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Aerosport Panel Selection and Installation Questions

1001001

Well Known Member
I thought this ought to be a separate thread from the other panel question on engine controls I also posted this morning.

For those of you who have installed the Aerosport instrument panels and/or center consoles, is there anything that needs to be installed differently, or added to /subtracted from the standard RV-10 panel/avionics area (Section 31)? Does it simply overlay the underlying structure installed in Section 31, or are there fundamental differences?

Also, does anyone have dimensioned drawings of the different Aerosport panels that they can share to help me lay out ideas before making a final decision on which Aerosport panel to install?

I'm leaning at the moment toward the "Standard" panel or the G900 panel. I'm planning on using G3X Touch and at least one G5. I'm planning to call Aerosport about this when I can get a few minutes away from work, but thought I'd check in here to see if this has already been discussed. I didn't find much with the search function.
 
panel

I have the symmetrical panel.

You will not use the stock vans panel.

You will need to remove, or not install, the lower panel angle. The CF panel sits lower than the stock panel.

The new CF panel has an aluminum sub panel that attaches to the aircraft. I added stiffeners to the bottom.

You will need to choose push/pull or quadrant controls. If you use quadrant controls, you will likely need different length cables.

There are two quadrant mount positions depending on the panel selected. If I built again, I would likely use the 310 panel which puts the quadrant on the tunnel. and gives you more real-estate for avionics in the center stack. If you choose the high mounted quadrant you will need to remove or not install the push/pull cable bracket.

You will likely need to modify the aircraft sub panel to accept the depth of the GPS navigator, if you have one. The distance between the sub panel and the instrument panel is too short for it to fit.

There is probably more. On a different but related topic, if you are planning to use the Aerosport interior panels, pay close attention to where you run your wiring on the forward side walls. You will need to run the wiring up high or down low as there is minimal space between the skin and the mid portion of the interior panel.
 
Thanks for the reply, Bob!

You mention using the 310 panel if you had it to do over. I like the look of that panel, but I'm not sure it's practical for me. The RH panel area would be useful for flying from the right seat, but I don't expect to do much of that.

From my experience flying my friend's RV-10 from the right seat, I'd say that any MFD/PFD on the opposite side of the cabin is going to be mostly useless for the pilot, whichever side he/she is on.

I'm thinking of one of the asymmetrical panels so as to move more stuff over to the pilot's side. I might put a G5 or something on the copilot's side just in case it needs to be flown from over there some day.

I really appreciate your discussion of modifications that need to be made. For the GPS navigator, is the depth a concern for the Van's panel as well, or is it unique to the Aerosport panels?
 
Both

The depth concern is basically for any panel; the sub panel is just too close to the panel for a typical aviation radio to fit without modifying the subpanel.

I chose to put screens on both sides as I have multiple pilots in the family, so we can fly from either side.

As far as putting more stuff on the pilot’s side, with the garmin g3x, there is not much else to really need. I would have liked the 310 panel to put another 10” mfd there. In reality, I have been using the right screen as the mfd, which works fine…
 
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Thanks for the reply, Bob!

You mention using the 310 panel if you had it to do over. I like the look of that panel, but I'm not sure it's practical for me. The RH panel area would be useful for flying from the right seat, but I don't expect to do much of that.

From my experience flying my friend's RV-10 from the right seat, I'd say that any MFD/PFD on the opposite side of the cabin is going to be mostly useless for the pilot, whichever side he/she is on.

I'm thinking of one of the asymmetrical panels so as to move more stuff over to the pilot's side. I might put a G5 or something on the copilot's side just in case it needs to be flown from over there some day.

I really appreciate your discussion of modifications that need to be made. For the GPS navigator, is the depth a concern for the Van's panel as well, or is it unique to the Aerosport panels?

I have a symmetric panel and a 10 inch G3x screen in each side. This was intentional as my wife is also a pilot, so each seat has a nice screen in front of it.

That said the distance and angle makes it so the right seat screen isn’t easily usable by the left seat pilot. It’s not “worthless”, just not super convenient. It’s also a stretch to reach across when tightly buckled in

If you want to maximize the utility of multiple screens for the left seat then the standard/g900 is a better choice.

