I've been looking at the canopy fit a lot lately. The aft ends of the bottom of the frame were not inset 1/16" from the side skins as specified. They were slightly outboard, maybe 1/16" to 1/8". I figured that since I'll be doing the canopy skirts in fiberglass, this won't matter.
Alas, my OCD got the better of me and I started work on bending the aft sections inboard some more. I found enough leverage, plus putting some weight into it was enough to bend the rear bows. After a bunch of iterations, a bit too much bend, and some twist in the frame, I got it almost perfect. It's probably 1/32" inboard instead of the specified 1/16" I'm gonna call that good enough.
The height of the aft ends of the lower bar also ended up at the same height. Perfect.
I wanted to see how the heat muff fits the 4 pipe exhaust, so I assembled it onto the pipes and cut and routed the tubing.
Measuring the distance the heat muff extends below the bottom of the aircraft and comparing it with the bulge in the lower cowling looks like it'll fit just fine.
Tonight I installed more USB outlets since time since I installed the 1st ones has progressed to a new generation of USB power: USB-C.
There was a nice spot next to my existing USB power source to add the new one, which I got from Amazon for $16. Big difference vs Garmin's setup for $425. Hopefully, it lasts.
First, I marked a location centered on neighboring items, then cut the hole with a step drill bit and deburred it.
Next, I cut 18 gauge wire for ground and positive and added female spade terminals to each end and added heat shrink labels to show where each goes. Finally, I routed the wires from the outlet to the forest of grounds and a fuse module respectively.
No actual work tonight. I spent the time planning on how and when to rivet the forward top skin on. I couldn't get a bucking bar where it'll be required to rivet the side skins to the longerons at the F-704 bulkhead. Haven't figured it out yet.
After finding that my 1st try at the F-788 Gusset with countersinking wouldn't work over the bulkhead flanges since they are dimpled.
So I ordered a new one and...
Match Drilled from the 1st one, scarfed the aft end to allow the top skin a smooth transition, deburred, dimpled the rivet holes, scuffed, cleaned and primed it.
Just a little work today. I disassembled the rear skin that I'd match drilled for the rear canopy rail and deburred it as well as the flanges below.
Also drilled the hole in the forward end of the slide rail.
Lots of work on the rear canopy guide rail today.
I drilled the rivet and screw holes that I'd marked yesterday. First, I drilled the spacer, then match drilled those holes to the canopy slide rail.
I left one screw hole undrilled since there's a pilot hole in the fuselage skin that I need to match. Once the other holes were drilled, deburred and machine countersunk, I clecoed the rail to the fuselage and match drilled the pilot hole in the fuselage to the rail as well as the holes in the rail to the fuselage.
Next was cleaning and priming the spacer and rail, then riveting it together. I used a rivet one notch longer than specified to it'd fill the countersinking on the shop side better. The shop heads did sit proud a bit and since that side of the spacer/rail will mate to the fuselage skin, I ground the shop heads flush. I then primed those ground areas.
Moving forward with fixing the F-788 Gusset. I decided I'll dimple a new one vs flattening the dimple in the stiffener and bulkhead.
While I wait for a new gusset to arrive from Vans, I'll work on the new rear canopy rail. I re-cleco'd the aft skin to the fuselage and measured the rivet and screw holes on the canopy rail spacer.
I also cleco'd the canopy side rails to the deck and slid the canopy frame in place.
I started by clecoing the fuselage top skin that's just behind the canopy to the fuselage, including the F-788 Gusset. Alas, I realized that the holes in the bulkhead flanges have been dimpled. This won't work below the F-788 gusset that's been machine countersunk.
I think I'll flatten the associated dimples and move on.
Lots of work today.
I started with the bolts attaching the engine mount to the fuselage. Some of the ones I initially installed were too long, some were too short. I suppose I could have added washers to the longer bolts, but may as well go with the ideal sizes.
So I relieved some of the pressure on the bolts by jacking the engine a bit and replaced the bolts one by one. I had exactly the spare bolts needed. I then applied Torque Seal to the nuts.
Next was final tightening of the 3 sensors into the manifold on the firewall: Oil Pressure, Manifold Pressure and Fuel Pressure. Applied Torque Seal to these too.
