RV14 Avionics Tour

[@clintontaylor9430]

Thanks for the tour of your bird. Trying to decide on switch and circuit breaker placement on my RV-14A build.

[@octoflugeron]

You're welcome Clinton.There is one thing I would have done differently. I have the center panel space, so I didn't have to select a headless transponder. It was painful to get communication going between it and the GPS, the ADAHRS and G3X. Plus, it would have looked nicer than a blank spot in the radio stack. The transponder is right behind the blank spot.

[@gabrielchartrand6342]

Hi Luis, thank you for the avionics tour. You have a beautiful layout and airplane. I watched all your videos. Out of curiosity, why did you choose a full Garmin package? Did you consider Dynon with Avidyne?

[@octoflugeron]

Hi Gabriel. Sorry for the late reply. It was mostly the combination of the G3X Touch and its price that did it for me. I had Dynon in my RV8 and was really happy with it. I don't think you can go wrong with either one. Avidyne is probably fine too but I don't know much about it. I now have almost 300 hours on the Garmin setup. I feel I made a good decision.

[@albertofavruzzo9000]

Hi Luis my name is Federico and I greet you from Italy. I saw you built a magnificent panel for an RV 14 - congratulations! I noticed that you have moved the emergency opening lever of the canopy to the left: could you give me some information on how you managed to move it? Could you send me some photos too? Thank you very much

[@octoflugeron]

Hello Federico! Thank you so much for your kind words. I went through a couple of different handles before settling on the one I have. This one is for race cars and is used by emergency crews to shut of a fuel valve from the outside. I liked it because of the smaller red handle, the stiff part is shorter and thinner than the others. The downside is that it does not work very well in the push direction. I have a spring attached to the bellcrank to keep it pulled back. I will take some photos next time I am at the airport.

[@flyingnp4924]

Great video. What is the overlay your using for the camera that gives you the Altimeter and airspeed?

[@octoflugeron]

Thank you. I am using a Garmin VIRB Ultra 30. It has a built-in GPS and that is where the altimeter and airspeed come from. Along with video and audio, telemetry is encoded and Garmin's VIRB Edit application knows how to convert that into gauges that can be layered on to the video. It has other capabilities that I have not figured out yet.

[@heeeersjohnny]

Very nice layout. Ballpark figure, what kind of cost do you have invested in your avionics?

[@heeeersjohnny]

Guess I spoke too soon and should have read others comments below.

[@octoflugeron]

Thanks. It is more like $105-$110k for a slow build and if you do everything yourself (paint, wiring, etc.).

[@glennraby5871]

Very nice panel! One question though; why would your display flicker when you start the engine since the avionics master should be in the off position prior to start?

[@octoflugeron]

Thanks Glenn. There is no flicker if the backup battery is on (the way I have it wired) or if the PDU is wired to their GAD-27 electrical control system. As per their manual, the GAD 27 provides low voltage protection during engine start. The reason for having the PFD on during engine start is so that gauges, like oil pressure, can be monitored.

[@larryro]

You want at least one EFIS running when starting the engine since all of you engine information is on the EFIS. At least in my plane the master goes on and the EFIS boots. The backup battery buffers any voltage sag during start. The rest of the avionics start via my avionics master. Lots of different ways of doing it, but somehow you want the EFIS on prior to start.

[@larryro]

What did use to label your switches?

[@octoflugeron]

I used a Brother label gun with both clear and black tape. Clear turned out better but neither is close to being as nice as getting this professionally done. Removing the panels isn't hard so I might send them somewhere to get laser etched, maybe during the condition inspection next year.

[@larryro]

@@octoflugeron Thanks for the reply. Your labels look great in the video. I tried labels made with my label maker, but they just don't stick well to my textured panel. Maybe, I need to try a different type of film.

[@k2229]

How much did all of those avionics cost? How much was the total for the airplane

[@larryro]

I don't know the specifics of this RV-14 but a typical rule of thumb for costs would be 1/3 for the airframe, 1/3 for the engine and 1/3 for the avionics. Very rough numbers, a quick build kit is $50K a new engine is $40K so I would guess the panel is $40-$50k. There are lots of costs missing in these numbers and it does not take into account the builders time. Total cost to build $160K++++++

[@mehrschwein7378]

@@larryro those numbers are a bit off for an rv-14. mainly because of your avionics guess. your avionics can also be experimental witch are a fraction of the cost for commercial aircraft cost. also I wouldnt go for a quick build kit. you can get complete garmin avionics for 15000$ since they are experimental. so your numbers would be correct if you wanted to put in minimum effort and didnt build it for yourself, but building it yourself and it beeing experimental you are closer to 80-90k. Dont count your build hours tho.. Even if I add all the other stuff like nicer seats and all the licenses my guess would be slightly under 100.000$