As others have mentioned, depth planning is very important no matter which way you go.
 
Not sure if Geoff has any of them left, but I used his G900 panel. its for two screens, side by side, and the right screen is angled slightly toward the pilot. I really like it. I don't have anyone flying from the right seat, and if they do, its not terrible to use the MFD - i use split screen on the G3X and put the PFD on the right for them.

The G900 is discontinued and I recall when ordering my panel he only had one or two left. its worth asking.
 

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You may want to cut your tunnel cover. Where to cut, will depend on which panel and armrest you install.

When it comes time for your condition inspection, taking the entire tunnel cover may require more effort and time based on the way it comes.

In my case, with the original panel, I cut the tunnel cover just aft of the lower console around where the fuel valve installed. This allows me to leave the tunnel cover on under the panel without having to disassemble the lower console and everything mounted in it. I also installed an access panel beside the fuel pump and filter to enable their removal and inspection.

I’ve being flying with the original panel for eight years. I was thinking of upgrading to the symmetrical panel, but decided against it. I really like having both the PFD and MFD in front of me. I have an AFS 3400s in front of the right seat, but I’ll probably upgrade that to a 5400 in the spring. I have a pair of 5500’s that I upgraded from 4500s several years ago. Old habits and the additional expense is what drove my decision.

If I was building from scratch again, I would reconsider the symmetrical panel.
 
Happy with my 310 Panel

I went with the 310 panel and am happy with it. Picture attached.

I probably went overboard on the Garmin avionics, but with a remote radio and transponder and the G5 on the glare shield it all fits. I also mounted several LRUs on trays mounted behind each of the G3X screens.

I'm an old school Electrical Engineer and wanted individual circuit protection, rather an a VPX type system, with almost everything on breakers. This panel gave me room for all the breakers, as well as seat heater and A/C controls. I had Aerotronics help me with the panel layout starting with my sketch, and with their CADD they found a few spots that needed adjustment. I then had them cut the panel and aluminum reinforcing panel behind it, along with all the switch and breaker panels. They did a great job. Highly recommend them.

If you are careful in the locations and avionics LRU selection, about the only sub-panel cut and reinforcement required will be for the GTN. At least that was my experience.
 

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Not sure if Geoff has any of them left, but I used his G900 panel. its for two screens, side by side, and the right screen is angled slightly toward the pilot. I really like it. I don't have anyone flying from the right seat, and if they do, its not terrible to use the MFD - i use split screen on the G3X and put the PFD on the right for them.

The G900 is discontinued and I recall when ordering my panel he only had one or two left. its worth asking.

Thanks for the picture! He definitely still advertises that panel, and it's one that I'd like to consider for sure.

Do you happen to have a dimensioned drawing of the spaces that can mount avionics in that panel?

Any chance you could post a picture of the right hand side of the panel? Also, the lower part of the center console? I really like your layout ideas.
 
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Geoff has dxf files of the panel inserts for some of his panels on their website

Ah, I see them now. I was assuming they would be linked from the individual product pages, but there's a separate "resources" page that has some drawings and installation instructions for some of the products. Thanks.
 
Thanks for the picture! He definitely still advertises that panel, and it's one that I'd like to consider for sure.

Do you happen to have a dimensioned drawing of the spaces that can mount avionics in that panel?

Any chance you could post a picture of the right hand side of the panel? Also, the lower part of the center console? I really like your layout ideas.

I dont have the dimensions, but here is the full panel pic
 

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I have a symmetric panel and a 10 inch G3x screen in each side. This was intentional as my wife is also a pilot, so each seat has a nice screen in front of it.

That said the distance and angle makes it so the right seat screen isn’t easily usable by the left seat pilot. It’s not “worthless”, just not super convenient. It’s also a stretch to reach across when tightly buckled in

If you want to maximize the utility of multiple screens for the left seat then the standard/g900 is a better choice...

Thanks for the reply, Bob!

You mention using the 310 panel if you had it to do over. I like the look of that panel, but I'm not sure it's practical for me. The RH panel area would be useful for flying from the right seat, but I don't expect to do much of that.

From my experience flying my friend's RV-10 from the right seat, I'd say that any MFD/PFD on the opposite side of the cabin is going to be mostly useless for the pilot, whichever side he/she is on.

