the hanger without talking, I instinctively knew to quietly occupy myself with my own work as he needed to think something out. The wonderful thing about a guy that communicates is the sense of trust it gives his partner. I didn’t have to worry that something was wrong or that I should be doing something different because I knew he would let me know what was going on as soon as he figured it out.

Your post is dead on Louise.

Item number one, people should figure on 200 hours to make a panel, wire it and install it if it has more then the required minimum flight and engine instruments.

Nothing beats working on a well laid out and wired panel when things break. Always give that some consideration because someday you will be under your panel cussing the idiot that built it in the first place.

Good post Louise.