Jeff:
I am currently having a panel upgrade done with a used Argus 7000,
linked to the current GPS and an installation of a NAV 122D.
Visited the plane and saw the panel taken apart ready for the
reinstallation of the new and items and those that will be kept.
I received a call from the avionics shop saying that after a review of
the appropriate protocol, any alterations to the avionics panel and
related metal is the equivalent to a change to the structure of the
plane and overall airframe. Therefore, a type of field approval is
required which may run up to $2,000. This may also be required for
any additional changes to the avionics panel which include any
drilling of new holes, placement of instruments and the like. The
avionics person’s comment was “Do everything you want now so you do
not have to pay again later.”
Has anyone experienced this? I plan on keeping the plane and I need
the avionics being in the congested mid Atlantic and East Coast. Any
thoughts would be appreciated.
Editor:
Personal opinion, as I am not an “avionics expert”, but this sounds like baloney to me. I have never heard of it before; and I have never seen a panel in our planes that had anywhere near enough fasteners and bracing in it to enable it to serve as a true structural element. I only recall a few screws on each side, and a single flimsy brace at the top center. There is a brace that runs across the bottom from side to side that might be serving in that role, but not the panel itself where the instruments and radios reside.
If I were you, I would call a couple of Avionics specialists, such as Eastern Avionics and Gulf Coast Avionics, and ask them the question. I.E. if you were to take them your plane for avionics upgrades, would the panel be considered a major structural element, with special FAA approvals for changes to the panel structure to incorporate different avionics? This is as opposed to the common 337 form required to reflect the avionics changes being made. The latter is all I have ever known to be required.
Bob Steward, A&P-IA:
The panel SCREWS in. I have taken them out. This “Beech guy” is confused. The FAA transfered approval authority for engineering data to the engineers at the ACO and the MIDO. And they turn down poorly written approvals all the time. Its true that the DERs are making money. That is because they can provide data that the FSDO will accept. They have always had this function. No DER is needed if you are willing to wait for the FAA to get back to you. It may take several MONTHS, or you can speed things up by hiring a DER.
Unless you are replacing your Primary instruments, you are being sold a load of crap; this is not a Major Alteration. Look at Part 43 Appendix A where it DEFINES Major Alteration, and note that adding 20 instruments is NOT a major alteration! Someone at the FAA does not know their job.
$2,000 is highway robbery when you DO NOT NEED a field approval.