Panel Finishing (5)

5 hours

I finally have all the holes cut/drilled in the panel!  So now it is time to label everything and paint it.  I had been looking into trying to take the panel somewhere to have it powder coated and get all the labels laser engraved, but I didn't really find anywhere nearby that could do it.  So, here is how I did it myself.

First, I primed and painted the panel.  I used Rustoleum Pro Aluminum primer and matte black paint (both from Home Depot).

I let the paint cure for a few days before moving on.  Next, I printed all the labels on my label maker, using some white-on-clear tape.  I laid everything out, figuring out what would fit, how large to make the text, and so on, and then carefully applied all the labels with tweezers.

Finally, I sprayed a few coats of satin clear over the labels.  The passenger warning sticker is from the EAA certification kit.

I let the clear cure for a few more days.  Then I installed everything that goes in from the front (start button, LED lights, and the USB port), and then I installed the panel back in the plane!

I still have a few more things to wire on the panel (seat heat, the interior lights dimmer switch, the iPad dock, and wires to the wings for lighting), but it's nearly complete now!

Panel Extension & Planning (10)

 10 hours

All along I had planned on using a Garmin GDU 450 (7") display for my primary instrument.  However, in the process of trying to lay out the panel, I made the mistake of printing the templates for both the GDU 450 and the GDU 460 (10") display.  I discovered that if I could make the panel just about 1" taller the larger screen would fit!  Once I realized that I couldn't really let go of the idea, so I started figuring out how I could make it work.

I started by just going ahead and ordering the GDU 460 mounting kit.  The kit includes the connectors as well as the little backing plate, which makes a perfect template for the display.  I found a piece of leftover "C" channel way back from the tail kit, and tried clamping that to the bottom of the stock panel.  It took me a little head scratching to visualize how to make the extension work, but gradually I was able to pretty much make it up as I went.  Here's the first mockup:

I ended up making the extension more like 1.25" tall, so that I could fit a row of switches on it.  Here's what I cut out of that piece of channel.  The top side still has the original 90-degree bend, which is cleco'd to the bottom of the panel.

I bend the bottom edge back 90 degrees, just by clamping more scraps to it and hammering it into shape.

The bottom edge doesn't look especially straight in this picture; I made some minor adjustments later!

I bent the little corner tabs in, but I realized I probably cut a little too much material off since it left a gap.  I made a little strip for each corner to tie the bottom and sides together.  I had no idea if this was all going to work or not but the final piece is pretty rigid!

Here's how the extension is attached to the panel.  The large gap between clecos is where the Garmin display will go.

Initial cut for the big screen:

Here's the hole pretty much finalized:

Here's the backing plate attached to the panel.  I also cut out the bottom of the original panel to a little farther than the depth of the display (about 1.75"), plus a little slot on each side so I could install the backing plate across both pieces.

Before I riveted it to the panel I checked how heavy my little creation is.  3 ounces; I think it'll be worth the weight!

The other large item on the panel will be a flush mount for an iPad Mini.  I picked up a Guardian mount and laid out and cut the hole for it next.

Next came switches.  On the left side I mostly copied the factory B-model layout.  The switches I installed, from left to right, are Master Battery/Alternator, Ignition 1 (mags), Ignition 2 (coils), Engine Start, Avionics Bus (all the Garmin stuff), Comm Bus (radio & transponder), and Turbo Cooler.  I spaced each switch 1" apart and placed them as close to the bottom as I thought they'd fit.

Below the iPad I have: Autopilot Level Button (not installed yet in this picture), Nav/Pos Lights, Strobe Lights, Landing Lights, Interior Lights (dimmer switch), and what I'm calling "Charging," which will power the iPad dock, USB charging ports, and a remote ADSB-in if I end up using one of those.  I spaced these switches 1.5" apart, because the dimmer switch is big and it also seemed to fit the space there better.

I still have a few things to install on the left side (flaps switch, alternator circuit breaker, and maybe some indicator lights), and to the right of the iPad (USB ports, copilot PTT button, seat heat switch, maybe the ELT control panel, and the required passenger warning placard), but I don't have any of that stuff yet so that's it for now!

Removable Panel (2)

2 hours

I have a feeling that I will eventually want to make changes to the instrument panel once the plane is "done," and thinking about trying to crawl into the footwell made me pretty unhappy.  So I decided I'd spend a little time and a few grams of extra hardware to make it possible to remove the panel later.

The panel on the B-model is attached to a bracket at each of the lower corners, and a flange on the underside of the glare shield. 

The brackets attach to the bottom of the panel with 8 rivets per side.  It was a tight fit but I squeezed #8 nutplates in for each hole!

The other attachment point is the flange underneath the glare shield.  It's mostly flat, except for the curved portions which are fluted.  I installed more #8 nutplates along the flat part.

For the curved area, I'll just use #8 screws and nuts.  I think reaching a socket around the back of the panel to remove those few nuts in the future will be annoying but still way easier than drilling out rivets or working on the panel with it installed!