Complete interior re-furbish

[gkey]

I think if you ask 10 guys the question about tinted vs plain, you'll get about 5:5 either way. Right now I am installing a plain windshield. I had a tinted one. Why did I change?

The tinted one got very "milky".
The vision through a tinted one is not as great, especially with dusk/dawn/rain.
As long as you have Rosen's, who cares?
Tinted windshields are more expensive.

BTW, I have Rosen's on GKEY. The BIG ones.

My other plane, a 172N, had a tinted windshield as well, and I changed to a plain windshield on advice from my trusted mechanic. I am very glad I did. Now that GKEY is in line for a new windshield I am doing the same thing. Plain for me.

I don't have LED's for beacon and strobes on GKEY yet, but I do have them on my 172N. They are absolutely awesome. Even the beacon can be seen miles away in bright sunlight. The strobes are bliniding too, and sometimes the glare is almost too much when I'm close to clouds.

Yep, I am definately installing a LED beacon and strobes on GKEY too.

GKEY has a PulseLite system, and the two lights (taxi & land) in the cowl alternate (I don't have the wing lights). But even so, tower can still see me really quickly from far away. The ducks too.

[hharney]

Jim/Jakes, you are probably trying to say "Aero Enhancements" for the strip lighting. What I am more interested in is the LED Whelen
http://www.whelen.com/pb/Aviation/70...sion_Light.pdf
position / strobe combo. Is that what you have on the 172 Jakes? I talked to Whelen and they said that they do not have the STC/TSO on these yet but thought it could be accomplished with a field approval. I thought that if someone else has gone through this with a Skymaster it would make it easier for me. I have the LED rotating beacon and it is awesome. It is already TSO'ed and is available at Aircraft Spruce. You will love it. Jakes is right, the visibility is unbelievable. At night it's like a patrol car.

Interior LED would be nice but I have not located anything that is certified yet. There is lots of aviation related stuff out there but most of it says experimental only.

So for the glass on the side windows, I really think I am going to go with Grey tint and UV. Great Lakes Aero seems to be the best price.

http://www.glapinc.com

How does Pulselite compare to other pulse light systems? They seem to be a lot more money,
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalo...arlightsys.php
This is about a third the cost of Precise Flight.

[gkey]

Herb,

On my 172 I have almost exactly the Whelen LED unit you posted a link to, except that mine is red , i.e. a beacon. Can see it 5 miles coming. I will definately install it on my 337 too.

LED interior lights sound nice, but I am only apprehensive about the intensity of this kind of light. I don't know if they are dimmable. Having someone switch on an bright white LED inside the plane at an inopportune time, can reduce my night vision just at the moment I need it. In my 337 I have those little "eye socket" lights that can swivel around, and are individually dimmable. I still prefer them over LED's for interior lights. OTOH, a LED courtesy light under the wing might not be a bad idea...

I absolutely WILL, however, change out my landing and taxi lights to HID's. I have those on my 172, and last X-mas I had to buy Raybans's for all the folks working the tower!! I have the Precise Flight PulseLite system on both planes, and it works fantastic. You get what you pay for, for sure.

For windows, I don't mind a tinted side window. But the windshield should be clear. Just my own belief. Especially during dusk, dawn or rain I find I strain my eyes a lot less looking through a clear windshield.

[Dale Campbell]

Hi Herb,
I just had my windshield replaced on my 337H last year. I also installed clear, because the tinted one was getting hassy and not to good at night. The clear is much better at night, but I left the side windows tinted. Dale

[hharney]

Thanks for all the info gkey and Dale. It sounds like staying with clear at least for the windscreen is advised. I can really see (no pun intended) how that makes sense. If a person installs the Rosen system then there shouldn't be a problem. While on the subject of windows, side windows that is, it appears that now with the interior completely stripped the side windows are truly fastened through the hull. I was told that they had a doublers or something inside around the frame for the window to attach to so that the outside rivets did not have to come out. Not so. I am so vein. So here is the question: have you had to tackle the replacement of the side windows before? Is it a big job? Mine are not that bad, and maybe I should just take out the inner glass and clean and replace the seal and be done with it. I really wanted to install the tinted glass on the side but not sure about removal. Any experience here would be nice.

What about insulation and sound control? My upholstery technician is using some padding/sound material that is bonded to the side panels but why not add more? This is the chance to do it. Will it help? Has anyone had experience with this? I would think that on the rear firewall it couldn’t hurt. The sides might be a different story but looking at Aircraft Spruce the material they had was not all that expensive.

I plan to change the air vents with some type of more modern device. I don’t think this will be a problem because I am leaving them in the same position, same ducting and will purchase units for aircraft use. The old originals are really bad and tacky looking. Not sure I will do anything with the lights inside yet but I am seriously looking at the LED exterior entry light that Aircraft Spruce has. They fit in the inspection panel penetration and are battery operated so that you don’t have to turn on the master to use them while loading the aircraft. They look really great and certified for aircraft. I might just put one on each side.

Here is a photo that Larry took of the cabin with the interior out. Thanks Larry. More to come as we continue down this road.

[gkey]

Herb,

Take a look at what my interior looks like inside. Do you plan anything like this? The central console running along the headliner really makes thing work, and also actually makes the plane "look" bigger. It has a more corporate feel to it, almost like the bigger planes. I have the "eye ball" vents that can be adjusted for flow and direction, and my interior lights are also of the "eye ball" type. Especially duirng flying at night, I am very concerned about lighting up the interior too much, as it can decrease my night vision ability - at least for a while.

Just on a different note - I have the clamshell "airstair" type door, and no matter how many times I warn people to watch for the upper door, I still get people bumping their heads into it. Then I bought simple reflector strips and pasted them on the door, so that when the door is open the reflector shows. No head banging since. $4 modification, worth every cent.

[Dale Campbell]

Hi Herb,

I had my old ceiling plastic panels covered with a felt like material that came out nice and helps to soundproof interior. Photo enclosed. Dale