I'm thinking of one of the asymmetrical panels so as to move more stuff over to the pilot's side. ...

This is a very timely thread for me because my plane is in the shop awaiting a new panel installation and I'm very much in the process of choosing a physical panel and layout.

In my opinion, the Aerosport 310 panel with three 10.6" screens and the full lower panel extension checks a lot of boxes. But as a larger pilot, I'm convinced the space consumed by the lower panel extension and the center console with the TPM (throttle/prop/mixture) would be too ergonomically limiting (robbing knee and leg room)

I don't have a significant other who likes to fly so I'm leaning toward a compromise of installing the Aerosport Carbon Fiber 10″ EFIS Instrument Panel without the lower center panel extension.

The way I see it, the "pros" of this setup are:

1 - Placing the majority of the viewable screen real estate closest to the pilot who will likely be manipulating the controls the majority of the time.

2 - Maintaining open space below the panel and above the tunnel for knee/leg/thigh space. eg: Comfort.


The "cons" are:

1 - A further reach to the radio stack from the left seat

2 - No full screen/PFD directly in front of a potential right seat pilot.


Every layout will be compromise but I think this compromise provides the best utility for my needs. It's my understanding that the need to physically manipulate the GTN650/GTN750 is only required to select approaches. And the 10.6" screen closest to the right seat could be configured with a PFD which would be more visible to a right seat pilot, when desired.

The red X shows the part of the panel I will not install in order to keep the space above the tunnel open for ergonomic considerations:

GTN 710-2.jpg

GTN710-3.jpg
 
data point

I have the symmetrical panel with the lower center console and upper quadrant.

As a data point, I have had no issues with room for knees and legs. I am 6'1" and 265 lbs...

I wanted a full screen on the right because there are multiple pilots in my family.:D:D

The 310 panel would have been my first choice due to the ability to have the center MFD but it was not available at the time. That said, I find the right screen useable while single pilot but, as you said, it is a bit more inconvenient to reach. I find that I usually set the right screen up with split screen Map and Traffic and typically do not change it much. Everything else is instantly available on the PFD.

Any way you go, the result will be awesome!
 
I have the symmetrical panel with the lower center console and upper quadrant.

As a data point, I have had no issues with room for knees and legs. I am 6'1" and 265 lbs...

I wanted a full screen on the right because there are multiple pilots in my family.:D:D

The 310 panel would have been my first choice due to the ability to have the center MFD but it was not available at the time. That said, I find the right screen useable while single pilot but, as you said, it is a bit more inconvenient to reach. I find that I usually set the right screen up with split screen Map and Traffic and typically do not change it much. Everything else is instantly available on the PFD.

Any way you go, the result will be awesome!


At the moment, I'm leaning toward something like the G900 panel with two 10" G3X displays on the pilot side, with an optional 7" G3X in the right hand side, probably in landscape orientation.

The thing I'm struggling with at the moment is that I think I want push-pull controls rather than a quadrant, and if I use the G900 panel, the GPS navigator (likely a GTN650, but possibly a IFD440) would need to go in the lower center console, and might be obscured by the push-pull engine controls. There's not much panel space to put a navigator in the upper panel along with two 10" displays. The only way I can see that fitting would be to put the navigator all the way to the left (assuming there's enough depth available), but then it becomes practically unaccessible to anyone flying from the right seat. Perhaps it could be controlled via the 7" display on the right hand side, but it would be pretty much physically impossible to effectively use from the right seat, and certainly not within the field of view of a right seat pilot.
 
You may want to cut your tunnel cover. Where to cut, will depend on which panel and armrest you install.

When it comes time for your condition inspection, taking the entire tunnel cover may require more effort and time based on the way it comes.

In my case, with the original panel, I cut the tunnel cover just aft of the lower console around where the fuel valve installed. This allows me to leave the tunnel cover on under the panel without having to disassemble the lower console and everything mounted in it. I also installed an access panel beside the fuel pump and filter to enable their removal and inspection.

