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Panel Upgrade Progress

Pat Hatch

Well Known Member
Advertiser
While waiting for the arrival of my Garmin servos, I thought I would amuse myself and take a few photos of some of the things I'm doing that might be helpful to others. Here is the pitch servo mounting setup from the Garmin mount kit:



Here is where I mounted my GPS antenna for the new GDL-39R ADS-B receiver, which I'm mounting in the back tailcone.





Here is where I mounted my GTX-23ES, at the bottom of the radio stack:





And finally here is the Lexan mockup panel that I am using to locate the cutouts for the radios, etc.:



The Lexan mockup is working out very well so far; once I have everything cut out and drilled, including the location of the mounting screws, I'll transfer it to the .063 aluminum sheet. I used a 1/16" Lexan sheet that I got from Spruce for this.
 
The LEXAN blank is the way to go. I used LEXAN blanks on my panel upgrade and wound up doing 4 different layouts before I settled on the final one. It was so nice to sit in the airplane, place the LEXAN panel with the instrument cut outs and see how accessible they are in flight. Then make the change and try it again.
:cool:
 
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Lexan blanks indeed are very popular during the "fitment" of stuff into the plane and we often times will cut one for folks before they do their final cut into metal. Just a little helpful hint for everyone, most Home Depot stores keep sheets of lexan in stock at reasonable prices....so you if you're near a HD store you can save some time/shipping on getting it.

I'm also curious...are those some angles riveted right into the elevator pushrod tube?

Cheers,
Stein
 
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Just a little helpful hint for everyone, most Home Depot stores keep sheets of lexan in stock at reasonable prices....so you if you're near a HD store you can save some time/shipping on getting it.

Cheers,
Stein

Stein, good tip for folks to find the material locally.

we often times will cut one for folks before they do their final cut into metal.

But, I think you lost a sale or two on cutting the Lexan panels now........
 
I'm also curious...are those some angles riveted right into the elevator pushrod tube?

Cheers,
Stein

Stein, good eye. Those are the old attach points for the S-Tec pitch servo which uses a capstan wheel and cables. I haven't decided whether to take them out or not. If they don't interfere I may leave them as taking them out will leave 6 holes (each) in the pushrod tube that I would have to deal with.
 
Stein, good eye. Those are the old attach points for the S-Tec pitch servo which uses a capstan wheel and cables. I haven't decided whether to take them out or not. If they don't interfere I may leave them as taking them out will leave 6 holes (each) in the pushrod tube that I would have to deal with.

Ahh..that makes perfect sense. If it were me I'd just file that under the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" file and move on! :)

Cheers,
Stein
 
Thanks guys. :) Brian, this is all your fault. Your thread got me thinking about an upgrade and it's been all downhill ever since.

Got the blank fitted today.



 
Thanks guys. :) Brian, this is all your fault. Your thread got me thinking about an upgrade and it's been all downhill ever since.

That was my evil plan....to create chaos in the experimental aviation community by spawning new panel upgrades all over the place and then Take Over the W...oh wait, that's a different show! :p

Your gonna love it!

Do you have a pic of the rest of the plan?
 
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Brian, it's going to be different ... here you go:



There have been a couple of changes to this drawing, one, the autopilot controller was moved to the top of the stack, and a couple of other minor things.
 
Thanks guys. :) Brian, this is all your fault. Your thread got me thinking about an upgrade and it's been all downhill ever since.

Got the blank fitted today.




Dear Pat, i will have the same configuration, what is the exact size of the hole that holds the SL-30,GTN,gma 240?

Regards
 
Hern?n,

The opening for the GMA240, GTN650 and SL30 measures exactly 5 5/16 X 6". However, the height can vary a little depending upon how much space you allow between the racks. I allowed for about a 1/16" gap between radios, maybe a little more. If you have the racks right on top of each other, the height could be about 1/8" less. Hope this helps!
 
Thank you

Hern?n,

The opening for the GMA240, GTN650 and SL30 measures exactly 5 5/16 X 6". However, the height can vary a little depending upon how much space you allow between the racks. I allowed for about a 1/16" gap between radios, maybe a little more. If you have the racks right on top of each other, the height could be about 1/8" less. Hope this helps!

Great! One less job:D
 
Here's a few photos of my progress. I selected photos that hopefully will be helpful to others who might be considering a similar upgrade.

