who knows about small aircraft? anyone parting one out?

[cammeddrz]

ok so my truck is a bII so naturally i painted it flat-black and called it the b2-bomber. and in keeping with the theme i want to use entirely aircraft gauges (white needle specifically) my dash panel is a huge aluminum plate so mounting all of them will be no problem i have found a few suppliers online, so the problem is not with locating them, it is more about making them work with my truck,

i have 2 lists, the first 1st is gauges that i can get sending units with so they are straight-forward installs, the 2nd list is of gauges that i can not figure out how to interface with a truck, i assume a parted out plane will have much of the parts needed

list 1:
1) fuel pressure
2) fuel level
3) oil pressure
4) coolant temp (i.e. water temp in aircraft-speak)
5) volt meter
6) ammeter

list 2:
1) tachometer (aircraft have magnetoes, how to mate them to a distributor?)
2) compass (what it plugs into for reference?)
3) inclinometer (gyros of some sort?)
4) altimeter (what it plugs into for reference?)
5) air speed (a pitot of some sort?)

and any other pointless but still cool instruments to add?

 

[nb11]

It's not that simple... For example tach's used to be mechanical but newer digital ones are expensive. Most small aircraft are air cooled also...For the gyros you'll need a vacuum pump and vacuum system... But the compass is magnetic so that'll work. I work at a small air port that's basically a private airstrip for an older couple. They have a crap ton of used parts that they sell in eBay... Their id is land7a9. The company is called petecraft aviation services from plains, ga. If you get in touch with them they'll be glad to look for some parts for you ( they have everything in stock). PM me if you can't get in touch with them. And if you do buy from them, I'll be cleaning your parts most likely Lol.

 

[cammeddrz]

It's not that simple.

agreed, i did not think it would be, and naturally a digital tach was my plan, like the 2nd one down in this link http://www.aircraftspruce.com/menus/in/tachometers_uma.html

newer digital ones are expensive

i suggest you look at this list of quality car tachs http://www.summitracing.com/search/Part-Type/Tachometer-Gauges/?keyword=tachometer&Ns=Price|Desc
i decided to do this
1) because i wanted quality gauges, and FAA TSO C49b standards seem "quality" enough for me
2) "quality" automotive gauges are easily $200-$300 each anyway
3) and even if i bought the autometer or similar gauges, my dash would be anything but unique

For the gyros you'll need a vacuum pump and vacuum system

how many inches of vacuum is needed to run the gyroes? and i need th gyroes themselves as well, how big are they? where on my truck could i mount it?

the compass is magnetic so that'll work

so the compass gauges are entirely self contained?

do your bosses have complete instrument panels for sale?

 

[adsm08]

Oh yeah, well I want the digital LCD IC from a 2011 F-series.

Those actually have some of the stuff you are after. Like pitch and yaw displays.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

this truck has been sans-speedo for a year and a half, since day 1.
i don't need a speedo to know how fast i'm going, they're not even required by law. rather than be concerned about how "worthless" the system will be, you should be more concerned about how worthless your input actually is in this case



yep, and it appears that you still have not answered a single question i've asked



and wow 3-for-3, you have been helpful in answering my questions

read my posts closer, white needles is not my only reason, and i believe that i even used words like: "pointless", and "unique"

maybe i should have said that i was building an airplane and maybe that would have weeded out the help-me-not's....my bad

Hey, I tried. I posted links for you to read and get a rough idea of how the pitot static system operates (which you asked for) and gave you some pointers on what gives it fits on aircraft and some possible solutions to accomplish your dream of a aircraft inspired dash and actually have it work...

Since you didn't like the help-me-nots, allow me to help you with the weeding and clean it up for you. I have a pretty good spade.

 

[cammeddrz]

^^ fair enough, i may have been a bit harsh my bad, i was a little frustrated because i just didn't want this to be another one of those threads where it turns into "why do you want to do that" and "you should do this instead" (i caught enough of that putting a 350 in my truck)

i am going to do this either way. i just need some help in making a few of the components work, and thank you for the links but before this thread i have done enough of my research to have already read the wikipedia pages that you posted

*edit BTW nice spade your entire posts are gone, but i didn't mean for you to delete them

 

[ranger_mclaren]

crbnunit ownes and flies a small aircraft.

 

[doorgunner]

weirddddddddd idea.......but.......me being a doorgunner---I think if you did it right.....it could look & work pretty good....

I don;t know about aircraft gauges I only replace the gauges if they went bad or caught a bullet....

You could probably makke everything work if you read up on each gauge....


I wanna see pics of the progress.....


man....I just remembered how I had the Stick Contol (black handle with red pushbuttons for guns/lites/etc mounted on my 4-speed shifter....talk about get a lot of questions about THAT!!!!!!

 

[shane96ranger]

I saw this and thought you might be interested. It's just on the other side of the mountain too! Might be more than you were hoping to pay though?

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=13478462&cat=151&lpid=1&search=

 

[cammeddrz]

thanks shane, i acutally plan on buying the gauges new, the parts i need from a parted out plane are the gyroes, and pitot. funny enough that price is the same as it would cost for me to buy those gauges new

 

[shane96ranger]

thanks shane, i acutally plan on buying the gauges new, the parts i need from a parted out plane are the gyroes, and pitot. funny enough that price is the same as it would cost for me to buy those gauges new

Sounds like he's proud of his panel.

 

[nb11]

Vacuum should be like 4-6 inches of mercury I think... And I know there's a magnetic compass that mounts up on the dash, and another compass that's tied to the nav system and powered by vacuum (I believe). After you start the engine this one has to be set to match the magnetic compass. And they have just about every part you could imagine. Whole dash? More like whole airplane in parts lol.

 

[nb11]

And I don't know if you've thought about this, but you could use the control yoke from a plane as your steering wheel. And they have a ton of cessna pedals that look pretty sweet!

 

[cammeddrz]

Vacuum should be like 4-6 inches of mercury.

there are 12v vacuum pumps available that will draw 6inches just fine.

I know there's a magnetic compass that mounts up on the dash

so this compass is entirely self contained?

they have just about every part you could imagine. Whole dash? More like whole airplane in parts lol.

ok so price out for me as if i needed an instrument panel (if i decide not to buy them new) and whatever doo-dads needed to run the gauges i listed (i.e. gyroes, and senders if you have them) and if not, just the gyros and pitot, you know everything minus the instruments themselves

And I don't know if you've thought about this, but you could use the control yoke from a plane as your steering wheel. And they have a ton of cessna pedals that look pretty sweet!

i have thought of this.......but i am not sure about hand-over-hand steering with a yoke since a car has a total of 3 or more rotations lock-to-lock but the pedals would be sick

 

[cammeddrz]

I wanna see pics of the progress

i will start a thread about it once i actually start, right now i am empty handed. once the ball is rolling you'll see a thread about it