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Advanced Flight Quick Panel System

N402RH

Well Known Member
Advanced Flight Systems (AFS) announces the Quick Panel System, a line of complete pre-built avionics panels. Starting with the RV-7/9, and with the choice of VFR or IFR avionics, installing an aircraft?s modern avionics and electrical system is no longer a time consuming, complicated and frustrating experience. Each panel includes a well-engineered instrument panel that is professionally wired, configured, tested and ready to install. All avionics, including the aircraft?s autopilot servos, trim servos and lights are all cleanly wired to the new Advanced Control Module.

This new Advanced Control Module, the heart of the Quick Panel System, integrates circuit protection, panel dimmer controller, flap controller, trim controller, Wig-Wag controller, EFIS networking and a panel switch interface. Rob Hickman, President of AFS, states that "The combination of the new Advanced Control Module and production line manufacturing techniques results in a lower cost yet higher quality panel. It saves the builder hundreds of hours in wiring, crimping, and troubleshooting."

Two panels are being displayed at Oshkosh Airventure 2014, both for the RV-7/9 and both at a special price of $19,995. One has the AFS AF-5600 Touch system, and the other the Dynon SkyView D1000T Touch system. Both panels feature large dual-redundant displays, COM radio, stereo intercom, transponder, ADS-B traffic and weather, ADAHRS, Angle-of-Attack, 406 MHz ELT, autopilot controls, ignition and all other switches and audio jacks. The IFR version adds an IFR GPS navigator, second ADAHRS and a Dynon EFIS-D6 as an independent backup. The front panels are powder coated and silk screened for a professional finish.

Panels will soon be available for many other aircraft.

Advanced AF-5600 RV-7/9 Panel
advanced-rv-7-af-5600-panel-medium.jpg


Advanced Skyview RV-7/9 Panel
advanced-rv-7-skyview-panel-medium.jpg


RV-7 Installation with Advanced Control Module
advanced-quick-panel-system-medium.jpg


advanced-control-module-medium.jpg


Advanced Control Module
advanced-control-module-solo-medium.jpg


ADVANCED Control Module
? 22 Channels of Circuit Protection
? Panel Dimmer Controller
? Flap Controller with Positioning
? Trim Controller
? Wig Wag Landing Light Controller
? SV Network Hub
? EFIS ARINC interface
? Panel Switch Interface


Rob Hickman
Advanced Flight Systems Inc.
N402RH RV-10
 
Very interesting Rob. Are you going to be offering the components or the control modules separately?

Thanks,
Dale
 
You forgot the seat warmers and expresso machine... was it your intent to give up the Canadian Market?

Cheers, Vern
 
You forgot the seat warmers and expresso machine... was it your intent to give up the Canadian Market?

Cheers, Vern

Vern,

We would never forget about the Canadian Market..
Get off the Chesterfield, head to your local ABM for some Loonies so you can come see it on Monday at Oshkosh.

And yes you should be able to plug your expresso machine into the Aux circuit, Eh.

Link to the Quick Panel System Literature

http://advanced-flight-systems.com/press/2014-afs-quick-panel-literature.pdf

Rob Hickman
Advanced Flight Systems Inc.
N402RH RV-10
 
IFR Panel Information

Advanced AF-5600 IFR Panel

af-5000-ifr-medium.png



Advanced Skyview IFR Panel

skyview-ifr-medium.png


and the best part.........

$34,995 for either panel (configured, tested and ready to bolt into your RV-7 or RV-9)


Rob Hickman
Advanced Flight Systems Inc
N402RH RV-10
 
The only thing that appears to be missing is one item that I now consider mandatory for any vehicle...

USB power ports. Almost every single personal electronic device we have now uses or can use a USB port for power. Cameras, cell phones, tablets, bluetooth headsets, portable GPS, all of it.

Aside from that it looks pretty nice, and reasonably priced if you want dual screens.
 
There is a panel mounted 12V accessory power plug into which you can insert a USB power adapter.
 
Is there a configuration of the Advanced Control Module that would integrate with a Vertical Power electronic CB system that does not have the fuses?



Thanks,

Tracy
 
Vern,

We would never forget about the Canadian Market..
Get off the Chesterfield, head to your local ABM for some Loonies so you can come see it on Monday at Oshkosh.

