Nice job Tom , very clean with not too much "stuff". you do nice work . Bruce N199CL
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Nice job Tom , very clean with not too much "stuff". you do nice work . Bruce N199CL
looks good tom! i'm jealous.
Old School, but I just got this IV-1200 in the air for first time in ten years, on Floats and she is a beatifull thing,,,
I love your "old-school" panel, Craig! It's beautiful.
Well thanks,
I started flying in 1988, did 60 hrs or so, life happened and never completed liscence, last October, I said to myself after 25 years of not flying, I'm goin back to get that Liscence, April I got it, May I did Seaplane rating, July I Trucked this beautiful Kitfox IV home , and Yesterday I flew her for the first time, and what a feeling it was...
The old school panel is what I liked most about this airplane when I first saw it...
Panel before and after remodelling. Vixen has 1025 hrs. since 1995 :).
Yes -- and EFIS shows a cross wind of 50 knots:D.
Mike,
Can't wait to see this one completed!
Any chance someone could post the 'Behind the panel' photos? I am trying hard to get mine at neat as possible but I might be expecting to much.
-Tom
In my album (Link) I have a couple of photos of behind my panel.
The man who built my plane (now deceased) was very detailed oriented.
This is my wiring.
My Dynon Skyview and Garmin SL40 wiring. The last photo shows my tilt-down panel that rotates down 90 degrees for servicing the backside. By leaving long enough service loops in the wiring it allows the panel (when bottom 4 screws are removed) to tilt down without disconnecting any wires. This system does not require removing the boot cowl to have full access to the instrument bay and its wiring.
Wow, nice workmanship!
Smart, very smart.
Just got money! Bought panels this weekend. Going to order wire harness and hub. Going to cover panel with leather black going all garmin
I like the fold down panel feature, very clean work we can all learn from
It is NOT wired yet... starting this week on that task!
After having been in the techy world my whole career, I have no desire to go to the glass cockpit route... I want the old steam stuff, a scarf, and a leather helmet!
To each his own, regarding glass vs. steam gauges, but I venture to say that you will be carrying some sort of portable GPS device. Why not build it into the panel so you won't have to mount it on some sort of jury rigged mount or on your lap?
Jim,
Excellent point...but.... I am now entering "retirement flying".... no more Army helicopter gunships, IFR Cessnas, etc...
Yes, I even sold my full IFR Cessna 172 after many years of faithfull flying. She is now in the skies over South Africa of all places. I sold her because I am seriously bored with the gizmos, and wish to fondly return to the flying I did as a young man in Alaska. 99% of all my Cessna flying right before I sold her was VFR, local out to 150 miles... I can find my way there and home by sight... it is easy when ya live in the southwest end of the huge Sacramento Valley!
The Kitfox to me is a return to the Taylorcraft and Cubs, small, slow, and just plain fun to do. I no longer have to be anywhere fast... and looking and experiencing is the pleasant thrill not the high tech gizmos.
I do hope to tag along with Lowell on some adventures, and I will then hang a suction cup mini iPad with Foreflight in it on the panel (hence to open right side) but will still be looking at a paper Sectional... I am still looking for the scarf and leather helmet!
I hear you GW and it sounds like you will have an iPad if you need it. I was on one of those local VFR navigate by sight flights earlier this spring and I stayed out just a little too late. The temp/dew point spread was close all day but as I headed home the fog just started to form and as I approached my home airport I suddenly couldn't recognize anything on the ground. I used my GPS and got right on top of my home field and then I could see it looking straight down, landed OK. Sure was glad for a little technology that time.
I was too embarrassed to post a panel picture until now. This thread started over 4 years ago so I looked back through this entire thread just to make sure I hadn't. It is interesting to see the panels getting more and more high tech ans the time goes on.
Here's the other end of the spectrum. "Hands off" during one of my first phase one flights. Note the speed. later I installed wing strut fairing and now its 85mph.
Jim Ott,
Yes... you have an excellent point, well taken... thank you!
No Reason at all to be embarrassed! The workmanship looks great. Simple and Very effective panel without the high expense and added weight of High Tech.
I too was a bit reluctant to do the deed as I still prefer round gauges and push pull circuit breakers. I mounted the IFly on a mount made to bring the screen closer to my aging eyes.