Lastly, I noticed the bracket for either the throttle cable or mixture, forget which, was rusting. So I removed it, ground off the surface rust and primed it.
One of the initial bolts I added that was too long
I'm installing an extended slider kit that will allow the canopy to open more, for better access to the baggage compartment. Instead of the pre-bent parts that come with the 7A, I bought the longer set for the RV-8, but it'll need to be bent to match the RV-7A's version.
I first bent the bar around the round shaft of a vice by placing a rubber coated crescent wrenh in place to bend against. Worked perfectly. I then bent the sheet metal portion the same way.
Once the bends matched the RV-7A versions, I cut the new version to its final length. Next was scuffing for priming
The other thing was the slider block that glides along the track. It needed to be trimmed a bit on the inside to better fit over the tab on the canopy frame. Doesn't fit perfectly, but the notch allows enough play on the track to not be a problem.
New guide track vs old one with the extension. Same length and bend.
Wow, the 2nd time sure is faster than the 1st! Took about an hour to complete the riveting of the copilot side baggage floor using a combination of pneumatic & manual blind riveters, rivet gun and rivet squeezer.
Now on to the next thing. Tidy up wiring?
Started with setting up the tools and step ladder to work from the copilot side of the plane, then riveted some of the blind rivets with the hand riveter, then the solid rivets holding the nutplates along the center tunnel with the Numatx riveter. I worked on the more difficult rivets first so it gets easier as I go. :-)
Tonight I completed the rivetng of the pilot side baggage floor using a variety of rivets and techniques: -3 and -4 solid rivets and blind rivets using the Numatx squeezer, a rivet gun, a pneumatic blind riveter and a manual blind riveter for rivets close to the side wall. It was tricky getting access for the bucking bar and squeezer, but got it.
Next, I spent a few minutes clecoing the copilot side floor and side panel in.
I tried removing the elevator pushrod to make riveting along the tunnel easier, but it's permanently in there. So I managed to work around it for the remaining rivets along the tunnel. All the hardest rivets are done. The rest will be easier, especially the blind rivets.
Most of this time was spent locating and setting up for riveting nutplates and the floor in place with flush head rivets. Finally managed to set a few rivets in nutplates. I'm using the NumatX squeezer.
Next time will go quicker.
Tonight, I started closing the baggage area floor.
First, I primed some rib flanges that had gotten scratched. Then I dimpled the 20 or so nutplates that will be attached with flush rivets, then cleco'd them in place along with other clecos holding the floor in.
Tonight was the final work on the passenger step.
I drilled the torque tube to secure the HDPE block.
Next, I riveted the step to the fuselage skin using blind rivets. Went very smoothly.
Finally, I secured the HDPE block to the inner rib and torque tube using the provided bolts.
Lot of progress today:
I cut and ground the step flange to shape and bent the trailing edge to mate nicely to the fuselage as the fuseage skin curves inboard. I used 2 crescent wrenches, a bench vise and vice grips to bend a nice S in the trailing edge. No washer/spacer required this time.
Next was the tedious sanding and smoothing of the step to prep for priming.
I then measured & marked the location of the rivet holes, holding off on the column that will go through the rib. Then drilled the marked holes. Also drew lines through the rivets in the skin that attached to the rib so that I could ensure that the rivets in that column would end up between rivets. One hole was close enough to a rivet that I just placed it at that rivet and drilled the existing one out, flattening the dimple with a rivet gun and tungsten bucking bar. I then match drilled the holes in the step flange to the skin, then drilled the holes into the rib column through the flange and skin/rib.
Next was deburring all those holes.
Then I primed the step along with areas of the skin it'll mate to as well as the edges of the holes and arcs cut into the fuselage ribs.
Last thing for the night was drilling the 3 holes in the HDPE plastic that holds the step tube in place.
Using a combination of a step drill, hole saw, GreenLee punch and dremel, I added the holes to allow the step mount to slide into the fuselage. Also ground away arcs in a rib flange and web.
Also had to trim 1/4" off the inbaord end of the step tube so it wouldn't hit the inner rib that it mounts to.
Started with the arduous task of drilling out scores of rivets. Tedious, but went pretty quickly. After cleaning up the debris, the area is ready for the step install
A variety of things tonight:
First, I was concerned with space between the lower aft section of the step flange and the fuselage. My thought was that riveting this to the skin would pull the skin to the flange, putting it under stress. My solution was to grind a washer face at an angle to conform to the gap spacing (less at one side than the other).
