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Customer Testimonials/Articles "57CB's
New Cockpit" This is our new cockpit of our beautiful 57 Charlie Bravo. 57CB is a 601P, a very low time Aerostar hangared and based at South County Airport near Morgan Hill, California. The cockpit is the product of Ron and Caroline Hitchcock's engineering effort at Sacramento Executive Airport in Sacramento, CA. The good people at Executive had a challenging job considering the wish list that we had for our airplane: GPS with moving map, digital engine instruments and a general 'clean up' of the cockpit. All of this required a great deal of ingenuity from Ron and his crew to shoe-horn this list of goodies into the small Aerostar panel areas. In an effort to reduce clutter and to clean up the panels, all of the various and sundry warning and information lights along with the fuel tank gauges, were gathered up and relocated into the new sun-shield. This also provided valuable additional space in the panels that came in very handy later. Next, the radar was moved from the center stack over to the LH panel in front of the pilot, and the ADF previously in that position, was moved to the lower center console directly above the pressurization controls. Some
of the old engine instruments were replaced with a digital JPI EDM 760
engine analyzer. The Shadin fuel system computer was moved to the LH panel
which freed up enough space in the RH side panel to install the old mechanical
HIS along with a new electronic horizon for the co-pilot position. A new Sandel SN3308 moving map HIS was also installed along with a Ryan T-CAD in the LH panel. The center stack, however, is the crème de la crème. At the top of the stack is the IIMorrow/UPS moving map MX20 and is a gem. In the Sectional Mode, terrain features, in color, (mountains, railroads, roads, airports, lakes, etc.) can be selectively included or omitted. |
All navigation data (VORs, NDBs, GPS information, coarse and approach information, etc.) can be selectively chosen on the big screen and utilized as needed. Below the MX20 is the main GPS unit, the GX50, below that are 2 SL30 Slim Line NAV/COMMs and below those, the new SL70 Transponder. Below the transponder in the stack are a King KU64 DME and finally the SL15 NAV/Comm panel. As you can see, in the picture, all of the panels are new and the labeling is silk-screened; all in all, a very professional appearing package. The panel work was done by Avion Research in Sunnyvale, California. During the instrument panel rework, the interior was redone in blue leather at Gonzalez's upholstery shop (carpeting, headliner and curtains had been done previously) and the annual was accomplished at the Ivanair maintenance facility all in the same hangar at Executive Airport. Execept for a few sheet metal glitches, everything went smoothly and all systems are up and running. How much fun is the system to fly? I'm retired Air Force and began flying jet fighters in '53. In those days the only navigation/approach equipment available was the old low frequency aural range, ADF and a few GCAs and that was it! Try flying in a single seat jet fighter (no help) through a low frequency, double station, double barreled penetration and approach to a 400-foot ceiling and you can appreciate what the new digital revolution has brought us. What's next for 57CB? Last winter, we visited Jim Horowitz at Oxford Aviation in Oxford, Maine to discuss one of their famous paint jobs. Everyone is in the process now of working up the paint scheme and hope to get the airplane back east this fall or next spring for that final job. Past fleet Queens are put on notice that 57CB is on the prowl. ### |
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| 5839
Freeport Blvd. | Sacramento, CA 95822 | phone: 916.399.5969 | fax: 916.399.5838 Copyright © 2004 Executive AutoPilots, All Rights Reserved |
