general comments
generally, i agree with what everybody chimes in on trying to do avionics last and waiting for the last possible moment. there's so much new stuff coming out and ever more features for the same price available.
HOWEVER, do not wait with planning and closely monitor the market from the beginning. at one point decide on a "design freeze" and stick to what you have, even if there's new developments in the meantime. also, expect high levels of frustration when trying to plan ahead only based on documentation/paper/theory. some documentation in the avionics sector is marginal at best and lots of things can only be reliably planned once you have at least the cradles and/or connectors in hand.
there are other hurdles, e.g. the damned high density d-sub connector on the garmin transponder requiring special tools and very expensive pins, while everybody else seems to have settled on regular d-sub. same goes for a few types of antenna connectors.
and even with careful planning and considering all installation manuals and best practices, there will be lots to troubleshoot, audio noise is such an example or differing wiring styles of serial grounds. also, rs-232 is not necessarily rs-232 by the specs... problems with signal level drops and such...
regarding the physical planning, a 3d solid cad model certainly helps. however, the substructure can be a pain to integrate.
for the actual cutting of the panel, IMHO there is no way around cad / laser or waterjet cutting. the final result justifies the extra expense.
model, year
RV-7A, expected first flight very soon (only paperwork remaining)
panel
our panel is about as stuffed as one can get it ;-)
sources, new?
bought all the stuff from various sources on the internet, some steinair, some pacific coast, some from advanced and vertical power directly.
all new.
installer
installed all of it on our own, with the exception of some rough pre-made harnesses.
original or upgrade
original installation.
equipment and reasons
Advanced Flight Systems AF3400EF and AF3400EM synthethic vision models.
great track record of the company, innovative products, nice graphics resembling the airliner type EFIS symbology, highest level of integration (besides GRT and the more expensive garmin stuff) in the market (flight director etc...). although dynon is now catching up in leaps, this was not the case at time of planning. high quality AHRS. form factor enabling enough space for all the screens. flexibility of the owner to cooperate with the AFCU "pet project". documentation is about average, some of it is excellent (installation of probes e.g.), some areas could be better and reflect software changes more closely.
Advanced Flight Systems AOA
no stall warning per default on the RV. the reason we didn't get it integrated with the efis (as is now available) is a good example for not to buy avionics too early. we had purchased it when doing the wings for the probe install.
don't mind the separate indication / system independence however
Garmin GMA340 Audio Panel
GMA240 would fit the mission just as well and cheaper, but again, that wasn't out yet when we started planning. also, one of the avionics that we purchased early on (maybe a bit too early).
Garmin SL-30
the logical choice when one decides not to use a gns430. (cheaper, didn't require a certified gps, tight on space)
serial interface makes wiring relatively easy, because the cdi also operates through the serial. also uses standard d-sub connectors which are easy to wire. great features all in one unit.
Garmin GTX-328 Transponder
mode-s requirement in europe. pretty much standard, little competition in the market, only from lesser known companies that unfortunately have either price or performance problems. pain in the *** high density d-sub connector. also, documentation is poor and there are undocumented incompatibilities with gps data formats (no nmea apparently!)
ICOM IC-A200
simply wanted a full and simple com2 panel mount
good bang for the buck while blending into the stack.
wiring somewhat tricky, different connectors, documentation minimal.
Vertical Power VP200 electrical system
a bit of a risk as we are early adopters. basically convinced us in person/demo at their first oshkosh appearance. completely new way to do the electrical system. have only praises so far. works like a charm with awesome features and greatly adding to the "airliner" feel. at the same time it made wiring/installation simpler. no competition yet in this segment.
excellent documentation from A to Z.
Trutrak Flight Systems Autopilot AFS Pilot.
the only autopilot compatible with a high level of integration (vertical commands from flight director) at time of planning.
ezpilot did not have the vertical features and dynon only just launched their autopilot (with teething troubles that were to be expected).
AFCU and MapPC "pet projects"
These two units cannot be purchased off the shelf and are our own side-projects. The MapPC is essentially an embedded pc with a display and interface unit. This base allows us to experiment and advance our navigation system into the future all the while being fully integrated with the EFIS and therefore autopilot.
The AFCU is simply a remote control unit for the efis to simplify mode selection and make up for the lack of discrete rotary knobs for each function.
good luck on your study!
bernie
Buelach, Switzerland