I also bolted the inboard end of the step to the retaining block.
Finally, I riveted the step to the fuselage. I went with Blind rivets since there's not a ton of stress on the step flange.
Now on to the passenger step...
Here's the hole with the gap between step flange and fuselage skin.
Drilled the holes in the step and floor web to secure the inboard end of the step weldment. I started with the step in place, then finished in a drill press once each end of the step tube hole was started. Very snug fit.
Later, I sanded, cleaned and primed the step and the hole edges in the fuselage. Some of the floor too that had gotten scuffed.
Tonight I continued on the left side step.
First, I had to cut about 1/4" off the inside tube since it hit the mounting rib with the step flange still sticking out of the fuselage by 1/4". Then smoothed the end to prevent scratching anything.
Once the step fit in all the way, I had to bend the flange to conform to the fuselage shape. I also cut off the lower aft corner. Now it fits flush to the fuselage.
Next was drilling the mounting holes. I ensured that one set of holes went into a rib flange by drawing a line along the rib rivets and matching to a line on the step flange, then marking and drilling holes along that line.
I then put the step in place and started match drilling holes into the fuselage skin, adding clecos as I went. I got lucky: most of the holes ended up in spaces between existing rivets on the line over the rib. The one hole that hit an existing rivet was righ on top of the rivet, so I just drilled that rivet out, flattened the dimple a bit and match drilled into that hole. On the passenger side, I'll plan for ideal spacing. :-)
Well, I thought I was going to omit the steps and instead carry along a step stool to help people climb onto the wing to get in the cabin. I finally came to my senses and figured it'll be way more convenient to have steps and a knot or so of speed loss isn't a big deal.
So I had to drill out all the rivets holding the baggage compartment floor and side panels to get access to the are. Took about an hour and 1/4 to remove them. Not too bad.
Then I drilled 1 1/2" holes and cut away some rib flanges to allow the step tub to slide in. I used a wide variety of tools to get the holes drilled and expanded to final size: Step drill, 1 1/2" hole saw (just for drawing the 1 1/2" circle), dremel with bur bit, Greenlee punch for the hole in the inner rib. Kind of a pain, but got it done. Then I smoothed the edges of the holes. Later, I'll prime them.
Tank support bracket corrosion and skin crack fixes
Apr.16.2023 2 hrs
Date:
Apr 16, 2023
Hours:
2.00
The bare steel tank brackets developed some surface rust over the past few years, so I removed them, sanded the rust off, primed and replaced them.
Also, when lifting the plane to pivot into the basement way back when, the lifting straps bent the bottom skin/flange enough to crack it. So I stop drilled the crack on both sides of the plane and ground away some relief.
The shop is finally ready for the plane. I know I should have asked friends for help, but I managed to work the plane out of the basement, then towed it up the hill with the tractor. No problems.
Next will be unpacking all the parts and tools.
When we first moved to this new home in April of 2018, we placed the plane in the garage. We determined it will fit in the basement, so made the move. Tricky to get it in the sliding doors, but lifting and pivoting did the trick.
Completed Stereo audio input, Heater and parking brake knobs mounted
Jan.29.2017 4 hrs
Date:
Jan 29, 2017
Hours:
4.00
I like to install devices in the panel with a way to remove them from behind, so I installed the audio socket in a plate that can be removed from behind the panel. Ditto for the parking brake and heater control knobs. To do this, I drill a hole large enough for the knob to slip through and mount it to a plate that fastens to the back of the panel.
ADS-B antenna wiring, Brake line support, Stereo audio Input
Jan.28.2017 4 hrs
Date:
Jan 28, 2017
Hours:
3.50
Installed a bracket to secure brake lines. Ran and trimmed the antenna cable from the ADS-B antenna to the ADS-B receiver. Also started the install of the stereo audio input jack for the radio/intercom.
Since I had the Antenna doublers on, I decided to mount the antennas, just for fun. So I mounted the Radio, ADS-B and Transponder antennas. They all fit nicely.
Next was mounting the GPS 20A Rule-compliant, non-TSO’d GPS position source. This is a much less expensive way to become compliant ($850) vs a $4000 Nav radio.
