Creating a new Instrument Panel - Part 2 - The design and cutting holes!

Design of the new panel

My original plan was to avoid issues with magnetic deviation on the compass, (thou it will still needed to be turned professionally), I tried to keep all of the pneumatic instruments between the electrical driven instrument's, and the compass. But after a number of test layouts, I still found myself putting the switches and fuses near the compass. I know that when the Borgelt Vario was turned on, the compass deviation was the greatest.

I took this drawing to Albuquerque Reprographics to have a pattern copy made to be used as a cutting template for the instrument layout.

There were some slight relocation of the instruments based on the size of their cases, but the finished panel would look similar to the drawing.

I was able to cut the openings using a 57mm, 70mm, and a 80mm hole cutter. the trick to get an even cut is, the panel face needs to be secured flat, and the cutter needs to be spinning fast and then slowly lowered to the panel face. I'm sure it would have worked better on a drill press, but I had to do this by hand.

I then applied a spay coat of my DCC cockpit gray, making sure that the face had a matte finish, you don't need any glare coming off of a glossy panel!

Next post will cover the wiring of the panel.  ... This should be fun!

Ouch!, my back hurts

Streifeneder came through again!

A few months ago, I wrote to Streifeneder about acquiring a replacement seat back. After spending a great deal of time cleaning up the old seat back, I found that after I removed the old polyester material, I couldn't determine what was the correct shape.

In January, they wrote me about finding a seat back. I was delighted!, I didn't need to waste anymore time on the original ,"Old and Busted" seat back.

The new seat back arrived in no time and I was surprised to see how much material was missing on the one I originally had.

  

The old seat back after sanding weighs 553 grams, while the new seat back (on the left), weighs in at 674 grams before painting.

 









What you cannot see in the photos is the thick rounded edges on the new seat back, while the old one has little or no rolled sides.

The replacement seat back required little work to get it prepped for painting. The were a number of bubbles and voids, but they were easy to fill.

I used a lacquer based primer, then sanded the seat back smooth.

I sprayed the seat back with DCC gray paint, that matched the cockpit.

We're moving now! ....... Instrument panel, plumbing wiring,.... install those parts!

New view, New Canopy! Part 2

The next few post will be "playing catch up" on what was done over the long winter months.


Clean up and filling the holes and gaps in the frame!

The plan, as I mentioned earlier, is that I would like to paint the frame, since it looked grungy.

The voids, gaps and holes were filled with an epoxy resin mixed with the cotton flock.  After it cured, I sanded down excess resin.





I used a gray primer paint to fill the fine pits and then used a fine sand paper to even the surface.

The next trick was to replace the latch. I repainted the forward portion of the frame before re-attaching the latch.

I created a jig to hold the frame up, and then with the use of a hot glue gun, I tacked the forward edge of the frame to a board, this will prevent it from shifting,while the resin cures.

I replaced the steel pin in the latch, and created a tape and wax seal around the latch to prevent any resin from seeping into it.  Next, I used my favorite resin mix of cotton flock, and pressed the pin back into place. I worked the resin into the void slowly to prevent any bubbles of air getting trapped. as soon as I acheived the desired level, I placed peel ply over the filled in spot.

After the resin cured, I placed a thin layer of glass cloth over the repaired opening.





After the final cure, I did a test fit of the latch on the fuselage to ensure that I was able to securly close the canopy.

I needed to remove excess resin humps on the latch pin areas, but after that was done, the latch worked perfectly.

The frame is ready to be painted.
 

To protect areas that I don't what paint to hit, I covered the latch with a disposable showercap and taped it securly., I also taped the frame pins and alignment tabs.

The frame was then painted with the DCC gray paint used in the cockpit.




Now that the canopy frame is finished, I'm off to finish the seat back!