The International Cessna 170 Association

With the airplane damaged from the tailwheel spring breaking, I decided to tear out the panel to do my repairs to the panel lighting. Once I got the shock panel out, I saw how grungy it was and how it had been hacked to death for instruments being replaced/moved, and I'd just as soon replace it. I've had a few options (I can get a panel cut for $100 shipped from .125" 5053; the normal price apparently is $300 plus shipping), but a friend of mine has a laser cutter and can cut the panels for me from 2024 T3 aluminum. The smallest piece we can buy that we can cut anything from is 2'x4', and out of that, I can get four piano key-style, 7-hole floating panels.

I'm hoping to get these cut this weekend, and I'd like to help defray the cost of buying a sheet of material by getting a couple of other panels cut. If I can get some folks to commit in the next day or so, I will make custom cutouts for 7-hole panels. If nobody is interested, I'll simply cut the extra panels for generic instrument openings and stick them up on eBay for $100 shipped. To cover our costs for cutting these, I'd like to get $50 shipped for custom panels for TIC170A members.

If anyone is interested, please let me know what you'd like and we can go from there. If there is enough demand (or guys with later model panels want new ones cut, I will be happy to do custom work as needed), I can do more runs in the future. I'm treating these as owner-produced parts, and are designed to be exact replicas of the original panels, drawn from Cessna drawings.

Best regards,

Ryan

George/Bruce - if this is more appropriate for the "For Sale" forum, please let me know.

Aryana wrote:Lemons out of lemonade! Glad your plane will get some extra love as a result of this spring failure.

As an owner produced part, I don't think you're technically allowed to sell it without a PMA, but I'm no expert. Besides, if I'm reading your post correctly you're not selling instrument panels, you're selling an art-deco aluminum picture frame collage, right?

$50 sounds like a great deal.

I'm pretty artistic.

Come to think of it, I actually found a box of these panels, NOS, this coming Saturday. I only need one, so I'm parting out the rest.

Jesus, seriously?

I'm going to have to create an Etsy account and troll for a bunch of old instruments.

Aryana wrote:Lemons out of lemonade! Glad your plane will get some extra love as a result of this spring failure.

As an owner produced part, I don't think you're technically allowed to sell it without a PMA, but I'm no expert. Besides, if I'm reading your post correctly you're not selling instrument panels, you're selling an art-deco aluminum picture frame collage, right?

$50 sounds like a great deal.

As an owner made part, you could pay Ryan for his services so long as you're involved with the process. Paying for the aluminum involves you in the purchase as well as a quality control check at the end.
I see no issue.

bagarre wrote:

Aryana wrote:Lemons out of lemonade! Glad your plane will get some extra love as a result of this spring failure.

As an owner produced part, I don't think you're technically allowed to sell it without a PMA, but I'm no expert. Besides, if I'm reading your post correctly you're not selling instrument panels, you're selling an art-deco aluminum picture frame collage, right?

$50 sounds like a great deal.

As an owner made part, you could pay Ryan for his services so long as you're involved with the process. Paying for the aluminum involves you in the purchase as well as a quality control check at the end.
I see no issue.

Specifying unique instrument cutouts (altimeter, VSI keyways) also involves one in the process.

One panel is spoken for. I've got space for up to two more.

Aryana wrote:It's not like the FAA has time to deal with small stuff like this anyways when they will be busy dealing with the hundreds of thousands of drones that need to be registered in the next couple months.

And with the lawsuits I think are coming...

Aryana wrote:Yeah, the AMA has an aggressive campaign asking that its members delay registration with the FAA to provide ample time for their Executive Council to fully consider all legal and political remedies to address the registration issue.

Ryan, I hope you don't think I'm being a "Debbie Downer" on your awesome plan to build some new panels. If I didn't have the later style, I'd have already pitched in on getting a new one from you

Do like David...buy another 170.

Ryan Smith wrote:

Aryana wrote:Yeah, the AMA has an aggressive campaign asking that its members delay registration with the FAA to provide ample time for their Executive Council to fully consider all legal and political remedies to address the registration issue.

Ryan, I hope you don't think I'm being a "Debbie Downer" on your awesome plan to build some new panels. If I didn't have the later style, I'd have already pitched in on getting a new one from you

Do like David...buy another 170.

Get a pair.

$50 is a great price. Here's how my 8 hole panels turned out last year. Thanks for all the CAD work Ryan.

n2582d wrote:$50 is a great price. Here's how my 8 hole panels turned out last year. Thanks for all the CAD work Ryan.

IMG_0689.jpg

The one on top looks awful familiar

That is too cool, Gary! I was wondering what happened to that project.

I'm down in South Carolina getting the panels cut right now. I am not happy with the cut of the light post holes and the instrument holes, so I'm just cutting the outline of the panel, which is spot on, and marking the centers of all instrument and mounting holes and will drill everything out and use an instrument punch to cut the holes. I hope to have something to show tomorrow or Monday.

Apologies for digging up an old post but I was wondering if the CAD files are available for the second and third panels in Gary's photo? I'm looking to redo my panel in an 8-hole layout without the dress panel. I found the thread on the MX Forum but it looks like all of the DXFs there assume that you will be using the cover.

brianm wrote:Apologies for digging up an old post but I was wondering if the CAD files are available for the second and third panels in Gary's photo? I'm looking to redo my panel in an 8-hole layout without the dress panel. I found the thread on the MX Forum but it looks like all of the DXFs there assume that you will be using the cover.

Pay me enough money and anything is possible.

PM me your email address and I’ll send you the files you need.