After some thinking and trial & error, I finally located an area where I could mount the GPS 20A: On the Sub Panel to the right of the radio. So I positioned the GPS box, used it to match drill holes into the subpanel, drilled nutplate mounting holes, deburred, riveted on nutplates and attached the GPS 20A. Pretty straight forward, just a bit of time.Â
Finishing rolling edge on right outboard bottom skin
Jan.04.2017 1 hrs
Date:
Jan 4, 2017
Hours:
0.50
One thing I hadn't done on this skin was perform the edge rolling to keep the edges from curling up when riveted down. I should have done this before dimpling, so now had to do it between dimples, taking a lot longer.
Dimpling bottom skin for doublers, riveted Transponder Doubler
Dec.30.2016 2 hrs
Date:
Dec 30, 2016
Hours:
2.00
With the help of Marek, we were able to make good progress on the antenna doublers.
We started by practicing dimpling on some .040 sheet. Once we had that looking good, we moved onto the bottom forward skin. Using the rivet gun method and tools I fabricated, we easily dimpled the skin.
We then moved on to riveting the Transponder Doubler to the lower forward skin. This also went smoothly.
Next, we dimpled the bottom skins for the radio antenna and ADS-B receiver. These skins are thinner, so we used the pop rivet method. However, to make it go faster, we used the pneumatic pop riveter. This was way easy and fast. We did have a couple jams in the riveter, but otherwise, it was quick work.
Marek in position for dimpling
Ditto
Using the male dimple die tool.
Dimples complete!
Marek clecoing the doubler on
Getting there...
Done!
From above
Dimpling the aft doubler areas using the pop rivet method
Just a bit of work tonight trying to figure out how to dimple the thick bottom forward skin.
The pop rivet method didn't work, so I decided to try using the rivet gun. I've seen people use a rivet as a male die and a female dimple die in a bucking bar on the other side. But I was worried that the rivet would deform before making a proper dimple. When I tested this method, I found this to be the case. The dimple was better than the pop rivet method, but not perfect.
How about using both male and female dimple dies with a bucking bar and rivet gun?
So I grabbed the small block of steel I used with a dimple die long ago and taped it to my Tungsten bucking bar. I initially taped this assembly to a right angle guide to ensure it was placed vertically, but later decided to not use the right angle since it was ungainly. For the male dimple die, I simply taped it to a deep 1/4" drive socket. Initially, I was going to hit this directly with the rivet gun. I later inserted a 1/4" drive bit with the end slightly rounded so that the gun wouldn't hit one edge harder than the other.
A quick test on some .040 sheet showed nice dimples!
I also spent some time trying to find a good place to mount the GPS for the Transponder. I'm thinking one of the upper forward nose skin ribs. We'll see.
I figured the best way to dimple the bottom skins for the doublers was with the pop rivet dimple die. Alas, the forward bottom skin is pretty thick at .040, so I found that it wouldn't dimple completely with the pop rivet dimple method before the nail broke. I also tried on the under-seat skin and it worked fine there.
I'll need to come up with another method for dimpling the thicker skin.
Bottom view of forward bottom skin dimples. Not good.
Top view. They don't look too bad from up here.
The radio antenna doubler attaches to thinner skin, so the pop rivet dimpling works better here.
I started by determining the proper depth to countersink the doublers. I dimpled a sheet of aluminum and used it to test the depth of a countersink in some test material.
Once the countersink depth was set, I countersunk the 3 doublers: Radio, Transponder and ADS-B Receiver.
With the 2 doubler plates I cut out previously (Transponder and ADS-B In), I measured, drilled and deburred the rivet and antenna mounting holes.
Next, I placed the doublers in position in the aircraft and match drilled the skins. Transponder in the passenger footwell and GDL 39 on the starboard side near the pitch autopilot servo. I then deburred these holes too. For the antenna cable hole, I started small on the doubler and drilled to full size (9/16) with a step drill once the doublers were cleco'd to the skin. This way, they were matched exactly vs trying to match drill this hole in the skin from a full sized hole in the doubler.
Next, I masked off the areas around where the doublers will go and primed the skin mounting surface.
I'm way behind on software updates, so I installed the latest tonight. Easy as pie. Just copy to an SD card and power the G3X on with the card inserted. The G3X also updates the connected Garmin devices: Engine monitor, AHRS, Radio, etc.
