Why not a hinged panel?

Jay Honeck wrote:
: Wouldn't it be awesome if someone came up with an STC'd Cherokee panel
: that had a piano hinge at the bottom, so that we could simply flip the
: panel down, and get at the back of the radios, instruments and
: switches?

: Is there some reason this hasn't been attempted?

It would probably take more doing than you think. That panel is a structural
component to the fuselage. You might be able to pull it off, but you'd have to add some
pretty significant bracing on the hinges to do it.

Just as an aside... our PA-28 hasn't had the interior in it for awhile. When I
installed all the avionics in it, I had enough room to fit my shoulders between the center
floor console and the side of the fuselage. When I tried working on my mechanic's plane's
avionics, he didn't have the interior removed. That extra inch was enough to not let my
shoulders through and was *a lot* harder to work with.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a PITA to work on... but it can often be made easier.

-Cory

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* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
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