I have some from an earlier 182 that I've generated. They are in drawn in FreeCAD 0.20.
It might be a good start. I can tell you how I generated them. I had a drawing in Solidworks through the EAA program but they went away with the current Solidworks-EAA incarnation and I decided I'd never put my work in the hands of a proprietary software company lease again. I might have a few of those files floating around but I'm not sure. If you want, I'll look for them, but I can no longer read or change them.
I took the prints from the Cessna 182 (69-72) parts manual, found the stationary panel drawing that matches most closely to what was in my airplane. I imported and scaled it based on the exact measurements from the airplane panel, then started drawing from there. The first cut came out very close with a few minor tweaks.
I can discuss how I did it with FreeCAD and get you started, if it helps.
It might be a good start. I can tell you how I generated them. I had a drawing in Solidworks through the EAA program but they went away with the current Solidworks-EAA incarnation and I decided I'd never put my work in the hands of a proprietary software company lease again. I might have a few of those files floating around but I'm not sure. If you want, I'll look for them, but I can no longer read or change them.
I took the prints from the Cessna 182 (69-72) parts manual, found the stationary panel drawing that matches most closely to what was in my airplane. I imported and scaled it based on the exact measurements from the airplane panel, then started drawing from there. The first cut came out very close with a few minor tweaks.
I can discuss how I did it with FreeCAD and get you started, if it helps.
Greentips
that would be brilliant! Yes that would help a great deal. I have a 1973 182P and can modify from what you have as a starting point. Please share whatever CAD files you still have. Yes, I’d appreciate FreeCAD and how you got it working, etc. Thank you!
that would be brilliant! Yes that would help a great deal. I have a 1973 182P and can modify from what you have as a starting point. Please share whatever CAD files you still have. Yes, I’d appreciate FreeCAD and how you got it working, etc. Thank you!
So, the CAD files I used to CnC cut a piece and check fit. The fit is very close. Depending on which model year you have, there is a problem with my original concept. On my C182, the yoke is mounted to a strut attached to the firewall and the instrument panel cutouts. This panel is mounted via direct attachment and 3/8" shock mounts to the stationary panel. You can find more information from the Cessna parts manual. The yoke support at the instrument mounting panel and an angle above the switch row on mine is angled forward at the lowest part to above the switch row, then bent out at about a 43 degree angle which forms the lower attach point for the Cessna sub-panel. This aligns the panel with the face of the yoke strut, but gives a 3/8" standoff from the rim portion of the stationary panel. This works great for shock mounts, but not so well for the Dynon panel cutout. I'll be meeting with my sheet metal guy tomorrow at the hangar to see what ideas he has.
A second issue arose. The factory put a yoke wiring standoff on the yoke strut which interfered with the Dynon panel mount shelf. It fix this, we removed that standoff and will move it further back on the yoke strut so it will not interfere with the Dynon shelf. I love the shelf concept and we will make it work, but there may be some jiggary-pokary to get it to fit properly. We are looking to see if we can get the Dynon mount to sit flat above the yoke strut to keep the ADAHRS to within specs without a shim. I'm pretty sure this will be successful, but then, I am an optimist.
More news tomorrow.
A second issue arose. The factory put a yoke wiring standoff on the yoke strut which interfered with the Dynon panel mount shelf. It fix this, we removed that standoff and will move it further back on the yoke strut so it will not interfere with the Dynon shelf. I love the shelf concept and we will make it work, but there may be some jiggary-pokary to get it to fit properly. We are looking to see if we can get the Dynon mount to sit flat above the yoke strut to keep the ADAHRS to within specs without a shim. I'm pretty sure this will be successful, but then, I am an optimist.
More news tomorrow.
Update long overdue. The Skyview HDX is installed, taxi and flight tested. The FreeCAD system was very helpful in designing and finalizing the panel. I now have a panel drawing set which will permit a laser cut of Al and used a local airframe manufacturer in Minnesota to cut the panel. The process took about half a minute on the machine and was able to directly use my FreeCAD output. The biggest obstacles were working around the yoke support strut and bushing assembly. I ended up re-using the Cessna yoke bushing with a 3d printed spacer set to get the fit perfect. The end result was rock solid and I was able to install the whole system without drilling a single new hole in the Cessna stationary panel.
The final panel has the D10A, Skyview HDX 1100, A/P control and Baro knobs. I kept the VOR/LOC/GS head and the King KX155 as backup and the Terra ADF-100 in the panel (for now, anyway) as backup instruments. All fit well with some metalwork modifications to the Dynon tray. Dynon has come out with a new tray that will probably worked better. I looked it over when I was in Peachtree City, Georgia a few weeks ago and I think it will probably be a better fit without re-work but I don't know that. The mods I made to the original version was to remove material over the yoke strut, shift the Dynon up about 1 cm, trim the upper outer (left) edge of the tray to clear the Cessna stationary panel, which gave me clearance to install and remove without difficulty.
