Boredom and the Extra 300

With the intense heat in the last few days and running out of "just jobs" I wondered what else I could fiddle with. A week ago my Extra 300 was making strange sounds in the air similar to the engine exhaust coming loose which it wasn't. I later discovered that the card floor of the cockpit and the pilots instrument panel had come unstuck and was vibrating from engine and airflow through the fuselage when in flight.

I took out the plain plastic pilots panel and thought, why not make it look like the real thing? Researching the Extra it appears the shape was wrong, it is more angular. Spent a few hours searching and finally found high quality images of the Extra 300 cockpit. There are quite a few different configurations of the panel from regular clocks to full blown "Glass" cockpits on the latest versions. And again depends on whether it is single seat or dual seat. I also needed a panel for the forward seat which generally has not changed over the versions.

Anyway to cut a long story shorter I guessed that the Pilot RC Extra I have is based on the early versions, the giveaway also is that it was mid-wing whereas Extra now seem to make only low wing versions.

I scaled the images down and a did test fit with draft prints. So far so good. How to make a new instrument panel? I found some foam board and cutting out from paper templates and gluing it all together. The top of the panel has been covered in laminate to get rid of the foam board rough ends. Not perfect but will suffice.

Image 1: foam board panel sprayed in grey.
Image 2: Instruments printed on phot paper in high resolution and then laminated
Image 3: the latest full blown glass cockpit for 300, 330 LX

Pity the rudder servo is directly below the panel as I could've put the whole panel including lower part which includes radios, etc giving a sort of 3D effect. Oh well! The forward panel was a bit of a trial sticking it in with my big hands but used some masking tape coiled up for me get a hold of and when the glue has set reach in and carefully pull it off.

The panel images were printed in best resolution on to 150gsm photo paper then laminated. Cut them out and stick them on to the panels. The pilot's panel is dry fitted at present in case I come up with something else to add. Shame the canopy is tinted though. I had thought of a 1/4 scale pilot too but any small weight there will require adding a lot more ballast up front. No thanks.

Now what else can I fiddle with that don't need fiddling.:lol: