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Author Topic: Installing Rosen Sun Visor Mono Rail  (Read 6594 times)

ghancock

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Installing Rosen Sun Visor Mono Rail
« on: February 17, 2016, 08:24:34 am »
This entry is on how to install the Rosen sun visor mono-rail system into a Twin Commander.  This was done on a 680FP but imagine they're all basically the same.  Note:  This is a pressurized airplane but shouldn't matter since the basic airplane structure is the same on the inside.

The mono rail comes very well packaged and organized with instructions on the entire process.  The pictures are hand drawn and not very clear though which is why I'm attaching actual pictures where I can.



The first step is to remove the long trim piece that runs down length of the plane.  The instructions don't call for this but it will make the installation a LOT easier.  Also remove the cover plates over your top switch panels and the 2 trim pieces that run across the top front of the windshield.   You will be drilling 2 holes in the front and 1 on each side to support the mono-rail.

The top switch panels have screws that hold them in place with a hinge that lets them swing down to give you easy access to the inside.  I would suggest doing this while drilling the two holes in front as it eliminates the worry of drilling into something.  Before we do this however we need to put the mono-rail into place so that we can mark where the holes need to be.  The front mounts have slits in them so exact positions isn't important as they can slide side to side.  However, you will need to decide on height because the farther up on the front you mount the system the more you will have to carve out of your switch covers.

I didn't have any help so I tied up the ends of the mono-rail to the side trim screws and then tied the front to the mag switch to help support it while I put it into place to mark the holes.  Help is always good but it wasn't a big deal either way.  I used a sharpy to mark the holes and while the instructions say to drill through the side panels and mount the nut plate, I removed the entire trim on top and pulled down the side panel so that I could drill through the side metal itself.  I of course drilled through the panel to know where I needed the hole, then pulled that down to drill into the metal rib.  It turned out that exactly where the hole needed to be there was a perfect place for the nuts to be installed.  I didn't get pictures of this portion of the installation but you'll see what I'm talking about when you pull the side panel down.



The picture above shows the screw and mono-rail installed on the front panel and here is the shot of the screw installed on the side panel. The black material is the side panel that I pulled out of the way and the top tan color is the trim piece that I removed from the plane while drilling my holes and installing the rivnuts.  Once that was done I put the trim back into place and simply screwed the screw into place through the mono-rail and the interior wall panel.  It actually sounds complicated but didn't take about 30 minutes for each side and that time was involved in removing and installing the trim.  Oh, I also had to remove the trim around the windows because it actually locks the side panel into place.  With it removed the side panel was easily pulled away from the wall for a perfect view of where I was drilling.


Here is a picture of the switch panels being removed so that we can drop the panel down.  NOTE:  You actually have a bit of play here that would allow you to mount the entire rail lower than I did.  This would probably prevent having to cut so much of the cover panels out but in my case I wanted a snug fit and opted to mount higher.  The point here is that you have removed the covers at some point so you might want to mark where you are going to mount the rail before you remove the covers to allow more room for them.  It may be difficult to do this as it was with me because the panels are actually in the way up front to allow marking your holes.  It ended up not being any big deal for me but you should give it some attention before marking and drilling your holes.

There is also enough room and a good angle up front to get your drill in to drill the two holes and install the nuts.  This took about 10 minutes to drill the 2 holes and install the rivnuts into place.


This image shows the window trim removed and the side panel that was pulled out of the way to drill my holes.


This image shows the space below the top switch panel I was speaking about above.  Simply sliding the entire thing down a little would give you more clearance for the switch panels but as you can see from the first image in this post you'd end up drilling through your hinge which could be challenging in and of itself.


Here is everything installed and if you look close at the attach point in the front you can see where I had to trim my switch panel cover to wrap around the attach point.  It is likely you will have to do this no matter what but mounting a little lower might allow for a little less trimming.  I'm not sure about this being true but maybe. :-)


And the final image.  Everything moves front to side easily and I am actually very very happy with both the quality of the product and the installation itself.  The rail is mounting very securely and I'm even looking into their ipad mount that slides along side the visors to give me a nice mount point for an ipad.  If I end up going that route I'll send pictures of where it ends up.

Hope you enjoy and if you have any questions ask away.

Glenn

--glenn
You can't win an argument with an ignorant person,  they'll just drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Huck-Mag

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Re: Installing Rosen Sun Visor Mono Rail
« Reply #1 on: October 24, 2016, 05:08:20 pm »
Are you still happy with the Rosen on a Rail?  Where did you purchase and for how much?

Thanks.

Brent
N742W - 680FL

ghancock

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Re: Installing Rosen Sun Visor Mono Rail
« Reply #2 on: October 25, 2016, 08:50:55 am »
Absolutely happy with them.  I purchased through Spruce and it took a bit over a month for them to get them built.  They are fairly easy to install as I did it all by myself in a few hours.  Don't buy the ipad mount as it turned out not to work very well.  It would work but the rail is too close to your head and it puts the ipad up too close.  Wish I could get my money back on that one :-)

If you have any questions feel free to contact me.

Glenn
--glenn
You can't win an argument with an ignorant person,  they'll just drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Huck-Mag

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Re: Installing Rosen Sun Visor Mono Rail
« Reply #3 on: October 25, 2016, 12:14:56 pm »
Thanks Glenn!  How much did it cost?

Brent

ghancock

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Re: Installing Rosen Sun Visor Mono Rail
« Reply #4 on: October 25, 2016, 04:24:03 pm »
Seems like they were around $800 or so.
--glenn
You can't win an argument with an ignorant person,  they'll just drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.