And yes you should be able to plug your expresso machine into the Aux circuit, Eh.

Link to the Quick Panel System Literature

http://advanced-flight-systems.com/press/2014-afs-quick-panel-literature.pdf

Rob Hickman
Advanced Flight Systems Inc.
N402RH RV-10


I already gave all my money to Dynon, sorry. I did find one thing, however, that you didn't integrate... A Stick Shaker.

You can see the one I designed for MakerPlane at the EAA Innovation Center at Oshkosh. Pretty well all of the other products I have designed over the years just got subsumed by your box. Between you and Dynon, there will be no opportunity for me to innovate anymore. That's no fun.
 
Simply wow!

I bow to your creativity and foresight. Its a no brainer what I'd do if I were in the panel design stage ...

Incredible design!
 
The ADVANCED Control Module seems like a very cool box!

Looks like a combination of some of the VP-X capabilities plus the Approach Fast Stack.
 
Q for Rob H.

Two questions actually:

How long will the *special introductory price be in effect?
Will the Quick Panel System allow for any variations (i.e., different radio, etc.)?

Don't let the RV-12 in the signature block mislead. I'm asking this on behalf of a friend who is not signed on here. We are in the planning stages of updating his -9A panel.

Thx very much.
 
Four of us left for Oshkosh after work tonight in the trusty RV-10. We decided to get over the mountains tonight and avoid the morning clouds and fog. We have a number of staff still in the office next week during Oshkosh for sales, support and engineering.

The special introductory price will be good through August 10.

Rob Hickman
N402RH. RV10 headed to Oshkosh
 
Remote circiut breakers?

That really is a cool design and will simplify installation greatly. Have you given any thought to taking the fuse panel section and replacing them with circuit breakers that can be mounted in a more accessible location? Kind of a break-out box/panel just for them. I personally would rather have them visible as opposed to contorting ones self to replace.
 
Remote circuit breakers

Rob,

I have a bunch of questions for you, but will wait until you get back from Oshkosh.

I really like your product, as I was working on something similar for the Dynon SkyView system, as I am a dealer.

But I will ask a couple of questions now, as I think a lot would like to know.

In regard to the previous post, are you planning on a way that we can mount circuit breakers on the front panel, or remotely? If you need to reset power for any reason inflight, or shed power, there is no way you can do it now with fuses located on the firewall. I have already figured out a couple of ways to do that, but it would be better not to have to modify your product, but I think you might have a winner here for simplicity of someone who wants to do it themselves.

Second, as I know how the Dynon system intergrates together, if someone's who already has other components, like a SL30/40, GTR-200, GNS430, or even an older GPS like a KLN-90B, will the system accept these radios with a new custom harness made for their preticular radio and plug directly into your product?

Thanks, and looking forward to talking to you when you return from "THE SHOW".

Brian
 
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In the RV-7 the module is mounted on the sub panel with the fuses below the edge so you can get to them.

The module not only has a Skyview network hub, it will also talk on it to the EFIS displays. We will be adding more functionality to the EFIS interface in the future.

Yes, the module was designed to accept all the current radios that we already interface to.

I would argue that you should not be messing with fuses or circuit breakers in flight. When is the last time you had to change a fuse while driving in your car? Poorly designed and wired electrical systems cause breaker trips, solve that and there should not be a need to reset in flight.

There was an airliner that crashed on the way to Mexico a few years ago where the pilots kept resetting the trim circuit breaker until it was uncontrollable.

The module is also designed to work with the TruTrak autopilot.

Rob Hickman
Advanced Flight Systems.
 
This is still very new and we are looking at all options.

The big advantage to us providing a complete panel system is that we can test and configure it. This will eliminated many hours of frustrating troubleshooting and tech support for you and us.


Rob Hickman
Advanced Flight Systems
 
Remote circuit breakers also add weight and complexity. You end up having to run a wire to a crimp ring terminal, screw the terminal to the breaker, screw another ring terminal to the exit of the breaker, and then have another crimp connection. That is a lot of failure points and weight.

Rob Hickman
Advanced Flight Systems
 
Weight/failure points vs ease of install

Since weight and additional failure points were mentioned in this discussion...

