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rickmellor

Well Known Member
I'm going to install a digitrak in my 7 but am not sure where to put the head unit for the thing. The problem is that I'm using a sweet panel I got from Laird Owens and the two sub-panels on the right are angled towards the pilot. I'm concerned that the digitrak will not function properly if I install it other than perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. Do you guys know if this will work or do I need to install it on a flat portion of the panel?

Currently the layout is something like this:
panel.JPG
 
Hi Rick,

The unit does have a magnetometer for backup heading info when a GPS isn't available, and they have a calibration routine that you fly through to determine the error correction needed. I'm not sure how much correction can be made though. I would measure the amount of angle on the subpanel, and contact Trutrak to find out if that can be corrected.

Good luck,
Rusty
 
You should ask TruTrak to be sure, but I think the box needs to be aligned with the aircraft centerline. It has internal accelerometers to help it fly well in turbulence, and I believe they'll get "confused" if the box is mounted off axis.

--Marc
 
Trutrak Installation

Hi Rick,
The unit CAN'T be more than 10 degrees off from centerline. I personaly don't install them more than 8 degrees. I had a customer that had the same panel and we were not able to install the DFC200 in the angled portion of the panel.
Any more questions please let me know.
Alex
www.AviationTechProducts.com
 
I suspected as much...

Rats! I figured this was the case but wanted to check. I'll move some stuff around so it'll work out ok.

Btw Alex, you've got the cheapest prices for the Digitrak that I've seen. Darn! :(

Thanks for the info.
 
Rick,

Don't get too worried just yet. We've done a number of canted panels like yours and there are a few solutions. First, TruTrak might be able to modify the 'guts' of some units to enable it to handle the canted portion (they can't do this on all of their AP's, but are able to on some). Second, you could just create a really small wedge to perhaps install the actuall digitrak control head a few degrees back towards straight (not all the way, just enough to get it within specs), and last you might no have to do anything. Lay your panel down on a bench, take a smart level and reference the canted portion to the flat portion and see how many degrees your panel is canted...you might just be ok. You also might be able to play with the location of things on the panel to see if you can't find a different place for it.

Hope that helps!

Cheers,
Stein.

P.S., Alex's prices on AP's are the same as most of us....we all follow the same MAP pricing policy, so nobody is significantly cheaper ;)
 
Stein,

Thanks for the tips. Right now I've managed to move some stuff around so that the AP is on the flat portion. When I actually get the AP I'll look into it more closely. However, the thought of sending it back to TruTrak scares me a bit. I ordered it six weeks ago and they can't give me an ETA. It's a bit of a bummer because I want to close my wing. I need to adjust myself to this low volume, long lead time stuff. At my company we build more units in manufacturing qualification builds than these guys do in years.

About the prices ... I should have said what I was really thinking ... that I paid too much! :) I bought my DigiTrak from AS for a few $$$ more. C'est la vie, but I'll be sure to check around better next time.

-Rick
 
Digitrak order

Rick,
the Digitrak 3 1/8 is available. Regarding the 2 1/4 Digitrak, Trutrak is waiting for parts. You are not the only one waiting for the 2 1/4 if that makes you feel any better.
Regarding closing the wing, I would call your dealer and ask them to ship the servo and bracket a head of time, that way you are not delayed. Trutrak does it all the time.

Cheers
Alex
 
Rick, Call me tomorrow....I may have one in stock that you can "borrow"...may not be a digitrak, perhaps a pictorial pilot (same hole-same wiring), but I usually have at least one or two of each AP sitting around for various panel builds, demos, or my own plane. Sometimes we can help out if you're in a pinch.

Regarding the low volume high lead time stuff, you are partially correct but in the world of GA and Autopilots...TruTrak produces more in a given week than most of the other guys will in many, many months. You might be surprised to know that TruTrak doesn't built one or two per day, but dozens of units/servos...still not a lot in the world of high volume manufacturing, but in the world where there are only around 600,000 potential customers period, it's not too shabby:) I know they are getting better and getting farther caught up, so perhaps by this fall we'll see the lead times dissapear (I hope). Right now it seems every mfgr in this business is WAYYY behind what they'd like to be. It irks me too, because my business in part depends on deliveries (my own included), and exceptionally long lead times hurt cash flow no matter how you slice it.

Hold tight, it'll be worth the wait! I fly behing one and love it in my -6.

Cheers,
Stein.

RV6's Flying,
RV7 Fuse - Finish kit ordered last week
 
Rick-
Your panel looks fantastic! What program did you use to lay it out (and save it).

FWIW, if you do need to put the digitrak on a flat part of your panel, my vote would be to move the air vents down below the forward canopy deck and use that space you free up on the left side for the small digitrack. That way you could essentially keep your panel as is.

Again, looks great.
 
Thanks Steve!

The program I'm using is ePanelBuilder. I subscribed to the service so I have the ability save multiple panels, etc. It's pretty good for comp'ing things up. To save the image out for posting I use PhotoShop but you can also use MS Paint that comes with Windows. Let me know if you want some tips.

With this panel I can't move the AP head over to the side because that's got a slight angle too ... plus it would be getting pretty snug over there. The pic below shows what I'm thinking now. This isn't such a bad tradeoff and it saves a few $$$ (still not sure about the second COM though. running the coax just in case). A cool thing with this layout is that you can just swap the Dynon for AFS/GRT, etc. I'm going to have to make that decision before too long. :rolleyes:

panel_revised.jpg
 
AOA

Rick,
I like better what you did with the AOA in the second panel desing than the original design. IMHO, I think the AOA in the vertical position is the way to go. I have one in my RV6 and one in the 10 and I will not fly with out them, they work great.

Alex
 
AOA Rocks!

I'm a total AOA convert! I haven't flown one yet, but I'm a believer. One cool thing about this AOA is that since I'm building a slider ... putting it up on the glareshield like this doesn't cost me much FOV. Plus, you'll be able to keep it in your peripheral field on approach.
 
rickmellor said:
I'm a total AOA convert! I haven't flown one yet, but I'm a believer. One cool thing about this AOA is that since I'm building a slider ... putting it up on the glareshield like this doesn't cost me much FOV. Plus, you'll be able to keep it in your peripheral field on approach.
Click to expand...

If you're interested in saving a little money (like $800-$1000), rather than buy the AFS AOA, the Dynon has it and has aural alerts now, plus, there is a guy out there, Vernon Little, I think, from B.C., who has an external annunciator that you can mount vertically or horizontally wherever you need it.

New version of the panel looks great too! I'd put the right hand EFIS up above the d.g. so that it is closer to eye level, but I assume you put it where it is for a reason. Thanks for the heads up on epanelbuilder. Good luck.
Steve
 
rickmellor said:
I'm going to install a digitrak in my 7 but am not sure where to put the head unit for the thing. The problem is that I'm using a sweet panel I got from Laird Owens and the two sub-panels on the right are angled towards the pilot. I'm concerned that the digitrak will not function properly if I install it other than perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. Do you guys know if this will work or do I need to install it on a flat portion of the panel?

Currently the layout is something like this:
panel.JPG
Click to expand...

Rick, go back to your 2 large displays and use the "rectangular format" of the DigiFlight. That's what I did in my panel as the right had side is also tilted towards the pilot. Your original drawing looked like it would fit just fine below the right or left Dynon Screens.

You can also move the AOA over to the left winglet and think about other way to move the 2 Dynon's up if you need more room. My TruTrak is the DSVG and I know that all the Digiflights can be had in the "box format".


N60AL%20Final%20(Medium).png
 
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DigiFlight Solution

Alan,

That would work perfectly, except ... it wouldn't fit the budget too well. ;) I want to upgrade to a 2 axis at some point but I've ruled it out for now. I want to get a new engine (XP-360) and a fancy prop (Whirlwind 200RV) so I'm going a bit lean on the panel for now. Besides ... it'll give me something to fiddle with later.

However, I could go with Stein's suggestion and put an angle shim in there to get the control head to sit correctly. That could get me by until I can cough up the green for the DigiFlight. There may yet be hope for the dual large screens! :)

Btw, got any progress pics of your Legacy posted? My hangar buddy is building a Legacy too.
 
