Pitot indicators
The Gretz pitot tube has a little indicator module that displays green for “temp OK”, yellow for “pitot heat on”, and red for “temp low”. The control module cycles the pitot heat on and off to keep it just warm enough to prevent icing. I marked out the location of the holes so the middle LED would line up with the switches. I was going to make the holes 1/4″ apart, but then figured that was too close for the LED holders that I picked up at Radio Shack. Instead I put them 11/32″ apart. I carefully drilled out the holes making sure they stayed lined up and equally spaced apart. It ended up looking great.
Of course I had to temporarily hook up the pitot tube to make sure it all worked. Flipped the switch and the two bottom LEDs turned on. The tip of the pitot heated up very quickly. After about 10 seconds, the middle LED went out indicated the heater turned off. Perfect-o.
The final item for the night was drilling a hole for the alternator feed circuit breaker just to the right of the middle bank of switches. I mounted it, but need a few parts from B&C in order to hook it up.
Time for a status shot of the panel. This is everything but the AFS units (paper ones in place for this shot), the GNS-430 (waiting for the WAAS unit), and a few control knobs (parking brake, cabin heat, and alternate air). It’s looking pretty good. Just about time to ship it off to the power coater.