Tonight, I started fabricating a doubler for the comm antenna. It'll mount between a rib and the side skin on the copilot side of the aircraft, under the seating area. I decided to make it 8" x 4" out of .063 aluminum sheet.
It'll have about 20 rivet holes, a hole to provide clearance for the Click-Bond zip tie mount that's in the mounting area and holes for the antenna.
I cut the sheet out with the bandsaw, ground the edges smooth and drilled the antenna mount and connector holes. The zip tie mount hole took some work: drilled 1/4" hole in each corner, then used a die grinder to cut the sides and I filed the edges smooth.
Next will be drilling the rivet holes.
Designing the doubler
Doubler measured out
Cut out, zip tie mount clearance cut, rivet holes marked and antenna mount holes drilled.
Since the foam in the snorkel has cured, I decided to trim away some of the foam for future fitting. I also cleaned out the foam dispenser tube on the spray bottle and sprayed more foam into the bubbles left behind by the 1st try.
Since my engine has an ECI intake manifold that tilts the throttle body up 7 degrees, the snorkel, which routes intake air from the inlet to the throttle body, doesn't come close to fitting.
One option is to cut off the flange at the throttle body, re-orient, and re-glass it. But I didn't think this would be a complete solution. So instead, I marked and cut sections out of the snorkel that interfered with the alternator and starter when the flange is flush against the throttle body. It took quite a few iterations, trimming more and more away with a cordless dremel tool with cutoff wheel, but it was pretty easy. Removing the 1st part made it easy to see the throttle body opening for positioning.
I wanted to fill the area with foam so that I can carve it away and glass over the top of it, so I slid a plastic bag into the snorkel, zip tied it to the foam spray can nozzle and sprayed in the foam. This will make removal easier. Alas, filling the bag with foam wasn't so easy. Lots of air got in. After it was filled, I cut open some of the bag to allow the foam to cure. I probably should have just covered the inside of the snorkel with blue tape. Next time.
I previously painted the brace with flat black BBQ Grill paint. This is to cut down on reflections and I figured BBQ Grill paint must be tough. Alas, simply rubbing a fingernail across it made marks in the paint. So I used some Acetone to clean the paint off. It came off quite easily.
I then scuffed and cleaned it, along with the point on the canopy roll bar where the brace attaches. Next was painting these with some aircraft paint I received from Spruce.
I tested the stick grip buttons and found something weird: when operation the trigger/transmitter mic button, the under dash light flashed on! My wiring seemed fine, so I was stumped. I did some online research and saw that this may be a side effect of using Pulse Width Modulation dimmers. The radio can screw with the PWM control. Grounding the antenna helped a lot. So I think I can live with it for now.
Something different tonight. I decided to secure the lower spark plug wires to the valve covers.
Instead of using a pile of steel washers to space Adel clamps off the valve cover holes enough to clear the lip on the valve cover, I ordered some anodized aluminum spacers from McMaster Carr. I also ordered some longer valve cover screws to make up for the extra height.
I had purchased some crazy expensive spark plug clamps, but found them to be too small for my automotive style wires. So for the Adel clamps that will secure a pair of wires, I clamped the Adel clamp around a pair of 5/16" drill bits to simulate a pair of spark plug wires. This created a nice, elongated clamp.
I also had to drill out the #10 hole in the clamps to 1/4", the diameter of the valve cover screws.
Refining the instrument dimming function and setting up CHT & EGT inputs
Oct.26.2016 0 hrs
Date:
Oct 26, 2016
Hours:
0.35
Garmin came through for me! I sent them an email asking for a circuit that could send the instruments a 0 - 2v signal across the range of a 10k potentiometer from a 14v source.
Their response was: Do it in software. :-)
Sure enough, you can tell the G3X what voltage to dim from and to. So I set it up to be at the dimmest at 7v and brightest at 14v. This worked like a charm.
One other configuration item I did was to tell the system about the CHT and EGT temperature sensors. They are are K type thermocouples. On reboot of the G3X, I saw 61 to 62 degrees for all probes. As another test, I used a heat gun to heat the #2 cylinder and exhaust pipe a bit. Sure enough, the temp sensors reflected this.