Sorry

Rick, sorry, I should have looked closer... I didn't realize it really was the digitrak and not one of the digiflights. Sorry about that.

Still can't you move the displays up on that panel, move the things above them to make more room and fit a 2 1/4" instrument below them?

As for my Legacy, I'm a little behind in keeping my webpage up to date. Lots of picture here tho, of mine and others.

http://www.highrf.com/gallery/Legacy-AL-FG

My kitlog pro site is in my signature, but it's pretty much as behind as my gallery...

I'll get that remedied shortly.

BTW, you don't need the Pro AOA, the Sport will do just fine if you want to save a litte money. Also, if you do put it up on the glare shield. It would be better if it were in the pilot perphery. My compromise was on the panel, next to the airspeed. To really use one and use it effectively, you want it in eye sight, but I want mine more for IFR than VFR... :)


Who's your hanger mate, and where are you located?
 
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Instruments on the bottom

Alan,

Putting them across the bottom might work, but it's going to be a VERY custom job. The mounting bracket that Dynon sells won't fit so there will need to be a rear/side mount only bracket that attaches to the panel sub-structure. The Dynon mount has too large of a flange to allow for these tight spaces. Still ... it looks like it might just fit. I think I have about .3" spare to work with on the surface if I use Laird's recommended attach plan for the panel plate. Also, the rear box frame is smaller than the face plate (I don't know how much smaller, but it looks significant). There's a bit of intererence in the top-left that I'll need to deal with, but that should be manageable (that's why I've got them down as far as I do).

I like your thinking! :cool:

Btw, swapped the trutrak for a pictoral pilot in this rev.

panel_revised2.jpg
 
It's easy armcharing this

Ok, so here's a couple of "little" suggestions. If you do this right, you can get the digiflite and later fit it in the same opening as the digitrak.... OR.... a maybe better (or different suggestion)... Think of those lower instruments as "backup"... Give yourself the "standard 3", like I did, in an order and fashion similar to where they are in a 6pack and center them in front of the pilot. If the EFIS goes Tango Uniform, you still have basic flight instruments.

Ok, so to do that I would suggest, grouping them around the pictopilot (whatever it's called), as the AI (or does it only function as a TC? Don't they have one that works as and AI as well, with AP? - Might be as much as the digiflight tho...).

At some point, you are not going to know if things will fit until you set down with a cad guy and real measurements and lay this out. That was the only way I could figure mine out as a final.

Lastly, and I don't want to scare you away, but those 2" guages are EXPENSIVE!!! I don't know unless someone has come out with less expensive ones, anyway to say it. The Mid Continent versions are about 2-3K each!!! Maybe there are some that I"m just not aware of.... One last fading comment... Mid Continent came out with a 2" CDI at OSH, it is *very* cool And maybe you could get a backup CDI in that space as well, if you can figure out all the other placement issues.

It's looking really good. BTW... I also developed my panel for future growth... For example, the SL-40 won't be there from the beginning, and I don't say this very loud, but I did my steam gauge spacing such that I could replace the AI with a BMA G4/Lite as an EFIS backup/CDI backup.

BTW, for those reading, the easiest way to get a 3" - Electric" AI, is to buy the Sporty's certified TC replacement unit. It's made by castleberry and it is TSO'd, but *way* cheaper than getting either of the other all electric AI's...

Good luck and keep us posted.
 
I hear Mid Continent stuff is nice, but these are back-up instruments after all. You can get UMA 2-1/4" instruments fairly cheaply. Altimeter is $216 from Spruce and an airspeed indicator from Vans with the correct markings is $160.
 
Excellent

Davepar said:
I hear Mid Continent stuff is nice, but these are back-up instruments after all. You can get UMA 2-1/4" instruments fairly cheaply. Altimeter is $216 from Spruce and an airspeed indicator from Vans with the correct markings is $160.
Click to expand...

Very good news.... I really didn't shop much for them after I heard the Mid prices... I wanted 3" anyway as I just don't like the "itty bitty" markings :)... My eyes are getting old I think...
 
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