The plug & play Control Module has a bit of compromise too: While the many Fast Stack style D-Sub Sockets and internal connection circuits make assembly fast and accurate, they do add a bit of their own weight and failure points vs running just the wiring required directly from component to component.

  • Up to 40 extra plugs (and additional failure points)
  • Unused circuits/wires
  • Extra length of wires going from Device A to Control Module to Device B instead of directly from device to device that may be mounted next to each other
But while a compromise, this is ultimately very cool for those who don't want to run their own wiring.
 
Is there any thought of integrating Vertical Power products for there ECB's and other capabilities into the quick panel?
 
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I'm sure you are asking about integration with the Quick Panel system, but Vertical Power does integrate with AFS and Dynon. You just have to build the system or have one of our dealers build the panel for you.
 
Circuit data

One of the things we do inflight is to pull up the VPX on AFS Effis and scroll through each circuit and look at its status and amp draw. This info tells a story on each circuit and we feel is this to be very valuable info. Also the availability to override the panel mount switches and reset circuits has been used for testing purposes and provides redundancy. As usual, the more data and options we have the more we want:)
Is this new system capable of these features?
 
That horrific fuse access would make this a non-starter for me. Easy to blow a starter solenoid circuit fuse. Or want to pull a fuse for a variety of reasons during maintenance or troubleshooting on the ground. Fuses should be on a sub panel mountable through the main panel like the RV12.

Just one opinion! other than that - a winner!

Does it incorporate sound level and trim rate adjustment pots like the Vans AV-5000A box? If so I hope the adjustments are better and more accessible - the Vans design is quite poor in that regard.
 
I think you will be very surprised how easy it is to get to the fuses in the RV-7. We have two RV7 panels with sub panel and ribs in the booth at Oshkosh so come see for yourself.

Each device has its own volume adjustment so there is no need to have an adjustment in the module. There are no potentiometers to adjust in the module.

"Easy to blow a starter solenoid circuit fuse" I have over 1900 flight hours (900 hours in the RV-10, 600 in the RV-4 and 80 in a Glasair Sportsman) and I have never blown a starter solenoid fuse.

Rob Hickman
Advanced Flight Systems.
N402RH RV-10
 
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Oshkosh day 2 and the Advanced Quick Panel System is proving to be far more popular then we ever would have imagined. Not only are we getting a lot of interest for new builds, we have a number of people with flying aircraft that are planning on ripping the old wiring out and installing the new Quick Panel. We are going to be building a lot of panels right after Oshkosh.


14594599719_526a9aea54_z.jpg


14594625088_bf44296a12_z.jpg


Some of the actual comments we have been getting:

"That is the cleanest panel wiring I have ever seen"

"Why did you not do this two years ago?"

"That just took all the fun out of panel wiring"

"I am going to build another plane just so I can get one"

"How soon can I get one?"

"Panel wiring will never be the same"

Rob Hickman
Advanced Flight Systems
N402RH RV-10
 
Don't forget to stop by the PS-engineering booth at Oshkosh and try the PAC15 remote audio panel connected to the AF-5600 Touch Screen.

Kelsey Hickman
Advanced Flight Systems
 
I think you will be very surprised how easy it is to get to the fuses in the RV-7. We have two RV7 panels with sub panel and ribs in the booth at Oshkosh so come see for yourself.

Each device has its own volume adjustment so there is no need to have an adjustment in the module. There are no potentiometers to adjust in the module.

"Easy to blow a starter solenoid circuit fuse" I have over 1900 flight hours (900 hours in the RV-10, 600 in the RV-4 and 80 in a Glasair Sportsman) and I have never blown a starter solenoid fuse.

Rob Hickman
Advanced Flight Systems.
N402RH RV-10

So is that a "No" to the Vertical Power question?
 
It is not designed to interface with the Vertical power unit, all the power routing is inside the unit.

We have a number of systems using the VPX, you just need to wire it without the module.

Rob Hickman
Advanced Flight Systems
 
Does the GTN650 communicate with the remote mode-S transponder to supply ADS-B Out compliant GPS source data?
 
GTN to Transponder for ADS-B

Yes it does... connection in the manual as below.

