On 4 Mar 2005 13:54:51 -0800, "Jay Honeck" wrote:

snip

Wouldn't it be awesome if someone came up with an STC'd Cherokee panel
that had a piano hinge at the bottom, so that we could simply flip the
panel down, and get at the back of the radios, instruments and
switches?

Is there some reason this hasn't been attempted?

There are a bunch of 'planes out there with hinged panels. They are
the cat's ass when they are brand spanking new. After a few years and
a few mods, you find that most of them don't swing anymore. And most
people aren't willing to spend the money to restore them to a
"swingable" condition.

As others have mentioned, it would be a tuff mod to accomplish on a
PA28.

Heh, you can swing the engine on a Super Cub, as long as some dumbass
hasn't re-wired it to make it non-swingable (see above).

TC