Testing instrument dimming with a simple potentiometer
Oct.23.2016 1 hrs
Date:
Oct 23, 2016
Hours:
0.75
Earlier, I'd found that the dimmer/voltage regulator would not dim the instruments. It turns out that the minimum voltage the voltage regulator puts out is about 7 volts. The G3X display must look for less than that to perform its dimming.
I found that the method Garmin recommends is to simply attach ground and power across a 10k ohm potentiometer and take the middle terminal to the lighting bus. I hooked this up temporarily to see how it worked by grabbing ground from a panel switch and power from the starter switch. The pot adjusted voltage from about 0 to 14v, so it was doing its job. The G3X Display would dim this time, but only at the last 15% of its rotation. Connecting a multi-meter confirmed that dimming occurred at 0 to 2v. Arrgghh. So how to get the dimming I want, across the whole rotation of the potentiometer?
It might seem odd to replace practially new valve cover gaskets. But the cork ones deteriorate and leak over time.
So I purchased some silicon gaskets.
Removing the valve covers and gaskets was easy. I pried them off with a pastic chisel, peeled the existing gaskets off, cleaned with some acetone and installed the new gaskets.
The screws were torqued to 25 ft-lbs according to ECI specs.
A couple little tweaks to how I secured the HID wiring...
The right wing wiring looked to be secure, but the butt splices zip tied to the Click Bond zip tie mount wobbled a bit. So I wrapped them in a little silicon tape and replaced the zip tie. The bundle is now nice and secure.
The left wing had a sheet of aluminum bonded to the spar with an Adel clamp holding the HID wires, just like the right. And also like the right, the bracket pulled away without too much effort. So I removed the aluminum strip and adhesive and installed a Click Bond zip tie mount here too.
Silicon tape around the butt splices make it more secure
Replaced the aluminum strip with a Click Bond zip tie mount
AeroLEDs has updated their wiring scheme for their Nav/Strobe lights. Instead of tying all the grounds together at the airframe near each light, we should now just connect the ground to the wire shield and connect the light frame to aircraft ground.
So I cut the shield ground wire with the ring terminal to a length that will fit into the connector with the other wires. I needed to extend one of the grounds using a heat shrink butt connector combo. Installing terminals on these wires was pretty easy.
I then just needed to clip off the extra wire from the existing ground wires to use to connect the light frame to the airframe.
About to cut ground wire and install into connector.
Tonight I decided to figure out where to label the switches: under them or above them.
I build up the seating area with some 2x4s and rubber cushion and sat in the 'seat' to see which position was best. Turns out, the lower labels were more visible.
I also wanted to label the switches temporarily to know what switches do what for testing.
In preparing for riveting the bottom skin on (making room on the work table, cleaning up, etc.), I noticed that the skin had not yet been completely prepared for riveting. The latest stage completed was match drilling.
So today, I continued from there:
First, I did a better job of scoring the protective plastic with a soldering iron and removed strips on the rivet lines.
I then deburred the bzillions of rivet holes. This takes time as some holes need to be touched up a 2nd or 3rd time.
Where one corner of the skin overlaps with the inboard skin near the fuel tank, causing a small ridge that sticks up, there are 2 common solutions: 1. A Scarf Joint where you bevel both skins so that they end up being the same thickness as one skin or 2. Cut out a notch in the lower skin so that the other skin is the only one that lays in this area.
The first sounds like a lot of work and could weaken the area and I worry cutting a notch will weaken the area even more. So I'm simply going to round the leading edge of the overlapping skin a bit to smooth the airflow over the junction.
The last bit of prep was to run the edge roller over the outside edges to bend them down a bit to combat the skin curling up often caused by riveting.
Skin before removing protective plastic covering at rivet lines
After removing plastic strips
Rounded leading edge where it'll overlap the inboard skin
Previously, I'd bonded a metal strip to the spar near the landing light to secure the power wires. However, I bumped this strip today and it sounded like it gave a little. Sure enough, when I applied some real pulling force, it popped off! So I replaced it with a Click Bond zip tie mount.
I decided to clean up some of the wiring behind the panel tonight. But I didn't want to go too far since I may need to dig back into it if testing shows any issues.
First, I figured out the proper size Adel clamp for the wire bundle that goes under the right side of the subpanel and secured it and its wires into place.
