I have owned our 1960 “straight tail” for a couple of years now. We had to replace the case upon purchase and have done a few mods here and there over a couple of flying seasons.

This winter I wanted to dive into a few things I have been really wanting to get done. I started with a panel overhaul.

First, let’s ditch the vacuum system and the heavy wet pump.



Next was to redesign the 1960 layout. Scattered pack vs Six pack is what I think 1960 designers where thinking.



Pulled out the pilot side panel. The panel space on this plane is limited.



The plan with upgrade was the following:
- Flush mount G5’s
- More standardized six pack configuration
- GTN 650
- GTR 225
- GDL 82
- Nulite instrument lighting
- Wiring cleanup



Brian over at Steve’s Aircraft helped me build the panel.




Chief Aircraft did a great job wiring and cleaning up the panel. They way the panel
Is setup now it can be pulled out in one piece in less than 10 mins.

Fired up the panel today after we calibrated the G5’s.



Test flight went perfect. Very happy with the layout and being 2020 compliant.

That looks amazing, Sean!

My panel ('59) looks a lot like your "before" picture, so this gives me a lot of inspiration. Thanks for the in-progress pics, too!

Congrats!

Looks awesome. If it was Terry Jones that did your panel work, he too is awesome, in a grumpy older guy sort of flavor.

Sweet!

Real nice job. Thanks for the pics. Keep us updated on the progress!
Would like to see what the rest of the plane looks like?

Good looking yokes BTW