The panel is pretty much cut and fit, ready for detail work and paint:



Here's the pitch servo all ready to go except for wiring:





Work on the roll servo, pushrod attached to the copilot stick:



Roll servo bracket position fixed, bracket drilled through floor:





Temperature probe mounted in right wing near inspection cover:



Magnetometer mounted in its bracket under the tail fairing:


Everything has been pretty straightforward so far; I just have one comment on the roll servo. The large washers at each end of the pushrod (the ones that are supposed to prevent the rod from slipping off the bolt in the event of a bearing failure), interfere with the range of motion at the extremes of stick travel. It's obvious that I am going to have to cut these down quite a bit, maybe more than half, to prevent the interference and yet still maintain their safety feature. Right now I'm just using the straight AN960 washers until I put a couple of the larger ones on a lathe and cut them down.

[Correction: replaced photo of the magnetometer showing correct orientation.]
 
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Quick question....is that the "final" mount for your GMU? ;)

Cheers,
Stein

Here's a few photos of my progress. I selected photos that hopefully will be helpful to others who might be considering a similar upgrade.....

Magnetometer mounted in its bracket under the tail fairing:

 
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Stein, no that's the "Murphy's Law" version. I just stuck it on its mount without verifying which way it goes, turns out it's upside down. Thanks! :eek:

[Edit: I went back and replaced the photo of the magnetometer showing the correct orientation. Didn't want to lead anyone astray!]
 
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I would put the AP controller in the spot where you have the flap switch, top of the stack seems out of place to me, but i don't fly airliners and I guess they always have it under the glareshield
 
Brian, I think the idea is to have the autopilot controller as high up in your field of vision as possible so that if you're flying the airplane with the autopilot controller you're looking outside--sort of. Yup, you're right, all the big planes I flew had the controller on the "eyebrow panel." But, hey, you can put it anywhere you like, that's the beauty of our hobby. ;)

For reference, I did put the TO/GA button fairly close to the throttle, though.
 
Where goes veteran iPad? :D



042pp.jpg
 
Vlad, the iPad is still in the same place! Wouldn't be without it. I think the iPad is a powerful tool and merits the real estate it takes up on the panel. Just my opinion, of course.
 
Progress Update

I fitted the Gemini in the panel, had to level it and modify the angle around the panel a bit:



Got the roll servo stuff painted so that's done. Had to paint the doubler the same color as the bottom skin, primed the mounting bracket, etc. You can see the large washers on the rod ends were cut down quite a bit to prevent interference but still keep the bolts captured in the event of a bearing failure.







While I was in the paint mode, I decided to go ahead and paint the panel, same color as before. Used the dry transfer method for the labels, and sprayed 2 coats of flat clear over everything. Worked out OK. Lots of labels!



Some more detail:









I painted yesterday and today went ahead and drilled and tapped for the 4-40 screws for the ELT head. I actually JB Welded a couple of small .125" shims/doublers on the back of the panel for this purpose:

 
Pat,
Your panel is looking good and a good example for the panel work I'm doing now too.

Where did you get your labels made up?
I like the borders/groupings of like switch functions.

Did you cut your panel yourself or send it to a CNC shop?

Am drawing a blank of what "LEMO" is, enlighten me.


Blue Skies,
Glenn
 
New Garmin Pitot Tube

Just in case anyone is wondering, the new Garmin pitot tube fits perfectly in the Gretz mount, screw holes line up. I assumed it would, but now I know for sure. :)





To expand a little bit on Mike's answer in the previous post, the LEMO connector is also available on the Lightspeed Zulu headsets. Of course, the big advantage of the LEMO is that it uses ship's power and negates the need for batteries in the headset. I found it a little bit disconcerting when the batteries died and it sounded like your engine just blew up. Also, one wire instead of two.
 
Pat,
Your panel is looking good and a good example for the panel work I'm doing now too.

Where did you get your labels made up?
I like the borders/groupings of like switch functions.

Did you cut your panel yourself or send it to a CNC shop?

Am drawing a blank of what "LEMO" is, enlighten me.


Blue Skies,
Glenn

Glenn, I made the labels up in Microsoft Word, converted the file to a PDF, sent to Cliff Digital for the one-page dry transfer sheet. Transferred the labels to the base coat on the panel using a pencil and a tongue depressor, shot two coats of flat clear on top of the labels. PPG paint.

