To kick off Aviation Consumer’s new Panel Planner 101 feature, reader Marc Harding sent a few panel pics of his 1977 Cessna 177RG Cardinal. Buying the airplane “deaf, dumb and blind,” he says, when it was new back in 1977, it came equipped with a Loran-C system, a Century I wing-leveler autopilot and dual King KX170B radios. The panel underwent a big upgrade in 2000, when he removed a KX170B and replaced it with a Garmin GMA 340 audio panel, a Garmin GNC 300XL GPS/comm, a Garmin-AT MX20 MFD and S-TEC 55X autopilot. It recently had an ADS-B upgrade, but the old King KT76A transponder (it’s on the far right panel, not pictured) remains.
“At 74, I hope to have 10 or 15 years of flying ahead, and I want to be cautious both for me and the plane,” Harding told us. While instrument rated, he says he’s a fair-weather flyer, but wants the capability to handle light IFR, including approaches in IMC. Ridding the vacuum system and spinning iron gyros is part of the plan. Let’s do some ninja planning.