The International Cessna 170 Association

Arash and all, if anyone needs to send me anything, my address is correct in the 2013 directory. Email and phone are not; email is simply a domain change (from @bellsouth.net to @comcast.net). I figure this is the safest thing as I've chased phantom PMs here before.

Ryan Smith wrote:

bagarre wrote:
.........Ryan, would you be able to merge the details of the paper drawing........into a CAD file?

It would be nice to have a CAD file for the original floating panel (stock cutouts for lights and everything)............

........Hilltops's design might be a better outline for without the dress cover as it maintains the outer shape of the dress panel.........

Send me a copy of the paper drawing and I can make it happen........

Ryan-
Thanks for the offer to help get the instrument panel details into a CAD file. Below is the tracing of my original false and floating instrument panels as they would be installed on the airplane. The screw holes shown are for the shock mounts. I did not show instrument knob cut-outs or instrument mounting screw holes as every panel will be different. The elongated holes are for the original internal instrument lighting which would illuminate between the false and floating panels. I would not try to re-use those lights unless I was going strictly per original. My memory says they did not light the instruments very well. If two instruments are to be used in the center position, the existing upper hole must be moved up to make room for the new lower hole.

It's interesting that the smaller diameter false panel instrument holes on the left are not exactly concentric with the 3-1/8" diameter floating panel instrument holes.

I did not try to smooth out irregularities in the edge of the false panel, I just traced it as it is. Let me know if this tracing will be good enough for your CAD conversion and I will mail it to you tomorrow.

Of course Ryan is the final authority but I think that should be a winner when combined with the known dimensions of the original drawing we have.

Of course I'm not tackling this project, thanks to Ryan, but if I were I'd create the original in cad. Then I'd overlay Richards tracing and fine tune it. When done we should be able to have a CAD for any of the original configurations as well as maybe a custom one that didn't exist, that being one with two full instruments in the center.

Richard,

I think that will work just fine. Thanks!

Bruce,

What would be the chances of getting a copy of the entire panel drawing? Between the PDF, the CAD drawing, and now this, I think we should have something pretty accurate to go on, and perhaps can create a library for the different layouts between the 5, 7, and 8 hole layouts layouts that are common on this panel type, as well as some of the "hybrid" versions that I've seen that are a 7-hole with the outer two being 2 1/4" and whatnot. We should eventually be able to create a cut file for all variations of the main instrument shock panel.

Ryan-
The tracing is in the mail tube ready to go to the Post Office in the morning.
Thanks again!

Ryan when you say entire panel do you mean the fixed panel which includes the left and right sides and piano keys, or just the floating sub panel? We have a copy of of the original A model panel with the smaller outside holes.

Can we get drawings? All of our drawings have come over the years from folks who happened to have them. At one time it was easier to get these drawings. Now the fee is heftier and the copyright tighter. You now rent the drawings from Cessna for a short period of time which I've seen to be about two weeks. The drawings remain the property of Cessna and become obsolete for official use after the rental period.

Besides the fees and legalities I understand it's not necessarily possible to get every drawing either. Depends on several things as I understand it. One the cooperation of the Cessna customer service rep, and their access to the drawings. Not all drawings are accessible by the reps electronically and therefor maybe not at all.

What type of aluminum would you make a floating panel out of?
6061??
At 0.125" thick, does it matter?

bagarre wrote:What type of aluminum would you make a floating panel out of?
6061??
At 0.125" thick, does it matter?

Doesn't really matter, whatever you can get.

Ryan-
The tracing is headed your way, should be there by Friday.

Good morning, guys!

Richard, the drawing arrived yesterday evening, but I got back home after the office closed, so I grabbed it first thing this morning. It looks great! I'll get working on it this weekend and hopefully have something to post in fairly short order.

Excellent! I was worried it might not be good enough quality. FYI, I used a .5mm mechanical pencil to trace the drawing so the outline is oversized a little and the holes are undersized a little but are centered in the correct spots. Again, the instrument holes in the false panel were obviously not centered like they should be on the left side but have always been that way on that panel.

Drawings are done. Since they're somewhat proprietary, I put them in the member's section for safe keeping. Let me know what you guys think. It's almost 4AM here, I'm done in. See you guys tomorrow (or later today, depending on how technical you are about these things).

Fantastic work Ryan! Thanks.

For those installing additional gyro instruments to the original VFR panel don't forget to add two shock mounts as shown in Fig. 76 of the 170B IPC. Ryan, you might want to consider adding those two holes (above the holes just left and right of the center hole) to your drawings.

Josh,
That's a nice touch adding the slots for adjusting the level of the artificial horizon and turn coordinator.

I have long admired Hilltop170's instrument panel. I used his method to make one for myself. I removed the panels, traced the false panel on paper, and used the shock panel to trace the hole pattern. I created a cad drawing from the paper model. I sent the .dxf file to the CNC guy and he cut the panel in about an hour. One day of tracing/drawing, one day in Anchorage at the CNC shop. It seems to fit nicely. Next stop, powder coating.