Cut the panel the old fashioned way: by hand, used a band saw, scroll saw, jig saw and fly cutter for the one circle. Took about a day, but plenty of detail work with files, etc. I thought it would be faster than trying to convert my old panel to a .dxf file and sending it off to a CNC outfit, etc. Used the old panel as a template for the outline.

Thanks for the kind words.
 
Update

Slowly grinding my way to the end of this project. All wiring is done, final assembly in process. Next step is installing boxes and the configuration and calibration process, but I have a trip up north for the coming week, so, alas, it will have to wait until the following week. I began the project on June 23rd so two months to here and my target completion date (first flight) is September 1st. Actually, I am still waiting for the GDL 39R to be delivered which should be while I'm gone, so that will work out well. It's all wired and provisioned for, so it will be just a matter of making the connector and bolting it in. My only complaint is that I could have used an air conditioned hangar!



Oh yeah, I did flip on both masters and all seems OK to this point. Also was able to put a charger on both batteries all day (I used two dual-purpose cigarette lighters on the lower right for aux power and charging the batteries).
 
Progress

I got the panel lit up yesterday and today started the configuration and calibration process.



I found a wiring mistake with help from Steve at Garmin. The second ADHRS gets a jumper to make it number 2 and I did it incorrectly. I jumped pins 4 and 5 of the 9-pin connector when it should have been on the 15-pin connector, so I had two ADHRS fighting to be number one. Once I moved the jumper over to the proper connector everything was normal. This in spite of triple-checking every pin position. I still made a mistake. Oh well, if this is the only one, I'll be happy.

Nice troubleshooting job, Steve. Thanks! :)
 
Well, I guess it's time for the before-and-after photos. Today I officially declared the panel done (well, it's never done, still have to install the GDL 39R in the morning). But the configuration and calibration are done and the engine has been run, magnetometer calibrated on the compass rose. Here's the before (started the project on June 23rd):



And this is the completed panel with the interior back in. Probably will fly on Saturday and I'll post a writeup on the new GMC 305 autopilot:



Here are a couple more:



 
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Panel Upgrade

Wow Pat!

What a nice panel. Be careful when you fly with this new panel, it's going to be hard to see whats going on outside, while looking @ that new panel! :):)

Lloyd
 
Beautiful!

Fall is a great time to check out East TN again! No Hurricanes! Let me know if you are going to be flying through!
 
Thanks for all the positive comments, guys!

I flew for an hour today and all I can say is, WOW!. Here are some quick observations...

Autopilot is very solid. Just like on the big planes. Altitude hold was perfect, no pitch oscillations at all. VNAV worked great; being able to program a crossing restriction is a great new feature. Didn't have time to do a coupled approach, maybe next flight. Auto trim worked as advertised. I gave it a good workout, I think I tried to break it but couldn't. I'm very impressed with this autopilot!

The traffic and weather returns were amazing! Great coverage here in Florida and the GDL39R was working perfectly.

Too much to absorb in one hour.

Next project is to get the fuel quantity calibration done and then the angle-of-attack calibration in flight.

All in all, I?m very pleased with the new panel! Ecstatic might be a better word.
 
Congrats on the completion of the master piece. One of the nicest I have seen in a long time. Enjoy it. Watch out for those slippery wet wings.
 
Congrats on the completion of the master piece. One of the nicest I have seen in a long time. Enjoy it. Watch out for those slippery wet wings.

Thanks, buddy. I'll explain Turbo's reference to slippery wet wings: Turbo was in the right seat on a flight up to Spruce Creek one day and we decided to get some fuel at the self-service pump. There was a light drizzle in the air. I stepped out onto the wing walk material which had gotten really slick, and BAM! Running shoes slipped out from under me, I think I ended up on the pavement. I don't think Turbo has quit laughing yet. It was pretty funny. :D
 
Tosten Grips

I decided to switch to Tosten grips for the new panel. I think they fit the look of the new panel better. And I really like them now that I've flown them.





I finally found a small connector that works really well in the copilot stick which I have set up for a quick disconnect. Here are a couple of photos. They are about a ?" in diameter and about an 1?" long fully mated. They are twist-and-lock and they use high-density pins and sockets instead of having to solder. What more can you ask for? They're pretty high tech and quite expensive, but worth it for this one job. I got them at Mouser. Mouser p/n's are 523-SJS830200 & 523-SJS830100. These are 8 position but they have other configurations. Don't forget to order the pins and sockets. I had plenty left over from the upgrade project. :)



 
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