Panel #5 - design
“Come on, you should have seen this coming!”
Really, panel #5 was already being lusted over as I was cutting #4 on the CNC plasma table.
This is not going to be a new design but an incremental improvement to the old concept, and will still allow the panel to be removed as a whole, and brought home for further tinkering.
The first thing you should know about the old panel is that it has been performing very well, and has logged quite a bit of IMC, as well as a few actual instrument approaches, and if you made it to Sun & Fun 2019 you would know that getting out of there and making it home would not have happened any other way.
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| Leaving S&F 2019 required an IFR clearance since most of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina were socked in tight. |
At this point I could have just been happily flying about (and I have), but there is just one more thing that I wanted to incorporate into the panel… a COM2.
Although there are many reasons why that is a worthy addition, let’s just say it helps lower your workload during IFR operations by allowing you to remain on Center frequency with COM1 while checking the ATIS/AWOS (weather) simultaneously on COM2, it is also a great backup in case of COM1 failure, turning an emergency situation requiring priority handling from ATC (read unpleasant paperwork), into a non event.
Problem is that you cannot just have two radios without a way of switching between them, so adding a second radio would necessarily require adding an Audio Panel as well.
Next thing you know, this past Christmas Santa brought JT a new Trig remote radio and a Trig audio panel. I know, JT is such a lucky girl. I wish I had gotten something that nice for Christmas 😉.
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| Trig remote radio TY-91 |
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| Trig audio panel TMA45 |
Needless to say, the upgrade would require a complete redo of the panel, its backplate, and the wiring, So, I spent most of January and February figuring things out, and that required a few email exchanges with the Trig folks which by the way have been delightful to work with.
Let me first remind you what JT’s panel #4 looks like…
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| Not a Beasley or Wade Parton's like panel, but very effective and redundant. |
And now what I envision it to be like…
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| Moved things around a little, and added 8 repeater lights for important GNS480 functions |
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| Back plate got expanded a little and now has a few more holes in it |
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| The black box sitting over the GNS480 is a Deslumpifier |
The Deslumpifier is basically a bank of capacitors (plus other electronic wizardry) that keeps the GPS from shutting down and rebooting during possible engine restarts near the runway (read CHT management).
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| Photoshopped new panel |
Wiring was a bit of a challenge, and a year after panel #4 I had mostly forgotten how to use the OmniGraffle software, so I had to figure that out all over again. Adding the two new units affected a lot of other systems due to changes in the back plate connectors choices.
This is what I have drawn up so far (bear in mind it all could be wrong and/or change at any time)…
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| Instrument panel wiring |
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| Radio and audio panel wiring |
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| Infinity stick and Push To Test wiring |
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| Instrument panel power delivery wiring |
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| ADS-B out wiring |
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| ELT wiring |
So, we are talking about doing quite a bit of work during the colder months of the year in a cold and dimly lit hangar that is 45 minutes away from my home. I am sure I could do a much better job in my shop at home since it is insulated, heated/cooled, electrified (new 250A panel), and brightly lit by twelve 4’ fluorescent lights, plus I could work in my pajamas.
As much as I weighted the pros and cons of taking JT apart and bringing it home versus working in the hangar, it was difficult to make that decision, but eventually I elected to work from home.
Next time I’ll go over what it took to bring JT home.
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