Mike and I had been talking about refurbishing the panel on my 1976 Shrike Commander for the past two years. After a lot of preplanning and countless consultations with Mike we finally decided to do it. So in late August of 2009 we rolled the Commander into the hangar and began the disassembly process. My Commander suffered, as many planes in the aging fleet, with a tired looking panel barely equipped to handle the needs of modern IFR flying. We decided to install 2 Garmin GNS430W units along with an Aspen EFIS system. We also decided that since we were going to the extent of a refurbishment we would also do some things to make this Shrike a "one of a kind". Mike and his crew designed a new "jet" style annunciator system with a master caution warning system. By adding this it would give me better warning should anything go wrong by having all the warning lights in one place right in front of the pilot's view. Mike also added an audio warning in conjunction with the annunciator's. Mike guided me through which avionics we should keep and what to discard. All the old stuff was taken out. We moved the pilot's HSI to the copilot's side, giving the plane complete redundancy. Later into the installation process we added a Garmin GTX330 Transponder and panel mounted the Garmin GPSMAP396 portable in the center pedestal. All of the panels and overheads were re-colored and engraved to mirror the Grand Renaissance Commander. The new system has made this Shrike equipped as well as most new planes without the new plane cost. The Aspen provides a great GPSS system along with a real time E6B display that is really nice to have. The other great thing about the Aspen is that it gives you incredible bang for the buck and allows for upgrading and future expansion. The versatility is one of the primary reasons I chose this system. I cannot say enough about my experience over the past 5 months working with Mike and his team on this project. They were always available to answer all my questions and concern's with great patience and professionalism. No matter how busy Mike was he took the time, sometimes longer than others, to answer all my questions and concerns. I have owned N507JP for ten years now and thanks to Bragg Avionics I feel like I have a new airplane again to enjoy for another 10 years, Thanks Mike!
-John Papageorge
Projects in Progress
Ray Watkins Panel Fabrication
Ray Watkins Panel Installation
Ray Watkins Velocity XL-5 - Experimental Airplane Assist the owner with panel layout and fabrication, avionics choices as well as fabrication of wiring harnesses, interfacing all equipment and assisting owner with design and fabrication of custom warning panel.
This is the second aircraft we have helped Ray with. The first he flew for 10 years with very little avionics problems.
Avionics choices include:
Twin Grand Rapids EFIS displays
Garmin GMA340 audio panel
Garmin GNS430W GPS/NAV/COM/WAAS
King KX155
King KA209A indicator
Garmin GTX327 transponder
TruTrac autopilot
Weather Works receiver
PCAS traffic device
DVD Player
Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Bell 407 - Helicopter Installation of an Avalex Moving Map System with DVR, Keyboard and Flir interface. The pilot will also be able to broadcast video from Flir back to headquarters through a BMS downlink system.
This is the second aircraft of 4 that we will do for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
