Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Frank Stutzman on August 28, 2024 at 9:24am

Thanks for posting, Mike.   I'm a fair stretch away, but I am considering doing the same.

I have heard rumors, however, that the un-panel (just the mount) is really heavy.  Can you confirm?  

Is that the 10 inch SkyView display?  I'm leaning towards their new, larger 12 inch display.  Hopefully it will be out by the time I get to my panel.  Seems like it ought to fit onto the un-panel well enough.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Chapman on August 29, 2024 at 10:42am

I can confirm the mounting arms are pretty robust (as in heavy cast aluminum).  Here is a link to a forum thread about the Unpanel Mount.  That posting mentions the mount weighing 9 pounds! 

I shopped around for a lighter mount, but didn't find one that I felt was sufficient.  If you look closely at the pictures above, you can see where I drilled holes in the arms to lighten them...that didn't make much of a difference...but every little bit helps.

My display is the 10-inch SkyView. 

A challenge you will face is making a housing for the display.  I wanted rounded corners and edges for the Unpanel housing, so I modified 12" commercial (0.040" thick) aluminum baking pans to fabricate the housing. 

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Permalink Reply by John Austin on August 29, 2024 at 11:08am

... so I modified 12" commercial (0.040" thick) aluminum baking pans to fabricate the housing.

What a half-baked idea!  LOL!  (Sorry, just kidding - couldn't resist the pun!)

On a more serious note, because of the unpanel mount's significant weight, seems to me that a central pedestal mount (similar to what helicopters typically use) and built up from aluminum sheet, would be much lighter since not nearly as much structure would be necessary to provide stable support for the panel whereas the unpanel mount is so beefy because it basically is a cantilever support for the panel.  You probably wouldn't be able to have the push-in and pull-out cool features of the unpanel mount, but you certainly could have a tilt-and-swivel function which is mostly what's necessary for good panel visibility.

John

N750A

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Permalink Reply by Mike Chapman on August 29, 2024 at 5:36pm

I enjoyed the pun, John!

I considered a built-up console but decided to go with the tried-and-true mount used in the Super Duty demonstrator.  I wanted the ability to push the boxed panel all the way to the firewall when landing on the gravel bars of the Brazos River.  I also wanted the ability to swing the panel from pilot to copilot, as I am putting in dual throttle controls, dual flap switches, and dual trim actuator switches for ease of flying from either seat.

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Permalink Reply by Zenith Aero on August 28, 2024 at 4:03pm

Looks great! Thanks for sharing

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Permalink Reply by Bob Simmons on August 31, 2024 at 6:30pm

Please post your wiring progress on the Dynon customer forums. Plenty there, myself included, would love to know how this goes. We might also be able to help.

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