Instrument Panel Photos?

[donv]

I thought a nice way to start things off would be photos of our various instrument panels.

When I bought the 980, it had a really remarkable avionics setup, for it's era. It had the big Collins ADI/HSI, and a dual GNS-XLS setup. When the airplane was new, they actually installed a dual Global GNS-500 VLF system in it, and the XLS was the GPS-era replacement for the 500. This was because the airplane was new to Germany, and set up for crossing the North Atlantic.

[donv]

I felt a little bit bad tearing all that stuff out, but just a little bit... the XLS can't do LPV approaches, the audio panels were getting old, and of course I will eventually need ADS-B.

When I went to a Garmin panel, I saved a few hundred pounds (not insignificant given the 980's low gross weight), and also was able to get rid of the pedestal between the pilot seats, which made getting in and out of the cockpit a pain. I also got inflight weather, and the aforementioned ability to do LPV approaches (which I use all the time now).

[Adam Frisch]

Don, your old panel looks a lot like mine does today, although my stuff is even older. It's like a 60's submarine in there. I can see you had the Gables remote radios as well. I will probably not go full G600 on mine as I like steam gauges , but I will do a G750 LPV, get new radios and maybe an Aspen PFD.

[donv]

That looks like an FD-108! That's what we used to have in the old Jet Commanders, from the same era.

In a turboprop, though, I bet that was an expensive option! Do you know who the initial owner of the airplane was?

[Adam Frisch]

Don, I think it served with the Minnesota Dept of Highways or something like that early on, then went on to various smaller businesses and private owners in the midwest mainly. It was in Texas or Louisiana before the final owner before me brought it to California. It was supposed to go on fire spotting in Alaska  and has special types of radios installed to be able to do so, but that never happened as fas as I know. She did charter mainly between Los Angeles and Palms Springs.

Which one is the FD-108?

[donv]

The FD-108 is the attitude indicator (and, for my purposes, the HSI) on the left side. It might not be a 108 exactly, but it's something very close.

[EricDapp]

This was taken with my old phone and it has dust behind the glass.

[Dhavillandpilot]

Apart from a AC685 I thought I'd share a real aircraft panel. A dhavilland Heron, in a past life Imuse to own 4 of them.

This panel is from VH NJP that I flew from the United Kingdom to Australia in 1993.

[donv]

The Heron is the four engine airplane, right? Did you have an engineer?

[ghancock]

Awesome picture.

[Dhavillandpilot]

Engineer?

With 2 operating some 500 hours each yes, but they were an easy aircraft to work on.

Great to fly and when you turned up somewhere new was a head turner, a bit like the 685

[donv]

You should post a panel pic or two of your 685s.