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Show us your panel!

I love the GDL 39 antenna formation mirror. And talk about clean. The straight plain stick grip with PTT on the throttle. Very military and as Kelly Johnson intended. You think outside the new think box.
 
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Panel

Making progress
 

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My RV8 Panel

Its taken a while but my RV8 panel is nearing completion.
 

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It occurs to me that I never posted a pic of my panel all lit up for testing. Everything has tested out OK so far - the GPS-175 drives the Dynon HSI, the transponder says it has an ADS-B compliant position source, and I've even seen overhead traffic show up on the map screen. Can't test much more than that until I get headphone jacks installed and an engine hung. Gonna be fun to fly behind this setup...hopefully early next summer.

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VH-SOL

I've been having too much fun flying it to take photos. Finally got a decent one :)


- mark
 

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Eat your heart out panel guys!
 

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I like it! In an era when people would stick another screen on the gear towers and side walls, it's nice to see a simple, back to basics panel.

Mine will probably look quite similar

Yea...I don't get all the screens. It takes forever to load chart updates, I couldn't imagine having to do that for more than two screens.
 
Eat your heart out panel guys!

I know that Mike built a very light weight RV8 with a constant speed prop. It is still possible especially when he selects a simple panel instead of a complicated full-blown IFR rig with a bunch of backup. This one should be a real performer.
 
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This was our mock up on cardboard. I made demential reps of the Garmin equipment to include the wire harness plugs!
 
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Chip, Hopefully you have sat in an 8, an extended panel makes it more difficult to get in/out of especially for taller folk. Also with the screen that low you will always be lookin down to see it. One of my main goals on all panels is to keep the screens as high as possible for better viewing.

I also noticed some large holes for wires in a primary crossmember, may not be a great idea at that location.
 
Chip, Hopefully you have sat in an 8, an extended panel makes it more difficult to get in/out of especially for taller folk. Also with the screen that low you will always be lookin down to see it. One of my main goals on all panels is to keep the screens as high as possible for better viewing.

I also noticed some large holes for wires in a primary crossmember, may not be a great idea at that location.

Also, the stick needs to go past the lower panel and if the panel is extended downward, the stick gets shorter. And I find it a little too short as it is.
 
The panel is only wider in the center and not taller. The one additional hole in the cross member was approved by vans as it’s a small hole and grommet and I added a second brace. Good eye though. I have spent a lot of time in the cockpit and everything lines up well. This aircraft is an aerobatic plane so most of my flying is Outside. By doing the panel this way you avoid the horrible off set screen look.
 
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Centered screen option which I really like not to mention the redundancy.
Danny king did this same 2 screen layout but with radios on left side.
 

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IMHO, I would put the primary display up as high as possible, especially if you are tall.

+1

Also consider moving the GTN-650 to the left of the center display, also as high as you can get it.

For me I’d rather have the autopilot panel on the left below the GTN-650 as it will be touched more than the audio panel. The audio panel gets the low and to the right spot as it is rarely used.

Carl
 
Thanks for the input. I am going for the look I have here. The 650 to the left or right can’t be made to look good without adding more stuff to the panel. The screen is mounted plenty high for a person 5-10 and works for someone sitting super high in the seat as well because the glare shield doesn’t block the view. I have spent a lot of time sitting in and designing this panel to be exactly what I want. I originally wanted the 650 on the lower left but you can’t cut that big of a hole in the gear tower brace per vans. But currently sitting in the plane with the nose skin on. This set up is easily viewable and flows around very easy. I am a huge PITA about flows and where to put stuff. After a lot of hours researching and hands on in the cockpit, the issues you guys are raising so far have all been thought of and worked thru.

The center part of the panel was widened a total of 2” and each side piece was shorten 1”. The two screens and or the big screen offset look bad to me so this was the way around it let’s hope it works.
 
+1

Also consider moving the GTN-650 to the left of the center display, also as high as you can get it.

For me I’d rather have the autopilot panel on the left below the GTN-650 as it will be touched more than the audio panel. The audio panel gets the low and to the right spot as it is rarely used.

Carl

Except when flying on ap I use my flying hand to still fly the plane without reaching across the panel.
 
Centered screen option which I really like not to mention the redundancy.
Danny king did this same 2 screen layout but with radios on left side.

Looks good but it’s not centered in the panel. My goal is to have the PFD Centered left and right not offset. Now if they only made a smaller 650 or I mean a shorter one then we would be in business
 
+1

Also consider moving the GTN-650 to the left of the center display, also as high as you can get it.

For me I’d rather have the autopilot panel on the left below the GTN-650 as it will be touched more than the audio panel. The audio panel gets the low and to the right spot as it is rarely used.

Carl
With the G3x, I can control everything from that and I can also control the AP with the 275s. The only reason the audio panel is there is to balance out the panel. We had it remote but the panel did not balance well.
 
that is an inexpensive way to go

I know that Mike built a very light weight RV8 with a constant speed prop. It is still possible especially when he selects a simple panel instead of a complicated full-blown IFR rig with a bunch of backup. This one should be a real performer.

Sure less expensive that the electronic versions.
Daddyman
 
My simple but very capable VFR panel. Full autopilot, lots of backup, ADS-B in and out. What can I say, it works for us!
 

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Carbon Fiber Instrument Panel Blank

I've spent an inordinate amount of time doing a carbon fiber instrument panel blank with a cutout at the bottom so I can have a longer stick. I know some people have done curved sticks, but I did this in part to learn more about working with carbon fiber.

Doing a wet layup is easy enough, but I wanted to learn about tool making and infusion processes. It's taken months, but after five tries at making a part, I'm happy enough with it to post it here.

Here's a picture of the untrimmed blank. It has a matt finish because of the way I used the PVA release. I will coat it with a clear UV protection that will have a shiny finish before it's finished.

Any questions, let me know.

(well, the image is not showing up. Sigh. I've never tried to post one before. Here's the raw address you can cut-and-paste: fourpeaksnavigation.com/image1620.jpg )

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So, I went back and read the image instructions, including the first line that there are now image attachments allowed. Duh. So here's another try using an attached image.
 

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Here's a video of making that carbon fiber panel blank via infusion. It's a lot of work, but it results in very nice parts (mostly) without pinholes, once you figure out the gotchas. The biggest of those is making sure the vacuum seal is perfect. It's not OK to just rely on continual vacuum pumping, because with a leaky vacuum bag that pulls air through the part. And it's not OK to just let the vacuum dissipate after the epoxy infusion is complete, because then it will migrate away from the part.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJvKp5INuLM
 
My plane is in my garage waiting for a hangar, if that ever happens!
Otto K1 & K2 switches from Mouser.

Thanks...

I’ve got the System 32, but I’m not as close to engine run. A neighbor has it as well, but he isn’t running yet either.
 
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