The same but different...
Yesterday the temperature was finally good (48F) but the visibility wasn't (<1/4 mile). Very frustrating but I puttered around the plane, cleaning and checking things. Finally I decided to tackle remounting my Garmin 496.
One of the previous owners had mounted it on top of the glare shield, which some people like, but I found distracting. It swiveled 90 degrees so could be somewhat out of the way during landing and taking off, but I never felt comfortable with it there. You can click on most of the pictures to see them full size.
I'd seen pictures of several RV4s and 8s that used Ram mounts to mount the GPS to one or another structures on the side of the cockpit, and had been collecting bits and pieces of hardware to try and do that. Here's the Ram B-101 mount I bought back in September.
The Garmin mount uses #6 flathead screws, which are quite a bit smaller than the holes int eh Ram mount. To get the screws to fit well to the Ram mount I used some 1/4" dia nylon spacers, and reduced their diameter a little using a belt sander. I completed the assembly with 6-32 x 3/4 flathead screws, fender washers and nylon locknuts.
Saturday morning I had read SteveKs post about using a piece of aluminum. However I was at the hanger and the aluminum, drill, tap etc. were all at the house 15 miles away. But there was a Lowes nearby. Off I went looking for an alternative. I found these screen clips:
I then used some #8 screws and nuts to attach them to the Ram mount. The picture shows three but I ended up just using two.
The base was then attached through the large lightening hole int he gusset on the right side of the canopy foward of the windshield bow. The "L" portion of the clips were arranged to press against the backside of the gusset. By putting the L in that position, the bracket is forced in the right direction when the screw is tightened.
Here's the final look, with the GPS tucked a little out of the way.
Now I need to neatly reroute the wires and remove the old mount. I still need to do a proper mounting job with the XM and GPS antennas. The weather has now turned cold again, with wind gusts to 45 mph, so maybe I'll tackle the antenna mount next.
I have not flown with it yet but I already like it better. As others have commented, it's convenient and easy to operate, easy to see, and doesn't block anything else. I think using a piece of aluminum with a couple of threaded holes would be easier and better but this was a good work around.
