[cbrown747]

I was wondering if anybody could give any advice on how practical it would be to completely change a no frills kind of panel to a glass type of panel.

In other words.....If I could purchase a plain jane rv at a good price with just the basic panel to something more modern. I am just weighing over and over again building vs buying an existing rv. I am still not sure if I want to wait several years to build.

 

[rleffler]

I was wondering if anybody could give any advice on how practical it would be to completely change a no frills kind of panel to a glass type of panel.

In other words.....If I could purchase a plain jane rv at a good price with just the basic panel to something more modern. I am just weighing over and over again building vs buying an existing rv. I am still not sure if I want to wait several years to build.

Sure, but depending on what airframe you purchase, you could easily double the price of your investment.

On my RV-10, it turned out I spent 33% on the kits, 33% on a new engine, and 33% on the panel.

SteinAIr and/or Aerotronics will be more than happy to deliver a plug and play panel.

 

[Ron Lee]

I have been all the USA, the Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Mexico with steam gauges. A glass panel does not make the plane fly better.

 

[hydroguy2]

........ I am just weighing over and over again building vs buying an existing rv. I am still not sure if I want to wait several years to build.

if you're not sure if you want to build.....Don't.

You have to want to build, to finish a build. Anyone on the fence will probably be happier flying now and fiddling with upgrades.

I may be wrong.

 

[terrye]

More than just a panel

Don't forget all the other doodads and wiring runs in the rest of the airframe that go along with a typical glass panel:
*Additional com and nav antennas - some in the belly, some in the wingtips or aft fuselage
*Additional magnetometers - could be in the wingtips, in the upper fuselage or rear fuselage
*Additional mounting trays for ADAHRS - could be in the aft fuselage or behind the panel
*Autopilot servos - roll servo in the wing, pitch servo in the aft fuselage
*Heated pitot if you don't have one
*OAT probe - in wing or aft fuselage
*Engine sensors
Also should do an electrical load analysis to ensure adequate alternator(s)

So even if you had the panel prewired and ready to bolt in, there could still be a significant amount of work to rewire or add wires to the airframe and to find homes for and mount the additional equipment. If the airplane was well wired to start with for the steam gauges, all well and good, but if dodgy wiring, could be a lot of work in confined areas, especially if you have to have separate wiring runs to ensure electromagnetic compatibility. It's not much fun to try to drill a new conduit run in all the wing ribs with the wings closed up.

 

[Ironflight]

I'll let defer to other's comments on the moral and financial implications of such an upgrade, and confine my comments to the technical!

Changing out the panel on most RV's is really pretty simple (might be a bit tougher with a slider - check to see how it is installed). We built an entirely new panel for Louise's RV-6 (serial #4) a few years back - took about five weeks to build and essentially rewire the whole airplane. If you are already handy with wiring, it's really not a tough job - and as you say, can save you years of building time if all that you want in a "custom" airplane is your idea of the perfect panel.

Paul

 

[Tram]

I have been all the USA, the Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Mexico with steam gauges. A glass panel does not make the plane fly better.

What he said.. The plane doesn't know the difference.

My father and I bought our -6 back in 2004 and have been thinking about glass for a long time. Both of us have flown all over the world with steam gauges and we've both flown all over the world with glass panels.

We are at a point where we are considering an autopilot, so we've decided to get a Dynon (of some sort, we keep changing our minds) to get the autopilot and an EFIS/EMS all at once..

FWIW - A Dynon FlightDek D180 is going to run you ~$4,500 once you pick up the EFIS and the probes, but you'll have everything you need for the most part, depending on what you change in your panel.

Our plan was to go glass with the flight instruments only and then we started thinking about how nice it'd be to have a glass bird. Purely for giggles, it's not needed. So, then we started thinking about an EMS, well we have no desire for two 10" screens in the panel, they're just not needed in our plane, so we boiled it down to the D180, until recent events got us thinking about the SkyView. LOL..

Anyway, if you're willing to do the work, you can get a pretty nice panel, without taking out a second mortgage, I'm sure you'll be able to use some of the other stuff left in the panel as well.

Just to think, all of the modifications we've started in the last 6 months started with the plane on jacks due to a blown $0.35 o-ring. LOL.. It'll be a $5-6K O-ring replacement by the time it's said and done.

 

[pierre smith]

To each his own.

I have been all the USA, the Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Mexico with steam gauges. A glass panel does not make the plane fly better.

...and neither do steam gauges.

If your mission is strictly day VFR..that's one thing. If, on the other hand, you intend to fly a lot of IMC and shoot LPV approaches often, seven gauges to scan is such a pain compared to a single screen with all the needed info on it....been there, done that and even at age 66, the glass is sooo much easier for IFR approaches.....not to mention the trip info...time remaining on gas...the mileage range auto computation and winds aloft automatically and continuously calculated on my simple D-100 and D120!

Best

 

[cbrown747]

Thanks for all the replies. They are also all varied which is good. Most of all everybody gave me advice that it will still be a lot of work if I went to glass. One thing nobody mentioned is better resale value. I would think most buyers would prefer glass over steam

 

[Bob Axsom]

Well maybe but ...

No well designed and implemented "steam gauge panel" is as bad as an orphaned system in evolving glassware. It will happen to every single glass panel system in existence today. Consider trying to sell an airplane with a glass panel that costs as much as the airframe when the manufacturer no longer exists, or the configuration is no longer supported by an existing manufacturer.

Bob Axsom