TXP ADSB GPS RX pin 3, White w Resistor to GTN Serial 1 P1001-8
 
Advanced Quick Panel RV-8

We are currently building this Advanced Quick Panel for an RV-8. Two AF-5600T 10.4" Touch screens, Remote Mode S Transponder, ADS-B Weather+Traffic.
15071238671_d350190759_b.jpg





Rob Hickman
Advanced Flight Systems Inc.
N402RH RV-10
 
Advanced Quick Panel - Sportsman

We are currently building this Advanced Quick Panel for a Glasair Sportsman

15053738561_7e9d0a0c86_b.jpg


Rob Hickman
Advanced Flight Systems Inc.
N402RH RV-10
 
A new Advanced RV-8 Quick Panel just before powder coating:

15392425896_7a418c396d_b.jpg


Rob Hickman
N402RH RV-10
Advanced Flight Systems Inc.
 
Rob, do you use jumper wires for the interconnect with the various Dsub connectors, or is this all done with printed circuit boards?

I suspect the fuse panel is on a circuit board, but jumpers would allow a lot of flexibility to make different configurations as customers want specific pieces of hardware in their panel.

Sure does look good, and really cleans up the back side of the panel.

A photo of the unit with the back off would be sweet.

advanced-control-module-solo-medium.jpg
 
Rob, do you use jumper wires for the interconnect with the various Dsub connectors, or is this all done with printed circuit boards?

I suspect the fuse panel is on a circuit board, but jumpers would allow a lot of flexibility to make different configurations as customers want specific pieces of hardware in their panel.

Sure does look good, and really cleans up the back side of the panel.

A photo of the unit with the back off would be sweet.

advanced-control-module-solo-medium.jpg

There are no jumper wires in the box, it is all done on the PCB. So far we have not found any configurations that it was not already designed to handle. We have been doing this for over 16 years and have a lot of experience with panel interconnect wiring. The experimental aircraft community (and our tech support team) was ready for a properly engineered, standardized and tested way of wiring a panel and the aircraft.

16556151416_d8f402fc43_o.png
15542636919_d77eb6c90b.jpg

The old way to wire your panel >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>The new way to wire your panel.


Rob Hickman
Advanced Flight Systems Inc. - A Dynon Avionics Company
 
Rob/Jenny - one comment, if I may... The integration provided by the Advanced Control Module is terrific. In looking at it I see one area of concern, the lack of expansion capability for additional electrical loads. As an example, where do I plug in a fuse for my electrically-heated seats? How about when I want to install a USB charging station while retaining my cigarette lighter power port? How about power for the cabin lighting circuit so we can see what we're doing when loading up the airplane and pre-flighting?

There do not appear to be any spare slots available in the fuse panel if one has an IFR-capable airplane. What is the contingency plan to deal with this?

Also, for those who have an existing panel in a flying airplane, what's the plan for selling the Advanced Control Module, switching panels and harnesses for the retrofit market? I've seen SO many homebuilt airplanes with an absolute rats nest of wiring behind the panel. I'd like nothing better than to be able to recommend the Advanced Control Module as a means of cleaning up some of those wiring disasters.
 
J.F. - the Approach Fast Stack handles the data/audio signals but doesn't do any of the fancy power management stuff including landing light wig-wag etc that IS handled by the Advanced Control Module (ACM). The ACM seems to hit the sweet spot of combining the functions of both the Approach Fast Stack and, to a certain extent, the Vertical Power products. I see the ACM as an excellent compromise for those who are "wire challenged".

BTW, as a guy who is not "wire challenged" I still am strongly in favour of discrete point-to-point wiring with switches, CB's etc, all bundled neatly. I've seen this technique last for years and years in the worst of environments, including sustaining battle damage. With that having been said, I know others don't have the desire/skill/knowledge/patience/time to do point-to-point wiring, so the ACM seems like a terrific product to make an instrument panel update a reasonably painless event.
 
Fair enough, I'm not entirely familiar with the features of the ACM, though I did notice it handles power related duties since I see it has fuses.

My comment was more aiming at your comment on rats' nests and such, the Fast Stack would definitely help. For a clean setup with electrical support, Fast Stack + VP-X.

More money, more features. The ACM definitely seems like could be sold as a standalone product to fill a niche in the middle between wiring everything yourself directly, and the Fast-Stack + VP-X method.
 
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