I’ve being flying with the original panel for eight years. I was thinking of upgrading to the symmetrical panel, but decided against it. I really like having both the PFD and MFD in front of me. I have an AFS 3400s in front of the right seat, but I’ll probably upgrade that to a 5400 in the spring. I have a pair of 5500’s that I upgraded from 4500s several years ago. Old habits and the additional expense is what drove my decision.

If I was building from scratch again, I would reconsider the symmetrical panel.


Thanks, Bob. Way back when I was still considering the RV-10, I visited you and was able to look at your airplane, and I think you mentioned this. It was a lot of information to take in at the time, but I really appreciated your advice and taking time to show me around your airplane.
 
Can anyone tell me what, if any, weight differential there is between the Aerosport carbon fiber instrument panels and the stock Van's aluminum panel?
 
Can anyone tell me what, if any, weight differential there is between the Aerosport carbon fiber instrument panels and the stock Van's aluminum panel?

There are a lot of aftermarket options for the RV-10. For me, none provide reason to not use the stock panel. Keep in mind that many, if not most builders will want to change something on the panel after flying the plane. The stock panel makes this easy as it only involves a new ~$30 aluminum blank from Van’s, some time cutting holes and paint.

My old (~10 years) RV-10 is now on it’s fourth panel revision. I did two over the first four years and the new owner did two since.

Carl
 
There are a lot of aftermarket options for the RV-10. For me, none provide reason to not use the stock panel. Keep in mind that many, if not most builders will want to change something on the panel after flying the plane. The stock panel makes this easy as it only involves a new ~$30 aluminum blank from Van’s, some time cutting holes and paint.

My old (~10 years) RV-10 is now on it’s fourth panel revision. I did two over the first four years and the new owner did two since.

Carl

That's a good point, but the Aerosport panels do incorporate panel inserts that can easily be reconfigured and replaced.
 
This is a very timely thread for me because my plane is in the shop awaiting a new panel installation and I'm very much in the process of choosing a physical panel and layout.

In my opinion, the Aerosport 310 panel with three 10.6" screens and the full lower panel extension checks a lot of boxes. But as a larger pilot, I'm convinced the space consumed by the lower panel extension and the center console with the TPM (throttle/prop/mixture) would be too ergonomically limiting (robbing knee and leg room)

I don't have a significant other who likes to fly so I'm leaning toward a compromise of installing the Aerosport Carbon Fiber 10″ EFIS Instrument Panel without the lower center panel extension.

The way I see it, the "pros" of this setup are:

1 - Placing the majority of the viewable screen real estate closest to the pilot who will likely be manipulating the controls the majority of the time.

2 - Maintaining open space below the panel and above the tunnel for knee/leg/thigh space. eg: Comfort.


The "cons" are:

1 - A further reach to the radio stack from the left seat

2 - No full screen/PFD directly in front of a potential right seat pilot.


Every layout will be compromise but I think this compromise provides the best utility for my needs. It's my understanding that the need to physically manipulate the GTN650/GTN750 is only required to select approaches. And the 10.6" screen closest to the right seat could be configured with a PFD which would be more visible to a right seat pilot, when desired.

The red X shows the part of the panel I will not install in order to keep the space above the tunnel open for ergonomic considerations:

View attachment 18967

View attachment 18968

I'm in the decision phase as well and am leaning toward this option. Not sure I really need that lower center panel or 3 screens.

To confirm, is the panel area holding the navigator tilted toward the pilot? It appears so but tough to confirm via pictures.

Also, does anyone know if the 310 panel and efis 10" panel have the same height dimensions? Would there be more legroom to the bottom of the panel with the 10"efis or do they both come down the same distance?
 
I'm in the decision phase as well and am leaning toward this option. Not sure I really need that lower center panel or 3 screens.

To confirm, is the panel area holding the navigator tilted toward the pilot? It appears so but tough to confirm via pictures.

Also, does anyone know if the 310 panel and efis 10" panel have the same height dimensions? Would there be more legroom to the bottom of the panel with the 10"efis or do they both come down the same distance?

Yes, the radio section of the panel is angled slightly toward the left seat pilot.

I'm not 100% sure but I think the vertical dimensions are the same between the 10" EFIS and 310 panel.

I ordered the 10" EFIS panel a few weeks ago, without the lower center extension.
 
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