Reducing RV7 panel depth

Having searched for info, most of the posts throw up increased depth panels. I'm looking for info from anyone who has reduced the depth of their panel. I'm not too worried about making it look like the shuttle, so masses of instrument space is not necessary, but I am a bit on the "long" side so could do with as much leg room as possible, and am looking at ways to achieve this.

By how much did you reduce the depth of your panel, did you experience any difficulties, and finally - did it significantly improve the the legroom?

Thanks in advance!

Rob

Just to clarify... Are you referring to reducing the *height* of the panel, ie. increasing your knee clearance under the panel, or are you referring to moving the panel forward in the aircraft, increasing the space between your upper body and the panel?

Either way, when sitting in the -7 with a stock panel, if you bend your knees your knee will rise up and move aft. I don't think it's possible to hit the underside of the panel before your knee is aft of the plane of the panel, unless you have *really* long legs... I doubt you would get any noticeable increase in legroom by making the panel shorter (vertically).

Is there someone near you with a finished -7 you could try to sit in? I suppose it may be hard to find someone with a stock panel, many people increase the height a little bit to make room for more glass...

Hi,

Yes, sorry - I was toying with the idea of reducing the height of the panel. I've flown a 7 and fit in, but over the course of a three hour flight vs. a half-hour joyride I might feel differently about it! The ability to stretch / move about slightly is a nice option to have, if at all possible.

Thanks for your thoughts,

Rob

Blank panel

Vans sells an oversize blank. You could use your existing panel to duplicate the top and have it bent at the bottom to suit your height requirement.

My suggestion isn?t a panel modification, but The "almost 14" kit from anti-splat may solve your problem.

Also, you may look into modifying the fuel selector box. I'm installing the Andair fuel selector valve in my -7 build and I was able to modify the selector box which allowed me to lower the valve and box by about four or more inches, which puts the bottom of the selector valve about 1/2" off of the floorboard.

So, between getting that fuel valve and box out of the way and installing the almost 14 kit, this really made a huge difference in giving me a lot more leg room to move around.

This fuel selector and box modification should work well for you if you're going to be running a carburetor with an electric boost pump, however, if you're going to have that big "dog house" in place where people put their electric fuel pump for fuel injected engines, then the fuel selector/box modification may not work.

My electric fuel pumps are mounted under the center tunnel cover. I had to modify the cover a little bit, but when it's all said and done with carpet in place, my tunnel cover and the fuel selector box and valve will be almost flush with the rest of the floorboard. These small modifications really gave me a LOT more room.

Mark

Why don't you check to see how thick the seat cushion was in the -7 you flew?

Van's sells a wedge to take up the space under the spar, a 1" thick cushion and then the seat bottom.

I had my cushions sewn separately so I can add or remove parts to fit the size of my passenger.

You would be surprised at how much that 1" thick cushion adds to the seat height and removing it doesn't impact your comfort.

Thanks everyone, cushions and RV14 mod are both options in consideration!