My storm scope will move the the copilot panel when I get ready to install the second Dynon display and backup ADAHRS. Now that it's in the airplane, I am very impressed with it.
The final panel has the D10A, Skyview HDX 1100, A/P control and Baro knobs. I kept the VOR/LOC/GS head and the King KX155 as backup and the Terra ADF-100 in the panel (for now, anyway) as backup instruments. All fit well with some metalwork modifications to the Dynon tray. Dynon has come out with a new tray that will probably worked better. I looked it over when I was in Peachtree City, Georgia a few weeks ago and I think it will probably be a better fit without re-work but I don't know that. The mods I made to the original version was to remove material over the yoke strut, shift the Dynon up about 1 cm, trim the upper outer (left) edge of the tray to clear the Cessna stationary panel, which gave me clearance to install and remove without difficulty.
My storm scope will move the the copilot panel when I get ready to install the second Dynon display and backup ADAHRS. Now that it's in the airplane, I am very impressed with it.
How did you mount this, specifically? I've got a monolithic panel similar to this that I'm having difficulty mounting on a TR182. The panel provided to us has the displays centered over the yokes, which puts the co-pilot's display in the curve where Cessna had the panel canted over to give the pilot a better view of the 4in1 gauge. That bend means the pilot's and co-pilot's side don't occupy the same planar space.
You can't bring the pilot's side aft because it has to be the mounting surface for the yoke assembly, and you can't move the co-pilot's forward for similar reasons.
Then there's the whole, weird, 60 degree bend in the circuit breaker panel they made to stiffen the whole arrangement, making a monolithic panel seem like a non-starter, but here it is, and it looks pretty good. Seriously - what was your method there?
The panel itself on the pilot's side is flat. I went with a two part panel for the reasons you mention. I would have preferred the monolithic panel. We kept the radio stack the sameAfter looking at how Cessna did this in the M/N series airframe, it seemed a better way to go. My original plan was to re-work or make an appropriate angle bracket to mount the new Dynon pilot side panel to the top of the circuit breaker panel. The IA disagreed. He and the sheet metal guy agreed that we could safely take the bend out of the circuit panel. This created a new series of problem with fit of the HDX1100 on the Dynon supplied tray. It helped the forward obstacle clearances for connections to the Dynon instruments, mainly the defroster vent assembly. If you look at the Cessna Parts Manual, 182 Parts Manual (62-73 Annotated) page 402 of 722, for mine, with some twists, you get an idea of how Cessna planned and built the panel. It looks like the breaker/switch panel is not structural and is placed with flush rivets mounting to the stationary panel.
The second problem it created was clearance with the supporting structure for the aft portion of the yoke. This attaches forward at the firewall, and contains integral support for both the aileron cables/pulleys and the elevator cables. We decided messing with this is a bad idea. So we had to make clearance. I solved this by trimming the Dynon supplied instrument mounting tray in the upper left corner which provided clearance with the stationary panel. I also trimmed the bottom stiffener significantly where it straddled the control yoke structures. Dynon and the IA and sheet metal A&P all agreed with this.
The third problem created was clearance issues with the aft (pilot side) yoke support structure which attached to the original instrument mount panel with six #8-32 screws and supported the yoke bushing and strut at the pilot position of the yoke. Since there was now a 1/4" offset, we fabricated a spacer for the Yoke bushing to ensure solid interface between the panel, the yoke bushing assembly and the yoke strut. A second spacer set was created for the right side at the radio rail which provided a rock solid mount to the offset portion of the panel. I also replaced the 50+ year old yoke bushing. Now the yoke motion feels much better. In looking at this problem, I also noted a number of radio shop bonuses like RG-58 and leads resting on control cables. These were all re-routed away from controls and are now much better secured and every single wire that could be moved was labeled with BEE2 shrink labels was labeled on each end. We did not drill a single new hole in the stationary panel and replaced the worn or broken plate nuts with new, fresh MS21075 (or whatever the originals were) replacements. We used these to give make it easier to R&R the Dynon panel.
The end result was a much cleaner installation. I've attached the pertinent Cessna PM I used for the analysis and design. There is a Cessna 182 stationary panel replacement STC but it looks like you'd have to take half the airplane apart to use it and that's not something I'm excited to do in a 60 year old airplane.
I haven't started on the right side yet, mainly because the airplane and its pilot needs to fly for a bit. In scouting out the right side, I've noticed that Cessna mounted a mounting plate under the panel midway between the firewall and the stationary panel which seems to me to be an ideal place to re-mount the EMS-220 which will replace the EI CGR30 for instruments and the ship's tach. This will permit the Dynon EGT/CGT, Carb Temp, OT/OP and fuel flow sensor harnesses to stay on the right side at the present instrumentation firewall penetration saving a massive amount of cross cockpit wiring in very limited space and replacing it with a single skyview network cable. Once the EMS is relocated and fully connected, I can remove the CGR30, the ship's fuel gauges, ammeter and tachometer freeing up that space for the secondary ADAHRS and the HDX800 planned for that space. We are not planning to change the angle on the copilot side but will mount to the existing sheet metal, removing only material to accommodate the new instrumentation.
