Airplane # 2
After flying the airplane for a bit over three years and a bit under 300 hours, I got a bonus from my employer and decided to indulge myself with a new panel. The capabilities of the available instruments were too much for this techno-geek to resist. After a bunch of research I chose the 5600 from Advanced Flight Systems. The airplane was taken out of service while a new panel was cut and wired. Along with the 5600, I installed an ADSB receiver and Mode S transponder, also from AFS.
This also seemed to be the time to install the 2 autopilot servos I had previously bought. After about 3 months of work I powered it all up and began configuring the 5600 for the attached devices and troubleshooting a miswire here and there.
The big day came and it was time to start the engine again. Check the oil, check the gas, block the wheels, get an observer in place with a fire extinguisher. Clear Prop!! Turned the key, and it started right up. Almost everything worked.
Except the engine instruments.
The story gets a bit long here. As originally built, N312TF used an IOF-360 that I purchased from Mattituck. The 'F' stands for FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control), a system from Aerosance that provides computer control of both ignition and injection. The Aerosance system provides information to engine monitors in the form of a serial RS-232 data stream. AFS had previously built systems capable of listening to the FADEC stream. Unfortunately, the format of the data stream was different in my system than in others. Add in the facts that Aerosance had since gone out of business and that technical support and spare parts were difficult to come by. My nightmare was that if I flew anywhere and had serious problems with that system, I might very well have to pull the wings, rent a flatbed with a truck attached and drive it home.
It took quite a few months to come to the painful (and expensive) decision to remove the FADEC system. I selected the FM-150 fuel injection system from Airflow Performance and 2 PMAGs, as well as a backup alternator from B&C. Still experimental components, but much more strongly represented in the experimental fleet.
After more than 2 years the airplane was ready to fly again. So much has changed that I am calling it airplane #2 and am testing it as if it were brand new. The airframe gained 2 pounds (now 1057 lbs) and the CG moved aft a bit. As of this writing (10/27/2016), flight testing is progressing well.
A few snapshots of the new panel (click on photo for larger image):
