Hi Gary
Your description and picture was very helpful. =46rom your picture I presume
you have used the LONESTAR CYCLONE - 21 COOLING FAN. My Europa mono XS has
been flying for some sixteen years now and I have owned her for eight years
. The panel has built in inspection points already, and is also moveable, so
hopefully access should not be a issue.
I am not the original builder, but do fly regularly with him. Great knowledg
e source and buddy. (He spends half his time in the UK, and like you winters
in Florida). Half a dozen differing solutions to the problem set. This foru
m is an outstanding knowledge resource.
Many thanks for your suggestions.
Regards
Bob
> On 21 Apr 2016, at 22:58,
>
> In the attached picture you can see my panel. I (with the terrific help of
Bud Yerly of Custom Flight) made the panel easily removable =93 takes
about 10 minutes to remove the entire panel. This has paid off some many ti
mes, and makes doing IFR 2 year checks very easy if the inspector wants to c
heck everything.
>
> My plane is IFR with a Garmin 430W, a 330 GTX Mode S transponder, a Grand R
apids HX, an engine monitor, a Tru-Trax 2 axis autopilot, and several steam g
auges. Yes, it all fits but it is tight. And it is heavy - 42 lbs. for the p
anel. And it produces a great deal of heat. So we put in a three hose fan dr
awing air from the passenger foot well, and two exhaust fans =93 origi
nal two inch (as shown) but now one is a 4 inch fan. The top fans are on a t
hermostat and a timer, running off the secondary battery. When I land, if th
e temps are up in the panel, the fan goes on for about 45 minutes.
>
> The three hoses from the fan go to the HX, 430W, and the EXP buss box (on t
he right side of picture with all the plugs over top of it). The box was mad
e to improve cooling and keep stray wires or dropped tools from causing shor
ts in the EXP buss). The two hoses - to the Garmin and to the HX are not in
the picture.
>
> The secondary battery also runs the radio and trim and autopilot through a
=9Csoaring=9D buss for use when the engine is off for soaring (
I have the glider wings also), and can be used for clearance delivery on the
ground so you don=99t have to run the engine (and possibly overheat) o
r wear the main battery down when getting your clearance. I do have the top m
ounted, belt driven 45 amp alternator as well as the standard 20 amp Rotax a
lternator. Even if I lose the HX or the main battery I still have the Tru-Tr
ax to keep wings level and to get heading. The steam gauges give me altitud
e, speed and climb/descend rate. And in extremis the Foreflight gives me an
additional backup.
>
> I do have a spare handheld ratio with its own antenna with a connection to
the secondary battery if I lose the Garmin. It is not tied into the interco
m system so I have to plug it into my headset if I want to use it.
>
> After getting the system up and running I have had no problems keeping the
heat down behind the panel. I did originally have panel heat problems when d
oing my flying off time in Florida in the summer =93 outside temps at a
ltitude above 95 degrees F.
>
> Good luck. I think the work necessary to make the panel removable is worth
it. I would also recommend making the connections to the engine easy to dis
connect so you don=99t have to cut anything when the engine needs to b
e removed.
>
> The system works great and the Europa is great IFR platform, except I coul
d occasionally use another radio =93 but no room. Just takes some plan
ning.
>
> I am going to try to put this on the Matronic site, but I normally don
=99t have very good luck with that.
>
>
>
> <panel_labels.jpg>
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