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Yet another panel upgrade upgrade

jclark

Well Known Member
Benefactor
Now that I have been given the scoop on getting my pictures to work, I must give it a try! :)


Earlier this year I spent a bit of time upgrading the panel in "Papa Juliette" for, I think now, the 4th time in the 20 years it has been flying. It started out with a very basic "round gauges" panel. It is also on the second engine and I think the 7th propeller.

The most recent prior iteration of the panel had three GRT SX's (two on the left side and one on the right side). I had thought about upgrading to EX's and even had custom, color-coded, "pigtails" from GRT (37 pin -> 2x 25 pin).

RV6 Prior ...

AM-JKLUD4WJNnnAg6lAwgqTUfduyb9HGxPBY4RdVSIFls9gmW4qG4DZqiY3G7YufrvaHAw0xT_MONLBCR3xpPH0FrECUmGJM5aXCMZLi4hrH-QIIWx0vXErcv8D0EOolr__7H3OtSwqPvjz3aqE96tsS9yNVqw=w800-h600


But, unlike my friend Paul Dye who easily switches from one plane to the next with panel configurations from all vendors, I found that when I switched from flying the RV8 (upgraded panel 2015) to flying the RV6, with both panels using products from the same vendor) my brain had to think about which buttons to press. But even more importantly, for IFR, I wanted to be able to bring up "plates" in the 6 on the PFD as I can in the 8 on the PFD.

RV8 Current ...

AM-JKLVgzJFSutW7VipZt5I_ypuSp8N7fdbF1qaUjzp7Ib1MrbTObfWaERQPbo0Y6R7wVXvnU1t0bajD5Ju4YrKiL0mAtfEZy-yEsyPgagq71I-S_garNT0bRoYnIVgIR-v8YgIjI_bTAz5R02AaDnxO-9883Q=w800-h600


So, I decided to see if I could fit the SAME configuration in the RV6 as I had in the RV8. (GRT 10.4 HXr + 2x GRT Mini). In both planes I have the Garmin GTN 600 series navigator, audio by PS Engineering, and transponders by Trig.

Well, the 10.4 just WOULD NOT FIT with the space limitations I had. I have very specific attach points that I have used in the (CAD) overlay files for the prior upgrades. What I found though was that if I shaved a couple of mm from some platenuts, the 10.1 **WOULD** fit!

RV6 Current ...

AM-JKLXIE3zXf8Uiro_b1gofzecHyzM_434kNIJsQAEJ4QrBuyr61If5CL6RQ-AzSInlzSP0pR6LTNLKEM6adqLRQ5ps0W6CBt6A2yL8AXR3gPiX4dm35TX759oqsi2KjWnVOSzsVyTDhZ6ZFwKPiEBom9EitQ=w800-h600


Since my RV6 is a tip-up, yes I had to make some mods behind the panel to maintain the structural connection.

The RV6 "look-a-like" panel is very close to the RV8 now. Slightly smaller screen, one less knob, the addition of "touch".

RV6 10.1 Touch ...

AM-JKLVzUSy-18Dy-KNg0KZq59wJxABlC92OrqHq4GsCcty_lDCc6R7r2XsPrIVAqdRAgFwPW37wifExrdJQ8OFp6a5s21EqPZm914HKCYXBUe0coXHTebUatxOo3m2ZnHjyg9n6U12WT088tmIhiBPWvYqxiw=w800-h600


I want to get my IFR proficiency up to snuff so this consistency should help a lot as I switch between the two planes.

I think the previous three same screens in the 6 "looked better" but this is more functionally consistent and fits the mission better.

And oh, while I was at it, I added the paddle to the flap switch, a better guard around the "smoke on" toggle switch, and LED indicators (to be labeled this week) for bottom row of EarthX BATT1 status, EarthX BATT2 status, Smoke Pump ON, Skytyping Computer "typing", plus four more on the top row for future good measure. :D
 
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