Legend’s Panel, Avionics and Wiring
The second most time consuming job of building a Legend is creating the panel, installing the avionics, and then wiring it all together with switches and breakers so that it works. This is an easy procedure if you purchase the panel package or far more challenging process if you plan to do it all yourself.
Legend Aircraft has designed panel layouts for your Legend configuration!
Once your needs are identified, the avionics are supplied and placed in a panel jig, and then an ‘electrical loom’ is made up comprising of a wiring harness, avionics network cabling, and radio coax cables. At first, it looks like a ‘bundle of wires’ running in various directions, but using a wiring fixture, it begins to take shape as wires are terminated and plugs are added where needed. Before long, the loom makes its way into the airframe where wire branches extend to the tail and run into each wing tip. Based on the equipment list, the loom has connections for each item, and once installed it is a simple ‘plug & play’ procedure connecting each component to the system along the way.
While this sounds like a simple process, it is complex and challenging if left to the builder to create on their own. If there was one element of a typical ‘kitplane build’ that separates it from a factory built aircraft, the lack of a wiring loom is the single ‘tell all’ difference between an amateur build as compared to that of a professional one. Again, knowledge and experience makes this look easy when in fact, it is just the opposite.