Homebuilt Panel?
 

Is it possible, or even feasible, for a homebuilder with limited knowledge to build and even wire up a nice glass panel? I would love to have a nice panel but can't seem to swallow the price of avionic shop labor quotes. My money is there for the equipment but I don't want to see that "magic smoke" from behind the panel. What are other "non-technical/electrical" builders doing?
:confused:

RE:Panel....Yes for tech challenged
 

I did my panel.....Dynon D100/D120/HS34/Trio AP Altitude and roll/Garmin Stack. What made it easier was using Fast Stack Hub Wiring system. A bit more $$$$ but worth it for sure.

What is your mission. VFR day/VFR night/IFR....will determine choice of and type of instrument and the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ needed to do the project.

I just about forgot use Aeroelectric for your wiring.

Frank @ SGU RV7A 90 Percent done 120% to go

Terry,

The simple answer is yes, you can do it!

Just run one wire at a time.

The more complex panel you plan, the more complex the wiring will be.


My simple D/N VFR panel didn't take long to do with the help of the wiring harnesses from Stein.


(Panel w/o GPS)


(Panel w/ GPS)

I took a serious look at the Fast Stack Hub Wiring system Frank used but felt it was overkill for a VFR panel.

Sure you can
 

Front looks like this.

Back of the Right-hand side.

Back of the Center.

Back of the Left-hand side.

Have a plan. Keep big wires (high current) away from small wires (voice, aviaonics). Just run one at a time. Wiring diagrams are on my web site. It's actually fun to do!

Make a layout out of steel tubing, the rest is easy
 

Not only CAN you do it, but if you'll take a look at the pics supplied here you will see HOW we did it.

Barry
RV9A Tucson

http://www.arizonaairparks.com/rv-panel

holes
 

the most stressful part to me was/is cutting square and true holes for efis, etc. the wiring and similar labor-intensive stuff is easy to learn and easy to fix.

You Can Do It!
 

Do your homework and have a knowledgeable avionics person on speed dial. There will be times when you are stumped.
I needed some expert help a couple times when it came to deciphering my nav/comm pinout diagram. These diagrams assume that you know something about avionics installations.
Take your time and double check connections before bench testing. Be extra careful when adding power to a new component, be sure you have correct polarity or there will be smoke (yes, I did it. Fortunately the damage was only a couple burned capacitors)
Besides the paint, this is one of the parts of your plane which is really personalized. It is a wonderful feeling when your panel is powered up for the first time and everything works!

If you can learn all the skills it takes to build the rest of the airplane, you can learn the skills it takes to wire a panel - at least that is how I see it. Simply another new challenge, but you just do it one wire at a time - and there are fewer and fewer wires to connect when all the modern boxes talked to each other over serial data lines.

"Build" the panel first on paper by drawing the interconnections out, then go ahead and connect the wires - it's not magic, and not hard!

Paul

Yikes!!
 

Pictures like this scare the bejeezus out of me!!! :)
Neat job though; I hope I can aspire to that.
We don't have panel shops over here in NZ (not that I've seen that cater to home builts anyway) so I'll be doing this myself too. Bob Nucols is going to wish he never heard of NZ sooner or later!! :D

Yes you can!
 

Just read everything you can and study all schemes until you really understand it. Ask silly questions on forums like this and to people who've been there. Also buy really good tools and the right connectors&stuff (at Steinair!)
Here's the result of our adventures: http://websites.expercraft.com/PHVII...y&log_id=16645
Good luck!