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Fancy dashboard


Karl

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Moving,

Veneer is a very thin layer of wood that is essentially shaved off the log. I refinished a coffee table years ago for my inlaws using veneer. I wish I had pictures as it looked pretty nice.

This dash is veneer. Fake looking? You decide.

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I'm not here to debate whether it looks good or looks bad. I'm simply here to answer the original question (how to dress up the panel, where to get the material)

 

The simplest way to dress up the panel is to use vinyl wrap (commonly available and used by automotive customizers).

 

Here is an example of carbon fiber:

 

http://www.ebay.com/...17fe4b8&vxp=mtr

 

Here is an example of wood

 

http://www.ebay.com/...6511f2e&vxp=mtr

 

Ebay is a fabulous source for the material. There are hundreds of styles available. 3M is regarded as the "best product". The weight is negligible (measured in ounces not pounds). The current production CTLSi has no graphics on the center panel (that houses the Garmin 796). this is the easist panel to do, and sometimes it done by itself adds a little contrast. Here is what my old CTSW looked like with a real aluminum center panel in black. It was done because the addition of the 696 and an AirGizmo quick remove dock left too little material for strength. The original aluminum look fiber board wasn't strong enough, real aluminum was needed. The avionics shop thought black looked better than silver and I allowed them to paint it.

 

Here is a tidbit some of you may not know: your panels are not real aluminum (speaking of how "fake wood" looks). The CT uses an "aluminum look" fiberboard. The aluminum is a very thin veneer sandwiched to fiber of some type. If you ever remove a panel take a peek at the sides and you'll see the layers. I guess I'd submit that substituting one fake material for another is of no consequence. Planes like cars are all about personal preference. If someone wants to paint their plane pink, or put wood look vinyl on the dash more power to them.

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I think if you really want something like that, there is a better way. There is a process using ink that would look like the real thing and add virtually no weight to the airplane. Plus it is available in many designs. Any way you do it the panel needs to come apart so using the ink process would be even easier. It is called hydographic water transfer printing. Here is a youtube of it.

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Here is a tidbit some of you may not know: your panels are not real aluminum (speaking of how "fake wood" looks). The CT uses an "aluminum look" fiberboard. The aluminum is a very thin veneer sandwiched to fiber of some type. If you ever remove a panel take a peek at the sides and you'll see the layers. I guess I'd submit that substituting one fake material for another is of no consequence. Planes like cars are all about personal preference. If someone wants to paint their plane pink, or put wood look vinyl on the dash more power to them.

 

I notice this the first time I removed the panel face. The inner material to me looks like plexiglass.

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I notice this the first time I removed the panel face. The inner material to me looks like plexiglass.

 

I think it might be a material like G10. Back in 2007 when I first demoed a CT one of the airplanes that showed up had a wood grained panel. I was told an airplane owner in Iowa had the equipment to make the panels, so he did one for his airplane. He might have done a couple others for the Minnisota dealer at the time also.

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