Non-standard panel

Caramon13

Caramon13

Pattern Altitude
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May 18, 2015
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Sarasota, FL
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Romeo
Recently ran into an issue with my DG installation where the new DG is a bit longer then the one installed, causing control issues.

I suggested swapping out the DG for the VSI since the VSI is higher and right of the current DG location.

My question is does any of this "moving around" have any impact on anything other than just visual aesthetics? It's still a traditional 6-pack, just slightly..out of order
 
Interference with structures behind the panel is common. My own panel was 85-90% complete before a clearance problem was discovered. I elected not to start over but rather to swap positions with a couple of instruments. I figured to shop for a shorter AH and fix it but 5 years have passed and I haven't yet. No big deal to me.
 
Is this a IFR plane or a VFR only plane?

If she's IFR I'd just get a shorter DG.

Flipping stuff around is OK to a degree, but having the DG under the AI is one of my sticking points.

Of course that's just me and how I fly.
 
It all depends what you train in. If you are used to a non-standard panel, it won't be any big deal.

Having always trained in standard panels, I probably wouldn't want to go fly IMC with a non-standard in front of me.
 
It's an IFR plane. I'm used to seeing the DG under the AI as well, but there's not much I can do at the moment since the old DG is dead and this is the only replacement I can get on short notice.

Looks like they can't move the VSI, so the DG is going right under the Airspeed, to the right of the clock, the autopilot is moving under that and they are moving the ELT where the DG was...photo attached.

The good news is at least it'll be closer to the compass so I can see how far it precesses even more..lol.

The thing that concerns me however, is that I have my IFR checkride on Tuesday...not a lot of time to get accustomed to a new panel, though I've gotten so used to not even using the DG on approaches cuz the old one was dead so, maybe it won't matter at all..
 

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The adaptation is simple. At least it was for me. At the time I hopped back and forth between 2 planes with different panels. Somehow I figured it out.
 

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If it's your airplane or one you fly all the time you won't even notice the difference after a while. The new instrument positions will become normal to you
 
Thanks all! I'm hoping to have the plane back in my hands tonight after this change, gonna go fly it and see how difficult/strange it is. I do own it so I anticipate after a while I won't even notice the difference.
 
Caramon13 said:
It's an IFR plane. I'm used to seeing the DG under the AI as well, but there's not much I can do at the moment since the old DG is dead and this is the only replacement I can get on short notice.

Looks like they can't move the VSI, so the DG is going right under the Airspeed, to the right of the clock, the autopilot is moving under that and they are moving the ELT where the DG was...photo attached.

The good news is at least it'll be closer to the compass so I can see how far it precesses even more..lol.

The thing that concerns me however, is that I have my IFR checkride on Tuesday...not a lot of time to get accustomed to a new panel, though I've gotten so used to not even using the DG on approaches cuz the old one was dead so, maybe it won't matter at all..
Click to expand...

VSI is not a required instrument, if that means anything.

Bob Gardner
 
Thanks Bob, more or less I was just concerned about swapping the instruments around in the panel, not necessarily removing any of them permanently. A "re-organization" if you will :)
 
You should see my panel. Mooney just randomly scattered things all over the place. The VSI is in such a position I have to move my hand to read it. You get used to it very quickly.
 
You may eventually run in to buyers not interested in the non-standard arrangement, but in theory if they're in YOUR SCAN they should be legal.
 
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