Prosaria wrote:

A1Skinner wrote:

CamTom12 wrote:Totally true. I've got a large blank plate that I can't fill with what I want to put in there because I have a structural tube behind the panel that's in the way!

Ya those pacers are a pain. They have some tubing in bad spots. Really messed with some plans I had for a buddies bushmaster panel...

This pacer seems to have a pretty slick panel... what more could you want in a little PA20?




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That is nice! We were just planning on mounting the iPad in the panel. I really like flush mounted, OCD like that I guess.

a transponder?.......

hotrod180 wrote:a transponder?.......

What's that?

TradeCraft wrote:

hotrod180 wrote:a transponder?.......

What's that?

Lol, wish I didn't have to know

All,
Sorry, I've been busy with life for the last few weeks and didn't notice the activity on this thread. I bit the bullet and spent the $$ for Panel Planner and I could not be happier. It is by far the best money I have spent on my refurbish project. The software is ridiculously easy to use. It is constantly updated with current equipment and it is very simple to export a dxf file that any CNC shop I called could work with.

The designer Gene Velazquez is first rate and very accessible. To give you an example, my cub panel did not fit exactly as the template in the software due to some boot cowl issues unique to my plane. So, I cut out a blank paper template of my panel that would fit the radius of my boot cowl. I sent him the paper copy and he took it, drew it up and sent me the file so I could then lay my instruments out and have it CNC'd. He didn't charge me anything for this service. His company is called One Mile Up and his phone number is 703-642-1177. I highly recommend you give it a shot!

Very nice! Looks great. Glad to hear about the great customer service!

Is “Solidworks” just a CAD program, or does it have all the aviation specific info in it? I guess the XPanel and PanelPlanner might be better for me bc they are simply drag and drop aviation. Thoughts?

colopilot wrote:

fredy wrote:SolidWorks is super cheap ($30 if I remember) if you have a DD214. It's a student license, so as long as your not using it to run a business...

If you have a EAA membership, Solidworks is free there as well.

J3cubcapt wrote:Is “Solidworks” just a CAD program, or does it have all the aviation specific info in it? I guess the XPanel and PanelPlanner might be better for me bc they are simply drag and drop aviation. Thoughts?

colopilot wrote:

fredy wrote:SolidWorks is super cheap ($30 if I remember) if you have a DD214. It's a student license, so as long as your not using it to run a business...

If you have a EAA membership, Solidworks is free there as well.

Welcome over here too

I used to have a complete library of devices I made for AutoCad. The reality of my world was that frequently I would have to go out to the aircraft, someplace not so well supported and do much of it in the field. Even while I worked for Electrospace, I was in cute places like Honduras trying to design new panels for Super Mysters and Hercs. My simple solution was to print 1:1 output of the instruments and radios. I would cut exact heavy paper replicas of the instrument panel. I would then sit in the cockpit and move the devices around until I liked the layout from a visual eyeline and ergonomics point of view. Naturally there where engineering limitations from aircraft structures. Some things had to be in certain places. I could re-stack radios at will and move primary instruments to places I could reach or could see better, real time.

So when I would get my perfect world paper airplane cockpit I would then go to the CAD program. We would cut a plexiglass panel and do trial fits and checks for interference. I still do that today, recently re-jiggering one of the Caravan panels and the 185. The plexiglass phase points out several things you may not have considered, especially in regards to wire bundles and those pesky Cessna 'T's behind the panel. I have had one too many engineers that worked for me at Electrospace never go out to the aircraft in the design phase. This led to the "and how did you plan on getting this in the tail of the A-3?" "Did you look at the access through the Hell Hole?" We where retro fitting older aircraft for one off electric warfare missions. (the A3 was one of the fastest long range cruising aircraft made to date, it could cruise transsonic, lots of aircraft simply could not keep up. F14's had to pop in and out of burner to keep that speed. It is a tough speed for most fighters. We loved them for "Special Missions," they had tons of them in the desert)

So in the words of Darth Vader, "Don’t be too proud of this technological terror you’ve constructed." Sometimes paper & plastic works best.

I'm with dog.

This is a simple one, but paper is quite often fast, simple, and easy to identify conflicts.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/sYiQ4KGcKXC4HaeM7

Hey Hendo,

I have a free online Panel Designer you're welcome to use...