That is the plan. We will see what really happens.
The second problem it created was clearance with the supporting structure for the aft portion of the yoke. This attaches forward at the firewall, and contains integral support for both the aileron cables/pulleys and the elevator cables. We decided messing with this is a bad idea. So we had to make clearance. I solved this by trimming the Dynon supplied instrument mounting tray in the upper left corner which provided clearance with the stationary panel. I also trimmed the bottom stiffener significantly where it straddled the control yoke structures. Dynon and the IA and sheet metal A&P all agreed with this.
The third problem created was clearance issues with the aft (pilot side) yoke support structure which attached to the original instrument mount panel with six #8-32 screws and supported the yoke bushing and strut at the pilot position of the yoke. Since there was now a 1/4" offset, we fabricated a spacer for the Yoke bushing to ensure solid interface between the panel, the yoke bushing assembly and the yoke strut. A second spacer set was created for the right side at the radio rail which provided a rock solid mount to the offset portion of the panel. I also replaced the 50+ year old yoke bushing. Now the yoke motion feels much better. In looking at this problem, I also noted a number of radio shop bonuses like RG-58 and leads resting on control cables. These were all re-routed away from controls and are now much better secured and every single wire that could be moved was labeled with BEE2 shrink labels was labeled on each end. We did not drill a single new hole in the stationary panel and replaced the worn or broken plate nuts with new, fresh MS21075 (or whatever the originals were) replacements. We used these to give make it easier to R&R the Dynon panel.
The end result was a much cleaner installation. I've attached the pertinent Cessna PM I used for the analysis and design. There is a Cessna 182 stationary panel replacement STC but it looks like you'd have to take half the airplane apart to use it and that's not something I'm excited to do in a 60 year old airplane.
I haven't started on the right side yet, mainly because the airplane and its pilot needs to fly for a bit. In scouting out the right side, I've noticed that Cessna mounted a mounting plate under the panel midway between the firewall and the stationary panel which seems to me to be an ideal place to re-mount the EMS-220 which will replace the EI CGR30 for instruments and the ship's tach. This will permit the Dynon EGT/CGT, Carb Temp, OT/OP and fuel flow sensor harnesses to stay on the right side at the present instrumentation firewall penetration saving a massive amount of cross cockpit wiring in very limited space and replacing it with a single skyview network cable. Once the EMS is relocated and fully connected, I can remove the CGR30, the ship's fuel gauges, ammeter and tachometer freeing up that space for the secondary ADAHRS and the HDX800 planned for that space. We are not planning to change the angle on the copilot side but will mount to the existing sheet metal, removing only material to accommodate the new instrumentation.
That is the plan. We will see what really happens.
Installer and I designed/created a spacer between the OEM pilot side panel and the new single flat panel all the way across. There is about a 1 inch gap behind the pilot side of the new panel to the old frame/structure. Radio stack was also moved forward with a custom bracket that allows for adjustable depth of the audio panel and nav/com. This avoids two or more pieces and keeps everything at the same depth. The original yoke supports remain exactly where they were and the new panel has a floating hole that allows pilot side yoke to move freely through new panel. The glare shield was also modified to remove the portion that stepped towards the prop on the pilot side and is now trimmed to match depth of co-pilot side. The entire panel is thick enough that it is structurally supporting the avionics tray behind the PFD... the MFD has a void behind it other than Dynon networking cables.
I have a time lapse of the install here if you want to pause along the way and see the structure/setup.
362PC - Avionics Upgrade April 4 - July 14 2023
I have a time lapse of the install here if you want to pause along the way and see the structure/setup.
362PC - Avionics Upgrade April 4 - July 14 2023
Hey, thanks for this. It's strangely familiar. Unfortunately, all the key points I'm really curious about aren't actually present or easy to figure out from the video.
Your panel has better/wider spacing of the display units which allows a bit more flexibility in the mounting and avoids having the co-pilot's display "in the bend" but it's irrelevant because you just spaced it out to keep it flat all the way across, anyway, which might still be on the table for us. I'll have to do some investigation.
Thanks again.
correct the right seat display and autopilot panel "span" the bend as there is no angles to compensate for when moving from side to side. The structure behind the far right side of the panel is un-modified, as you move to the pilot side spacers were installed to keep everything flat.
Yeah, I gathered that just from your earlier description. I had just been hoping to see some closer detail of it, but it looks like I've arrived at a similar solution.
This is the best photo I could find of the stand off. The bare aluminum between the primered old 6 pack cluster and the white template metal. The old 6 pack cluster was used for connecting to the nose and was significantly trimmed out to allow for the HDX mounting tray behind the display.Yeah, I gathered that just from your earlier description. I had just been hoping to see some closer detail of it, but it looks like I've arrived at a similar solution.
