- Joined
- Feb 15, 2012
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A BIG day, the cut, bent and powder-coated finished panels arrived TODAY! They look gorgeous, and fit into the plane with a perfect fit. They are yet to be engraved with placarding.
The tractor gauges and lighting controls area across the panel will remain black plastic, the color contrast actually gives a very pleasing line, something that is lost with the entire panel cover being replaced.
The two center 3-1/8" holes, as if for an AI & DG, will be populated with the ASPEN. Every mounting screw hole was precisely cut, every cutout, all fitting to the thou'. I can now understand why a custom panel is so costly.
Below you can see kind of the stages, as it was designed, refit, recut, and then again, from cardboard to clear plastic, to the final products.
The wire bundles are definitely taking shape, very few stray wires except the power and grounds at the area of the fuse panel.
When we took the tail cone cover off to check the stab bolts and bearings, decided that the trim aluminum drum & bolt/bushings should be replaced as well. It is only AMU.
Tomorrow the lower pilot's panel and upper co-pilot's panel will be fit in. Finally the fuse cover panel. Last will be the main pilot's panel piece. All the harnessed instruments will be connected to ensure they are talking to each other, then they will be slipped in and secured.
Then the testing and configuring.
It is getting CLOSE!
* Orest
The tractor gauges and lighting controls area across the panel will remain black plastic, the color contrast actually gives a very pleasing line, something that is lost with the entire panel cover being replaced.
The two center 3-1/8" holes, as if for an AI & DG, will be populated with the ASPEN. Every mounting screw hole was precisely cut, every cutout, all fitting to the thou'. I can now understand why a custom panel is so costly.
Below you can see kind of the stages, as it was designed, refit, recut, and then again, from cardboard to clear plastic, to the final products.
The wire bundles are definitely taking shape, very few stray wires except the power and grounds at the area of the fuse panel.
When we took the tail cone cover off to check the stab bolts and bearings, decided that the trim aluminum drum & bolt/bushings should be replaced as well. It is only AMU.
Tomorrow the lower pilot's panel and upper co-pilot's panel will be fit in. Finally the fuse cover panel. Last will be the main pilot's panel piece. All the harnessed instruments will be connected to ensure they are talking to each other, then they will be slipped in and secured.
Then the testing and configuring.
It is getting CLOSE!
* Orest
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