This month’s panel for planning is a walk over to the experimental kit market where more owners of certified aircraft are building their own machines in record numbers. One of the many benefits of assembling your own kit is designing a custom avionics suite without having to worry about regulatory approvals for the equipment and STCs for the installation. But for the inexperienced builder, the avionics part of the build can be intimidating, but it really doesn’t have to be.
For this Panel Planner 101 feature we spend some time with Van’s RV-10 builder Mark Welch at his build site where he was knee-deep in putting the final touches on a big-screen Garmin package. It’s the G3X Touch with three 10-inch displays in the landscape configuration—dual PFDs and an MFD, plus Garmin’s EIS engine instrumentation system and GFC 500 autopilot. Because this airplane will be a go-places IFR traveler, Welch (duplicating part of the radio stack in his Piper) went with the Garmin GTN 650Xi navigator. Add it all up, including the accessories and some of the meticulous custom work that went into the build, and it’s a time-consuming stage of the build. For this project, Minnesota-based Stein Air curtailed the effort in a big way, but there was still a lot of effort required from the builder.
You spec it, they build it
If you aren’t skilled with critical harness fabrication, one good option is to leave it up to a pro avionics facility like Stein, which specializes in panel fabrication for kit aircraft. The major wiring bundles are built to your specifications, but you’ll still need to route and terminate them appropriately at the various components in the suite.
It’s still a lot of work because routing the bundles while providing chafe and strain protection is important for avoiding problems down the road. Plus, you’ll need to be accurate when you measure the wire-run distances between components. Plus, from a standpoint of being able to access the wiring for regular inspections and upkeep, you want enough cable length to easily remove components and work with them. It’s all the things that professional avionics installers do on a daily basis, but amateur builders don’t generally think about.
Welch took the planning to a high level and brought his panel to the bench and built a cardboard mock-up of the entire panel cowling and laid out all of the components ahead of time. This made Stein’s work even easier and ultimately made Welch’s work in installing the stuff more straightforward.
We’ll look at DIY avionics projects and training options for amateur builders in an upcoming issue.
Watch a video on this RV-10 avionics project:
