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Overhead console installation

J

JDanno

Well Known Member
how do you attach the Aerosport overhead console?:confused: I "presume" that it gets glassed in but how do you hold it up while gluing or glassing it in? Does it look better painted to match or leave it "natural" to show off the carbon fiber? Thanks!!!

For those who haven't seen the panels or consoles that Geoff makes...they are a work of art.
 
Here is what I got from Geoff

Odd I asked this very question of Geoff yesterday and here is his response:

"It is pretty simple you need to put the cabin top on
and cleco it on to the fuse real good. Also cleco the baggage bulk head
former and the top stringers so it is all aligned. Then test fit the
overhead inside. If you have a pink top it should fit almost perfect.
If you have a green top you will have to modify the overhead console a
little bit were the step down is at the back of the door. You will see what
I am talking about at that time if you have a green top. Make sure it is
tight up against the baggage cover bulk head. I forgot one thing it is
easier to draw a center line in the cabin top and mark lines on either side
About 1/8 wider than overhead on each side. This helps you get it aligned
In the cabin top when checking fit. Once happy with fit I would drill some
holes for small clecos to hold overhead in place. In back area just drill
through the first layer of glass cloth. Do not go thru top skin.

Glue in with cabin top on its back. I used Lord epoxy. You really do not
need to glass it in. If glued good its there for good. The epoxy I used was
a little thick. Call me if you have any other questions. You can go to the
link below and see some of my install

http://combsfamily.phanfare.com/3161550_3627646#imageID=59337494"

I plan on giving him a call when i am ready to lay it down on the top as I still have a little more trimming to go.
 
The answer is, it depends.......

Is your cabin cover riveted in place?

Do you have a green or pink cabin cover?

John's paraphrasing of Geoff's comments are spot on.

Obviously it's a whole lot easier if you can take your cabin cover off and invert it for installing the overhead. That's what I will be doing the week after Christmas during the plant shutdown here.

If you are planning on using Geoff's headliner, then you don't need to do much other than epoxy the headliner to the cabin cover. The exception is that you'll need a little filler to smooth the transition joint over the front seat area. The headliner will cover up everything from the door aft.

Geoff shot some video for his headliner install. Perhaps I can talk him into shooting video when I install mine in a few weeks.

As far as finishing, that's your call. I will be painting mine. I'm planning on just using a little Loehle Wonder-Fil to fill pin holes, then paint.
 
fortunately I do have the pink top but unfortunately it's already installed. Gonna have to CAREFULLY drill into the top for clecos as the exterior is already painted. Thanks guys!!
 
JDanno said:
fortunately I do have the pink top but unfortunately it's already installed. Gonna have to CAREFULLY drill into the top for clecos as the exterior is already painted. Thanks guys!!
Click to expand...

Just get four friends to sit in the cabin and hold it up until the epoxy dries:D
 
Me too

I just finished mine a while ago and was very happy with the results. I trimmed/adjusted to fit my pink cabin top. Note you'll need to trim a good bit off the aft end to get it to fit against the aft cabin bulkhead. Since I'm bringing in air from new aft NACA vents, I placed a black rubber seal along the aft OH console edge where it touches the aft bulkhead. Works great so far. Also trim at the front end to get it to fit there as well. I clecoed it down to make sure it fit, then epoxied it down with a West/406 mixture. Worked great. Then I built up the cabin top along the edges with Aeropoxy Light to match the OH console and sanded until you cannot tell there is a joint. Pinhole file, prime, and paint (or headliner if you like). If you PM me, I'll send you a series of pix with the process that might help. Of course, you'll have to turn them all upside down. I wouldn't want to do it after the cabin is installed. You could save a lot of finish work by using a headliner to cover the joint. I painted.
 
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Have fun

My experience/recommendation was/is a little different than what I see posted here.

1-I fit the console with the cabin top on 'and' off the airplane and did the 'install' off of the airplane.

2-The overhead console intial fit on my project was extremely poor. I've done my share of fiberglass work and there was no way this came close to fitting 'out of the box'. Too long at one end, too short at the other end, horrible fit in the middle, and even worse along the rain gutters. I ended up cutting the unit in half near the front to get it close enough that I could even continue.

3-It 'appeared' to me that the console may have been designed around a 'raw' cabin top. The console had 4 LARGE 'ripples' at the 4 hinge attach areas. To 'finish' the gutter areas one has to contour the cabin top for a seamless appearance. Specifically, these areas get blended for a smooth/even finish. The console wasn't close to being compatible with my cabin top. I had to cut off about an 8" section of the flange in all 4 of these areas then layup glass to form new flanges. The entire flange 'contact' areas were 'curled' in that there was very little 'mating' surface to the cabin top.

