What I've been up to... Panel Project

[fdx flyer]

Sorry I haven't been on here much lately.  I've been on MMQB and Jump Ball more during the seasons.   Thought y'all might enjoy pics from what I've been doing to my airplane though.  I was down for about 10 months doing a major panel overhaul.  I did 95 percent of the work myself, under the tutelage of my IA and friend who has an Avionics Shop over in Olive Branch. 

My Bonanza (1961 N35) was the last year of what's called the old "piano key" instrument panel.  It's kinda cool and "art deco", but wasn't very practical for modern instruments, and the radios were all jammed in by my left knee.  I tore all that out and installed an STC'd panel kit.  I found a good deal on the kit on a Beech email list.  The kit I have  is made by a now defunct company called Lancer Engineering.  It's similar to the now available D'Shannon kit, but it had a few things that I liked better.

I got rid of lots of old stuff (KX-170B, Narco Transponder, Narco DME, etc).  I added a GNS430, Sandel 3308 HSI, GTX327 Transponder, Trans-cal encoder, JPI 830, and a few others items.  I certainly could've spent more and got newer stuff, but this project was a compromise.  I was able to add lots of capability, only spending about $10-12k.  I'm surprised at how much I like the Sandel HSI.  It's a nice little unit with lots of capability.  I found it and the accompanying KG102A DG for $1400.

It was a fun project.  Learned lots along the way. 

[john c]

That's impressive.  How much of a market value increase do you think you got?

[fdx flyer]

That's a good question John.  Not sure.  The 430 is non WAAS.  I plumbed all the newer coax for it, but haven't dropped the 3k+ yet on the upgrade.  Also, I don't have a fancy autopilot.  Just a Brittain wing leveler.   Works good, but no guidance. 

I'm definitely upside down on the airplane.  For starters, I overhauled the motor 2 years ago.  It's pretty.  Good paint.  Slightly dated interior.  I've got about $80k in it now.  Maybe get a little over $60k for it.  It's a very nice N model, but the lack of a good autopilot is gonna make it less desirable to the Bonanza buyer. 

I'm very involved in the maintenance.  I enjoy it almost as much as flying.  I like making it a little better every year.  Not planning on selling any time soon, so the market value isn't really a driving factor. I can see myself doing a new interior in a couple of years.  Not sure about the autopilot.  I keep hoping that the new push to make less stringent Part 23 certification requirements will carry over in to making autopilots cheaper.  The capability of the stuff on the experimental market is excellent, and the price is maybe 25% of what you put an STEC in for.  I have all the parts to make my wing leveler into a full blown Brittain B5 autopilot, but that's very old technology.  I'm hesitant to spend money overhauling and installing those parts.  And I'm also not in a position to drop $20k+ on a new autopilot.

[Flying Razorback]

That's a nice looking setup.  Especially with the HSI.  I like the amount of SA you can cram in to that small a space.  Seeing you guys make a hobby of flying in the hangar makes me kind of jealous.  I love being in the air, but I'm jealous of your abilities and knowledge in the hangar.  That would be a lot of fun, kind of like taking care of a classic auto.

[bvillepig]

Great Job and looks great. 

[GusMcRae]

That's impressive!  Especially how much bang for buck.  No telling what you would have spent had you paid the avionics shop to do all that.

My non-WAAS 430 screen is slowly going out.  I've been told to go ahead and bite the bullet and upgrade to WAAS when I do take the plunge on that.  What I've seen is that it will be close to $4,000 to do that. 

[gotyacovered]

ah.... man so 'clutter' free. beautiful. is that an aera you have panel mounted? what is the colorful item just under the glareshield, pilot side?

[fdx flyer]

Yes - Aera 560.  It's mounts on a little swivel bracket behind it that you can't see in the picture.  It's kinda redundant now that I have the iPad mini, but it's still handy, and both the iPad and the Aera show ADS-B weather from my Garmin GDL-39.

The other "colorful item" is an Alpha Systems AOA.  One of my favorite instruments.