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And if you are long legged...it’s the early model Pacer....and your right seat passenger is short and can’t reach the rudder pedals...get rid of that bench seat, upgrade to the later model separate seats... requires donor parts from a late model....welding required. I have pictures of the fixtures needed for the brackets welded to the tube above the hydrosorbs.
Shoulder harnesses
Disc brakes, brake boosters-tripacers
Modify fuel system:
Add both position to selector, add a gascolator, switch to Steve’s gascolator.
Change right tank line routing to eliminate right tank restriction.
Add pitot heat.
Door catches
Battery box and cables
Relocate oil cooler or lines.
Add volt meter, suction gauge.
Change wing tips to Sterarts, hoerner (sullivan) or droop.
Add VGs
PA 18 horizontal stabilizers and elevators.
Left side door
Maybe a modern upgrade would include comfy, cushy, stain-resistant seat fabric and cushion material, like Oregon Aero gel foam. I love flying my old plane but the upholstery and cushioning leave something to be desired.
Maybe a modern upgrade would include comfy, cushy, stain-resistant seat fabric and cushion material, like Oregon Aero gel foam. I love flying my old plane but the upholstery and cushioning leave something to be desired.
I love my Oregon Aero front seat. A little heavy but well worth it. I think I gained about 5lbs.
Second the comfy seat requirement! I can handle a brick under my butt...but my Bride...another story. So I made her seat to fit her. Tried three different bolster thicknesses. Covered with a large beach towel... then made her...sit for an hour on the final iteration.. no complaints. Poor thing her knees are going to.....
As we look forward to rebuilding our Pacer (sometime in the future), I often wonder what opportunities there are to modernize the airframe. I'd love to have access to more modern avionics, exterior/interior lighting, etc., but keep the airframe (I'm kind of a fan).
What have others done to modernize their short wing? I know there is always the cost question when it comes to our airplanes, but if one intends to keep the airplane for the long haul, some cool upgrade may be well worth it.
Just curious...
When I restored my Clipper I made a cut-out in the top of the boot cowl to allow acces to the back side of the instrument panel.
I also welded tabs with nut plates to the bottom cross tube under the insturment panel. I attached a second panel with all of the electrical switches and circuit breakers. Removing three screws I can drop the panel down to easily access the main and avionics busses plus get to back of electrical hardware.
Last edited by Gilbert Pierce; 11-30-2018 at 01:57 PM.
We have yet to do this but my dad and I plan on updating our panel as well. The plan is to move the original instruments into a standard 6 pack and add a suction gauge. Then with the open space that will free up (getting rid of useless instruments like manifold pressure) we will put an Ipad mount. There we can have an IPad with foreflight connected to a stratus box. The Stratus will also meet the ADS-B out requirements for 2020 and some even have ADS-B in with other traffic showing up on the IPad. When you do this, the IPad becomes like a glass display. You can get full AHRS information and a full moving map with GPS (make sure the IPad you purchase has a built in GPS). If you have never used foreflight it is one of the best programs I have ever used! Just keep in mind if you do this and your plane is fitted for IFR, Foreflight is not legal to use as a navaid under IFR. It also doesn't legally allow you to fly GPS approaches. It is just there to give you a warm fuzzy feeling in IMC. Anyways, if you are planning to fly under VFR, this seems like a reliable and rather cheap method.
Last edited by Blake.lewis18; 12-01-2018 at 05:01 PM.
Re: Modernizing the Pacer?
Originally Posted by Glen Geller
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