4-I'll respectfully disagree with the 'glueing' comments. I could be off base but I interperet this as simply bonding the unit to the inside of the cabin top?? I like to build things to last and would be very uncomfortable with this approach. The unit is rather large and the flanges (on mine) were far from flush with the contour of the cabn top. I sanded all of the mating surfaces then laid up 2 layers of 9oz fiberglass cloth and made a sandwich between the surfaces all the way around. I then laid a corner bead of flox over the edge of the flange and laid up 2 more layers over the outside of the flange/cabin top joint essentially making the unit one piece with the cabin top. There is a lot of heating and cooling on the cabin top and (for me) simply 'glueing' the unit in place would be insufficient.

5-I'll agree with the other posters with using clecoes to hold the unit in place once fitted.

6-As far as 'showing off' the carbon fiber, you can see from previous comments that mine ended up getting painted.

All said and done I was able to make the unit fit and make it look nice but it took a lot of work and time for me to get it where I wanted it, but like anything else on the airplane, once it's done it's not a big deal.

Hope this helps :).
 
rv6rick said:
2-The overhead console intial fit on my project was extremely poor. I've done my share of fiberglass work and there was no way this came close to fitting 'out of the box'. Too long at one end, too short at the other end, horrible fit in the middle, and even worse along the rain gutters. I ended up cutting the unit in half near the front to get it close enough that I could even continue.
Click to expand...

Rick,

Since there are three or four vendors that have sold overheads over the last couple of years, which vendor's product are you referring too? I'm sure that some vendor's products are better than others.

bob
 
I glassed in a pair of ducts on my console to stop the air leak problem. They are just glassed over cardboard (Molt Taylor style).
f99vb.jpg

These are nutserts floxed into the roof for attachment. Also, at least for me, it was much quicker to upholster the roof than to try and finish it perfectly.
353cflz.jpg
 
Usually I would not waste good breath after bad to respond to Rick?s post, but I do feel this requires a reply.

My goal in producing these products is to save people time, money and frustration and to help them have the dream-machine they?ve always wanted. I stand behind and support all of our products 100%.

As for the overhead fit, yes it was built off of a cabin top that was installed on the airplane as it should be. We scanned a pink cabin top with a scanner that has an accuracy of .005. It does have waves in it around the door hinge areas because the cabin top does also. And if you have an older green colored cabin top it will not fit as good as the pink. It does fit the green top quite well, however. The pink top and the green top are a little different in the area where there is a step right at the back of the door opening. This being said, many of these overheads have been installed in pink and green tops without any major fit problems, as Rick has reported. These tops are not that different from one to another and for Rick to have to do what he said he did, tells me that he did not install it the way it was meant to be installed. If a first time builder with not much fiberglass experience can install one without problems then veteran builders should be able to, as well. I have had people install these in flying aircraft with no problems. It's just a little harder working looking up.

And as for gluing the top, if you use a good urethane or epoxy glue (like Lord Brand) that overhead console will go nowhere. FWIW they glue car door skins to inner door frames with urethane and epoxy glues. No welding or fasteners. If you want to glass it in, then do so. That is why we are building our own airplanes. The glass will make it a little stronger and heavier.
My last comment is that there have been many of these installed and this is the first one with a problem. These parts are built in a carbon mold from pre-preg materials in a controlled environment, just as Boeing does it. Unless your cabin top is really put on wrong or the top was bad from Van?s, they should fit pretty darned good

Geoff
 
My aerosportproducts overhead console fit very well. The plane is still 4 months from flying and already people are complimenting how great the console looks. A+ Thanks Geoff for the great products
 
Console Install

I have seen Sean's install here in Utah with Geoff's console and it was a very nice fit and looks great. I just wish I had it in my plane. Sean installed his before the canopy was placed on the plane.
I would recommend it if you are on the fence about it, it would be nice to have the air and it just looks great.

Someday, if I get decide to tear into my plane and do some repainting I will add it but that will be way down the road.
 
Mine was great

I didn't mention on my previous post, but the fit of my Aerosport OH console was great. As a first-time builder, I'm sure I made it harder than need be and worried more than need be. As with almost everything else on the airplane, it turned out to be pretty easy and turned out pretty darn good. I decided to sand and finish and paint the inside of my cabin because I had the time and figured I could always add a headliner later if I want to. Geoff was great to work with and responsive to my (probably unnecessary) questions. I'd venture to say that with the epoxy/flox bond between my OH console and the cabin top, accompanied by epoxy fillet all around and over the transition, something else would break before the two parts would come apart at the joint.
 
Geoff's overhead console

I installed the Aerosport overhead console as Scott mentioned. I thought the installation was easy. I used clamps to hold it in place while the glue cured. It fit really close and was really easy to blend. I don't have much experience with composites and I would say anyone could/should be successful mounting it. After installing it, I purchased just about everything else aerosport offers. BTW it weighs a quarter of the weight as the previous aftermarket overheads.
 
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