Help & Advice on an avionics upgrade path

[JAG]

Just a brief note on support of the Garmin G5s - I have two installed, and it is integrated with my GTN750 and my OLD Century IIB autopilot - and it works great - I could only be happier once they STC the GFC500 for the Skymaster!!!

I have a bit of envy when seeing the GI275 in a friend's aircraft (cleans up panel nicely), however the large display and total functionality and safety of the G5 to an old aircraft is well worth the investment.

I will note that I did the G5 install myself (and integration with the AP) and it works great! I had to retain the horizon that drives the AP, and the G5 HSI integrates beautifully.

Let's keep pressure on Garmin to include the C337 on the GFC500 (or the 600) AML - they are including aircraft types that have far fewer airframes on the US register than the 337...I have let them know this by calling out those types!

Jeff

P.S. Compare and contrast the 2 aircraft panels - one from 1948 and one from 1966... Pretty good for some 'old girls'

[TomM]

Jeff:

Quick question, did you have a new pilot side instrument panel made? I have the same year, just an earlier serial number, and my instruments are not lined up vertically like yours because the clock (same as yours) is mounted right above the yoke (factory hole) which pushes the bottom 2 instruments out so they are not directly lined up with the ones above. I will be installing 2 G5's this year and was wondering what to do about them not lining up vertically.

Thanks! Tom

[hayesjaj]

Love your panel, I'm going to do the exact same thing with the mid cont m93 clock/USB + AV20s, as well as the G4 insight.

Originally Posted by JAG

Just a brief note on support of the Garmin G5s - I have two installed, and it is integrated with my GTN750 and my OLD Century IIB autopilot - and it works great - I could only be happier once they STC the GFC500 for the Skymaster!!!

I have a bit of envy when seeing the GI275 in a friend's aircraft (cleans up panel nicely), however the large display and total functionality and safety of the G5 to an old aircraft is well worth the investment.

I will note that I did the G5 install myself (and integration with the AP) and it works great! I had to retain the horizon that drives the AP, and the G5 HSI integrates beautifully.

Let's keep pressure on Garmin to include the C337 on the GFC500 (or the 600) AML - they are including aircraft types that have far fewer airframes on the US register than the 337...I have let them know this by calling out those types!

Jeff

P.S. Compare and contrast the 2 aircraft panels - one from 1948 and one from 1966... Pretty good for some 'old girls'

[JAG]

TomM,

I fabricated a new pilot side panel out of piece of 2024 T3 (I think it was 0.060" if I recall). I wanted to layout everything exactly as I wanted, remove a few things I no longer needed. I knew it was going to be a tight fit, so I traced out my old panel on some paper, and started laying it out using the old pencil and ruler. I had played around with some online tools, but I needed to be exact.

Once I thought I had a pretty good layout, I transferred my dimensions to a sheet of Lexan, and using a hole saw, made a test panel. This was a key step in making everything work - as you can see from my photos, I had to do a lot of modification to the G5 mount plate to clear the other instruments and the panel mounts at the top. My goal was to get my '6 pack' as high on the panel as I could. Once I made the panel out of Lexan I installed instruments and installed in aircraft. From this I made some changes to my final measurements for the metal panel.

Once I was happy with everything, I made my own metal panel, making the investment in a instrument punching tool (ATS 123C) and the instrument holes template (ATS T123C). Again, I considered the idea of using a local company with a water jet, etc, but this tool did a beautiful job!!! Again, test fitted everything and spent a day with my files customizing all the holes - then had it powder coated locally.

This is not the first instrument panel I have done, and I would not do it any other way. Buying a few tools, some lexan on Amazon and some 2'x2' aluminum from Aircraft Spruce, was so easy, quick and allowed me to get it right the way I wanted it. I strongly encourage you to look at doing the same, so you can lay it out exactly how you want it. I am also happy I went with the flush mount of the G5s.

Good luck!
Jeff