What’s inside counts
AOPA Sweepstakes 182 boasts new Garmin Panel
They say it’s what’s inside that counts, and that absolutely rings true for the AOPA Sweeps Cessna 182. Over the past several months the 182 has undergone a complete interior restoration, including a brand-new, redesigned all-Garmin avionics panel.
Following the Buckeye Air Fair in Arizona in February, the sweeps aircraft made its way to Arturo’s Aircraft Interiors in Kingman, Arizona, where it received its beautiful new interior. From there, the aircraft flew south to Falcon Field in Mesa, Arizona, to begin the panel upgrade with Platinum Garmin dealer and avionics shop Flite Instruments and Avionics.
There, owner Matt Layton and the team at Flite Instruments worked tirelessly to bring our resto-mod panel vision to life. The original panel and wiring were completely gutted and replaced with a two-tone, tan and black powder-coated panel that features a reimagined six-pack and everything the modern pilot could want in a cross-country aircraft.
In keeping with our resto-mod theme the team at Flite Instruments went through the painstaking process of hand forming rolled edges of the floating panel to keep its old school look and give the panel more depth.
Garmin supplied the sweepstakes aircraft with a fantastic avionics package that is not only functional but also helps the panel maintain its retro feel. The panel now boasts three Garmin GI 275s to replace the horizontal situation indicator (HSI), attitude indicator, and engine monitor, a GTN 650Xi GPS/nav/com, a GMA 345 audio panel with Bluetooth, Garmin’s brand-new GNC 215 color nav/com, a GFC 500 autopilot, the GDL 60 with Gamin’s PlaneSync aircraft management system, USB-C chargers, and more.
Along with the brand-new avionics the aircraft also received all new wiring, throttle, mixture, propeller, and primer cables and engraved knobs from McFarlane Aviation, CiES fuel senders, and a suite of Whelen Aerospace Technologies LED lights.
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