RivetBangers.com

Yeah, I know were mainly a bunch of RV heads here, but Im giddy as a pig in pooh and need to spill it. Some people might remember that my 172 is out for a new interior and metal panel mod. I just got some update pictures from the shop and need to show them before I pop. Woohoo !!








-- John

Lookin' good John... you're right to be psyched!

spike wrote:Yeah, I know were mainly a bunch of RV heads here, but Im giddy as a pig in pooh and need to spill it. Some people might remember that my 172 is out for a new interior and metal panel mod. I just got some update pictures from the shop and need to show them before I pop. Woohoo !!

-- John

No more disco orange!

Looks good. My 152 needs a new panel this might be a good way for me to go.

Heres a few pictures of the finished interior. The rest can be found here.









-- John

Wow!! It looks fantastic. Enjoy!

Wow! Like most of us, I've seen the ragged interiors of a few 172 trainers; easy to forget that the faithful Skyhawk can be a nice ride. DeLuxe!:yay:

Wow! Like most of us, I've seen the ragged interiors of a few 172 trainers; easy to forget that the faithful Skyhawk can be
a nice ride. DeLuxe!:yay:

Oooops! So impressed I said it twice!

WOW,
The last time I flew a 172 like this, it cost me 110.00 hr! ouch

Nice panel!!

Ron wrote:WOW,
The last time I flew a 172 like this, it cost me 110.00 hr! ouch

Nice panel!!

Well, since just about everything on/in it is new (this year ) except the tail number, I'm sure it's costing us $110/hour too.

NICE PANEL!

So THAT'S where you put all your spare coin!

My wealthy friend, Spike! What is it like to have a nice plane to fly and be building an even nicer one!?!

I can only dream!

CJ

Umm well, you see, umm, Im really not all that wealthy, just blessed with a good job, a good (working) wife, no kids, and a terrific aircraft partnership. Actually what you will find is that the RV takes a backseat to many things including the Cessna. To me right now the RV is a relaxing home project. I dont view it as an airplane, at least not yet. As such Im not really in a rush or hurried. Heck, Im not even keeping track of construction hours.

-- John

Cool,

Say... do you have any "before" photos? That would be interesting to see. I wanna see the DISCO ORANGE!

CJ

I think I've got a few around here that I can dig up.



Edit:

Here's one that John was using as an avatar on another board. It's tiny, but I can't find the original, and don't feel like digging the negative out to scan it.



Edit 2:

Ah yes, here she is:



(link so it doesn't kill the page formatting.... happy spike?)

http://www.spikesplace.org/cessna/images/13273OLD.jpg

Nice upgrade!!!

Q. Is that a PS6000 Audio Panel?

Q. Do you have Mode S feeding info into the GNS430?

CJ

Heres what weve done in the past year or so since you asked:

Panel:

• New All Metal upper and lower panels with silkscreening
  Nu-Lite illuminated instrument bezels on all instruments

Avionics:

• Garmin 340 Audio Panel
  Garmin 430 NAV/COMM/GPS & indicator
  KX 155 Nav/Comm
  Apollo Fly Buddy Loran
  Garmin GTX 300 Mode S transponder displaying on the 430

Interior:

• New Gray Airtex interior with Maroon carpeting and lower panels
  All plastic referbished, colored Grey, and replaced as necessary
  Door handles replaced.
  Front belts replaced with BAS 4 point inerial harnesses
  Rear belts replaced with new color matching hip restraints

Mechanical:

• New mag
  New vacum pump
  New starter
  New battery
  Cracks in pants repaired, dressed, & painted.
  New Tires
  1 New main axle
  Other small odds and ends.

To be frank the airplane is 30 years old and is in great shape. Shes a real cherry actually. She was just a bit tired in both the panel and the interior. My partners and I had talked about upgrading to a different aircraft but we just couldnt part with her and the rediculously low operating cost so we decided to put some money into sprucing her up. Some think we were silly in spending half of her value in upgrades but frankly I dont care for the most part. We didnt put the money into her to sell her but to enjoy her for many more years to come.

-- John

Very nice. As far as putting good money to bad, you do have the FINEST 30 year old 172 these eyes have ever seen!

I don't think you have polished a turd like you say others have indicated. The equipment you installed is quite typical of todays avionice suite.

Tell me about the fishfinder. How does the Mode S feed into the 430? No specific questions from me. I am asking for a briefing. I am considering that exact setup in the -7 and I am curious. Have you used it much?

...can't wait to see it!

CJ

I really like the Mode S. I fly out of FDK which I believe to be one of the busiest non towered GA airports in the country. Its not uncommon to have 4 - 6 airplanes in pattern at the same time. As long as we are in a coverage area (which is fairly common up here in the north east) its great. The only downfall with it in my opinion is that it can easily become a distraction to your outside scan. If you cant have TCAS (which we couldnt afford werent going to put into a 172) this is definately the way to go. Besides, its nifty having a sexy English chick give you traffic warnings in your headsets. Oh yeah, you probably want to know how its displayed. It shows targets, their relative height to your aircraft, whether they are climbing, descending, or level, and their trended direction of travel. You can overlay it on the map or view a dedicated screen for it. If it is detection what it deems to be a hazard or an impending collision the chick will call out "traffic traffic" in the headset and a pop up will be displayed on the GPS screen showing it to you.

There are other nice features to the transponder as well. For instance if you want you can set it up for automatic squawk when used in conjunction with a 430/530. So basically it detects when you take off on its own and switches itself to the Mode C function. It will also detect when your land and will switch itself back to standby. It also keeps track of flight time using the same feature. Overall I think its a really nifty piece of hardware.


-- John

Wicked cool. I didn't know about the Auto Squawk function. I want it even more now.

Tell me more. Is the 340 stereo and can you pipe in a low level audio signal into it for In Flight Entertainment?

I plan on getting a car stereo reciever that will play MP3's, CD's and XM Satellite! The XM will also update my in flight WX with the Control Vision WX Anywhere system on a PDA.

I just can't wait to run wires in this thing! Maybe I will go QB fuse?

CJ