Picture one shows the panel with the doors closed.
Attachment 7989
Pic two shows the video camera monitor in position and the chart pocket door open.
Attachment 7990
IT'S ALIVE, IT'S ALIVE, BWAHAHAHA!
Sorry, it's just so exciting when the electronics light up for the first time and all the smoke stays inside where it belongs.
John,
Wow!! That's BEAUTIFUL!!! We will now call you "Panel Man".
Yes, Very sharp clean looking panel there. And Yea, it sucks when the Genie comes out cause you just can't get it to go back in!!
Well done! Is it just as pretty behind the panel?
Awesome. Please share details on the ipad mount, the switches, and the polished sticks...
Alive and looking Real Good !!
Behind the panel is a work in progress Paul. Still needs some pretty-fying and some bundling. Once everything checks out OK I'll tear into it with my wire lacing cord. Have really learned to like that stuff.
The Ipad mount is a FlyPad flush mount. They have a video on their website that shows how the Ipad snaps in and out.
https://www.flypadmount.com/
The switches are the round rockers that Kitfox sells. Same thing they use in their LSAs.
The sticks are the stock sticks that I polished with Nuvite. Also used it on the landing gear, door hinges etc. really makes things shine.
http://perfectpolish.com/
It all looks beautiful, John!
Do you apply a sealer after polishing? I have read where others polish the gear frequently to keep it bright.
Is your ipad a mini or full size ipad?
No sealer, but the Nuvite is supposed to have some protectant included in the finish compound. Time will tell how long the shine lasts.
The Ipad is a mini.
Awesome panel John, thanks for the link to the mount. I had a good look through the website and have it saved. I love the idea that there is provision for a set of standard gauges on the backside of the mount for back up.
The site lists the backup gauges provision as optional but I didn't see a choice to add when ordering. Maybe you just drill holes in the back plate?
Don't know the answer to this one, but the company has been very helpful with answering questions via email.
orders@flypadmount.com
I just got my panel painted last week and installed the CBs and switches over the weekend. It is similar to John's panel in that it will have a G3X Touch, Garmin GTX-200 com and an iPad mini. I have an AirGizmos mount for the iPad.
It was a little tight to fit all of the stuff on the left side with the molded fiberglass panel that I have.
Finished the panel and performed a final interference fit check yesterday before we start wiring. Laid out a birch plywood mock up in the KF before machining the panel on the bench milling machine purchased in the aircraft tool isle of Harbor Freight. Decided to install AS. ALt, Compass, and a clock on the co-pilot side for my co-pilot wife Kathy and passengers. We have a AFS 10" glass instrument panel and our bird is a Rotax 914 for the high altitudes here in NM and the Rockies. Installed a 'capped' AUX 12V power outlet for the hand-held back-up iCOM radio just in front of the trim switch. The BNC between the throttle and choke goes to separate antenna for the hand-held and better gain. Works pretty well.... I can hear ATIS at KAEG, 30 miles away from the house with the KF sitting in my driveway. Build partner Kitfox Rick (father-in-law) has an iPad, and needs to purchase a mounting bracket for installation about the glove compartment. I took my time laying out the panel and indexing each center with the panel screwed to a wooden 1" x 12" board on the milling bed. Purchased a combination 2" & 3.125" punch from Spruce and I'm making it available to a couple of other EAA chapter members with builds in-progress. Instead of silkscreening the panel, I used clear OfficeJet full-page adhesive labels, with another clear label on top of the printed sheet. We'll see how long it lasts, I can always print more. Layout was done on ViaCad, a pretty inexpensive Cadd system available on-line or at OfficeMax. Does 3D drawings too. I have about 50 hrs in the final panel instrument assembly. Powder coating was done at local coating shop here in Albuquerque.
http://www.teamkitfox.com/Forums/att...1&d=1425820288
http://www.teamkitfox.com/Forums/att...1&d=1425820288
http://www.teamkitfox.com/Forums/att...1&d=1425820288
BobRS & Kitfox Kath
N104Y, SS7, Rotax 914
Alb, NM
The cutout opening dimensions are 7.95" by 5.61"
The overall dimensions (behind panel) are 8.75" by 5.94"