"Don't know how many of you have had a problem
with this. I have been fitting the center console and setting the panel / dust
shield in place. I would close the canopy and at first the panel / dust shield
sat way too high. I have had to cut away the entire lower flange and about
1/8" more to get the canopy to close without contacting anything. I have seen
Don Barnes had to do this and was curious if this is a common
problem."
John Link
I'd like to throw
in my two cents on this one. Yes, this is a common
problem.
As you noted,
the problem is fitting the center console, instrument panel, and
glareshield underneath the curve of the canopy. It's a puzzle, and it's a
tight fit. Very tight. Things just do not fit in the space available without
some trimming. You must complete your canopy and install it before you
finalize the installation of your center console.
I had to lower my
center console both by cutting off the flanges and lowering it down onto the
spar, and also cutting off the top of the console, removing material,
and bonding the top back into position. This is per Lancair's recommendations.
I also trimmed away part of the flange on the instrument panel. Finally, I've
had to butcher my glareshield because it doesn't fit the curve of the
airplane's fuselage.
No matter what you
do, don't make anything final until you put all the parts together in the
airplane and test their fit. Don't forget to allow for paint and
upholstery.
I, too, was
concerned about leg room reduction. I am 6' tall, but I still have plenty of
leg room. It's just not a problem for me. I think that even a taller person
would be fine, too,
Of course,
lowering the center console lowers the seat pan supports. This impacts on the
available space under the seats. I have an autopilot servo located in this
space, plus there are control rods, fuel/hydraulic lines, etc. Therefore, you
probably cannot lower the seat this much. This results in a fairly big micro
release on the curve of the seat pan support (the part built into the center
console). It appears that most builders are doing it this
way.
I also had a
problem with the center seat pan supports. They were not the same height, to
the tune of 3/8" difference. Lancair had no explanation for this anomoly. I
had to cut off the flange of one of them (I chose the higher of the two),
trimmed it down, then glassed the flanges back into position. If I didn't tell
you about it, then you'd never know by looking because both supports now
appear identical. This is something else to consider.
When I got to the
point of installing the seat pans, I cut a board the width of the fuselage. I
used this to align the outboard seat pan supports and the center seat supports
(without the center console). Once all four parts were aligned (we're going
for level here), I clecoed the outboard supports in position. After
bonding the outboard and center supports, I had to build up a micro release on
the center console so that the seat pans would sit flush and also level. I
used the seat pans themselves to determine the shape. I put weights in each
seat pan while the micro was curing.
While I'm on this
subject, my seat pans also didn't fit right. The beveled flanges were too
short, too long, at the wrong angle, etc. They looked crummy. I cut off the
flanges, then made new ones from carbon cloth, using the seat supports and
spars as the guides. Now everything fits together correctly. I may have been a
little fussy with this last item, but it just didn't sit well with me that the
pans didn't just drop into position and lie down nice and flat. Now they
do.
Hope that
helps.
Ron
Jones
Lancair Legacy
N1969L, Kit #181