Pilots and Owners

Custom Aircraft Panels for Pilots & Owners

Why shouldn’t I entrust my avionics shop to fabricate the panel?

Avionics shops these days employ highly trained, competent technicians that do a stellar job installing aircraft avionics systems. THAT’S WHAT THEY’RE GOOD AT!

On the other hand, panel design and machining technologies require a DIFFERENT skillset from the avionics industry. Most shops lack the trained talent, equipment, and other resources to properly conceptualize and manufacture a custom metal panel - so they typically opt to outsource.

During this initial foundation process (let’s face it, the base panel is the anchor for your entire cockpit!), with antiquated tools, they sketch the design by hand and cut the panel to proximal dimensions. Due to the high cost of raw materials, the resulting panel is utilized “as is” and is manually “tweaked” and forced for an adequate fit. Avionics shops aren’t equipped to perform added value services, so they sub-out to have the panel painted and powder coated. Bargain adhesive labels or silkscreen suffice for legends, instead of professional laser etching and engraving. Each of these individual outsourced process steps incrementally adds to the overall project lead-time, extending your downtime by SEVERAL EXTRA WEEKS, as well as risks damage to the panel as it changes hands between multiple vendors. The panel outcome may not meet your expectations or look as professional as you had imagined.

Bottom line - your aircraft is grounded with LONGER IDLE DOWNTIME & random-quality panels!

In contrast, EA Panels performs all design and production work in-house, and partners with your chosen avionics shop to expertly fab your custom solution the way YOU envision it.

What value does EA Panels bring?

Our EXPERTISE and CAPABILITIES:

• Our full-time on-staff knowledgeable avionics panel Design Engineers layout your Custom Panel from the perspective of their own flight experience. They’re pilots, too! No need to outsource hire a costly designer nor retain them as payroll overhead. All of our work INCLUDES DESIGN. We aim for manufacturability. At the onset of an order, our custom proofing software enables the customer to visualize and verify the initial design concept, as well as ensures accuracy.

• Our technically skilled manufacturing staff have expertise in BOTH avionics installation AND CNC machining, so we produce complex precision panels with accuracy and unsurpassed quality, that are intuitively designed to be readily installed by your shop with ease. Most avionics shops have nominal CNC machining skills, at best, and personnel are not sufficiently trained to use those specific machines. So what do they do?  They OUTSOURCE those services, which skyrockets costs to you, along with a loss of strict quality control with a 3rd party vendor. If your panel isn’t a precise fit when they receive it back, then they find a way to tweak it to wedge it in, AFTER the fact.  It’s not too timely to mill another panel.

• Our investment is in Capital Equipment for automated fabrication and sheet metal working for a variety of production processes and optimal customization. You won’t find an installation shop with as much specialized equipment as we have in-house.

• We relieve installation shop dealers of these worries and workload, so they can focus on what they do best:  wiring your aircraft, connecting, communications, safety, regulations, and mounting the equipment.

• We’re flexible and collaborative.  We understand that some shops want more hands-on involvement in your panel, so we offer 3 Service-Level Options, tailored to fit each shop’s desired degree of involvement:  Basic, Cooperative, or Envision Level. You and your chosen shop call the shots.  You’re at the controls, but we can run the entire design and fab process on auto-pilot for you, too.

• By allowing us to assume this upfront foundation process, that reduces your aircraft’s grounding downtime. Your avionics shop receives our panel DROP-IN ready!  SAVE TIME!  RAPID DELIVERY!

• Keep in mind, if your panel shop outsources for various steps such as: design, CNC machining, painting/powder-coating, and more, that EACH process risks the product’s integrity as it changes multiple hands, shipping from shop to shop, AND adds to your overall downtime. KEEP IT SIMPLE!  UTILIZE OUR ONE-STOP SHOP.  WE GUARANTEE OUR TURNAROUND TIMES, and are hard to beat!

• Domestic & International coverage.  We serve owners, pilots, & avionics shops spanning the U.S., as well as globally across oceans and continents.  The sky’s the limit!

• We’re Team Players!  We collaborate in partnership with your avionics installation shop to jointly create your custom solution that FITS, meets YOUR VISION, and in an efficient, TIMELY and COST-EFFECTIVE manner. That’s why we’re called EA Panels (formerly Envision Avionics Panels).