In the attached picture you can see my panel. I (with the terrific help of
Bud Yerly of Custom Flight) made the panel easily removable - takes about 1
0 minutes to remove the entire panel. This has paid off some many times, an
d makes doing IFR 2 year checks very easy if the inspector wants to check e
verything.
My plane is IFR with a Garmin 430W, a 330 GTX Mode S transponder, a Grand R
apids HX, an engine monitor, a Tru-Trax 2 axis autopilot, and several steam
gauges. Yes, it all fits but it is tight. And it is heavy - 42 lbs. for th
e panel. And it produces a great deal of heat. So we put in a three hose fa
n drawing air from the passenger foot well, and two exhaust fans - original
two inch (as shown) but now one is a 4 inch fan. The top fans are on a the
rmostat and a timer, running off the secondary battery. When I land, if the
temps are up in the panel, the fan goes on for about 45 minutes.
The three hoses from the fan go to the HX, 430W, and the EXP buss box (on t
he right side of picture with all the plugs over top of it). The box was ma
de to improve cooling and keep stray wires or dropped tools from causing sh
orts in the EXP buss). The two hoses - to the Garmin and to the HX are not
in the picture.
The secondary battery also runs the radio and trim and autopilot through a
"soaring" buss for use when the engine is off for soaring (I have the glide
r wings also), and can be used for clearance delivery on the ground so you
don't have to run the engine (and possibly overheat) or wear the main batte
ry down when getting your clearance. I do have the top mounted, belt driven
45 amp alternator as well as the standard 20 amp Rotax alternator. Even if
I lose the HX or the main battery I still have the Tru-Trax to keep wings
level and to get heading. The steam gauges give me altitude, speed and cl
imb/descend rate. And in extremis the Foreflight gives me an additional bac
kup.
I do have a spare handheld ratio with its own antenna with a connection to
the secondary battery if I lose the Garmin. It is not tied into the interco
m system so I have to plug it into my headset if I want to use it.
After getting the system up and running I have had no problems keeping the
heat down behind the panel. I did originally have panel heat problems when
doing my flying off time in Florida in the summer - outside temps at altitu
de above 95 degrees F.
Good luck. I think the work necessary to make the panel removable is worth
it. I would also recommend making the connections to the engine easy to dis
connect so you don't have to cut anything when the engine needs to be remov
ed.
The system works great and the Europa is great IFR platform, except I could
occasionally use another radio - but no room. Just takes some planning.
Gary Leinberger
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