I then used lacing cord to bundle up some of the lighting wires near the PWM dimmer and zip tied the wires going to the right side under-dash light to it's mount.
Also zip tied the lighting wires under the radio brace as well as the USB plug power wires to their own mount on the backside of the panel.
Lastly, I bundled the ELT cable for when it's ready to secure.
Just a little time in the garage tonight to finish up the heat control cable.
First, I pulled the inner wire out and cut the outer sheath to the length of the 1st mark I'd made earlier using a dremel & cutoff wheel. Then I deburred the inner & outer parts of the end.
I then installed the cable again, inserted the knob/wire and measured where to cut it and made the cut. I pulled it out and smoothed the end, then re-installed it.
Finally, I determined the number of washers to install on the wire clamp bolt which has a hole for the wire so that there will be nice clamping and installed it into the heat valve arm.
We're now ready for permanent install (after instrument panel painted).
Time to finish other items under the forward top skin before it can be installed...
This time, it's the cabin heat control cable. I wanted a nice, gentle curve for the cable and the plans' directions work quite well for where I have my heat control knob (low on the panel, right of center).
First, I drilled a #10 hole in one of the firewall stiffeners for the cable to route through, deburring it.
Next was attaching a cable clamp to the firewall to secure it. Instead of drilling a new hole in the firewall, I installed a longer bolt (socket head this time, since normal AN bolts have short thread lengths) through the existing right side heat controller assembly and nutplate. This provided enough extra length on the aft side to attach an Adel clamp, washers and nut.
Lastly, I checked the throw on the valve arm and marked where to cut the control cable. One cut will be for the whole cable, the other cut will be just the outer sheathing so that the wire extends beyond.
When I spoke with Mark Swinford from Numatx st Oshkosh, he showed me numerous improvements to the Hydro-Pneumatic squeezer:
Much narrower design of the Yoke support. Instead of really thick aluminum, it's much thinner steel. This will allow riveting next to holes having clecos inserted.
Double Swivel fittings connecting the hose to the squeezer. This provides ultimate flexibility in positioning the squeezer when riveting. The old one could be quite awkward.
Even lighter than the old version.
Nicer pins holding the yoke to the squeezer. They have easy release locking tabs for quick install and removal.
The only drawback is the compression rod which must be swapped when changing die gaps. Or one could add/remove washers under the dies for fine tuning.
So I emailed Mark to order one to supplement my existing squeezer.
I spent the hour this evening assembling and bleeding the new squeezer. Works great!
New and old. Notice the bulky aluminum frame holding the yoke.
Here, you can see how dramatically narrower the new frame is vs the old.
Wiring up the Under Dash, refactoring USB/Interior and Instrument Dimmer power
Sep.19.2016 2 hrs
Date:
Sep 19, 2016
Hours:
2.00
Mostly finishing up the under visor lights.
Instead of using 3 butt connectors to splice power to USB, Interior LEDs and the Instrument dimmer, I cut them out and redid them with one nice butt connector combining 4 wires, plus another to extend the wire to the USB outlet.
I also spent some time figuring out how to secure the wires in this area. Decided to add a Click Bond zip tie mount under the radio brace. This is a special mount I got from the Klick Bond guys at Oshkosh that has a centralized sticky button that pops in and pulls the mount tight during bonding.
Next was wiring the visor lights: Combining pairs of positive and negative lines into one and attaching to the PWM dimmer.
Then I crimped D-Sub pins on each power and ground wire at the lights and insulated with heat shrink. The male & female pins make screwing up polarity impossible.
Another item I found needed to be done was cutting holes in the angle brackets that attach the top skin to the instrument panel to make clearance for the grommets. So I used a step drill to drill a hole in each side large enough for the grommets. I then deburred and primed them.
Combining 4 power wires with 1 butt splice
Extending the USB power wire. May as well do it at the zip tie mount.
The cool new Click Bond zip tie mount with the internal clamp
Bundling the wires to be secured to the zip tie mount under the radio brace
Splitting the PWM output for the under visor lights
I decided to go with 2 separate light units instead of a lighting strip under the panel visor. The strip lighting can use a lot more power, plus, you can't turn portions off and on. At least I have that easy option in the future with 2 lights. I'm using modern LED lights that can get pretty bright.
First, I ground the ends down a bit since they weren't quite flat and my panel actually bends the other way (concave vs convex).
I then located holes for each light wire in a location where the light won't obstruct any panel mounting screws and where the hole for the wires has some edge distance from mounting holes. I then drilled a 5/16" hole for the little rubber grommets I'm using. After deburring, I popped the grommets in place.
If I want to remove the panel in the future, I need a way to either remove items from the back or disconnect them. For the lights, I'll have to do the latter, so I added DSub pins to the lights. I used a male for positive and female for negative so they can't be mixed up.
I also installed a Click Bond zip tie mount on the back side of the panel where wires for the right light will go.
Back surfaces of the lights sanded flat
Grommet installed
D-Sub pins installed on lights along with some insulating heat shrink
First, I cut the tubes to the correct length for right angle fittings at the floor and for a nice curve to instruments at the top.
I then did a bit more work on where the Pitot and AOA lines are secured along the left side from the floor to the panel. I want to be sure there is no rubbing from the rudder cable, so I positioned the 2 tubes at the base of the zip tie clamps with wiring above, then cinched them down securely with the nice McMaster metal tab zip ties.
Lastly, I made plugs for the lower ends with more tubing and a screw in the end to keep critters out.
I determined where a good spot in the left aft baffle would be by positioning the oil cooler and noting that there would be no room on the oil cooler baffle piece. So I looked where there would be clearance from the engine mount bolt and marked where the grommet will go.
I then removed the baffling from the engine, marked the spark plug holes onto the baffle, pilot drilled, then final drilled using a step drill to the size of the '8' shaped spark plug cable grips. This took some trial and error filing and fitting until the grommet fit nice and flush.
Next, I match drilled the mounting holes into the baffle and installed nutplates at these locations.
Ended up with a nice, tight fit. No air leaks here.
Lastly, I reamed out the spark plug cable holes a bit for not quite so tight a clamping on the wires. I didn't want them to damage the wires.
Checking for a good location
Inner holesdrilled and formed and mounting holes drilled
Main and mounting holes drilled, ready to mount nutplates
I used the super nice butt connector/heat shrink bits to connect the output from the Pulse Width Modulation module to the 3 lights. I used shielded 2 conductor cabling for these since it nicely keeps the wires together and protects them as they pass through the bulkhead caps.
I also crimped the mini spade connectors onto the wires going to the starter switch.
Then it was just connecting the PWM end of the wires to the PWM module. These are simply screw down clamps.
4 wires all crimped together (2 side lights, starter light and to the PWM controller)
Time to finish trimming the canopy deck on the left side of the aircraft and do the same for the right side. Same deal: The metal overhangs the longeron enough to impinge on the upper top skin when it gets riveted in place. The trusty dremel tool and a number of cut-off bits got this trimmed and smoothed. A little tedious, but I feel better now.
Time to work on this task that's been waiting a while.
First, I drilled/reamed a hole away from rivets in the seat back bulkhead for the static tubing: 1/4". I then routed the static line from the aft connection forward through the new hole and on to near the main spar. I also slipped clips on that will hold the aft section in place before plugging the aft end into the loop of tubing already in place.
Oh, and I Alodined the clips before slipping them onto the tubing.
Instead of juggling the clips while installing the aft top skin, I drilled out 2 rivets that were installed just to hold the lower skin in place while waiting for the upper skin to go on. So these are extra rivets. I re-riveted with the clips on.
Finally, I riveted the aft end of the static tubing to holes in the longeron I'd drilled long ago using blind rivets.
Hole drilled in seat back bulkhead
Drilled out temp extra rivets
Another
Clips alodined
Clips riveted on with tubing installed
And through the bulkhead
This is how the static tubing will be routed, but holding off so that there's room for riveting forward upper skin.
Static line held in place with nylon clamps and blind rivets
I don't want the white roll bar brace reflecting in the canopy, so I scuffed it and painted it flat black using BBQ Grill Paint. :-)
One annoying thing about the Quickbuild job was that the outboard Canopy Deck Edges extend beyond the longeron, so the upper skin will be obstructed by it when it's riveted on, not allowing a good rivet job and possibly showing a crease.
So I used a dremel cutoff wheel to trim and smooth this edge. Pretty tedious.
Here, you can see the canopy deck extending too far outboard.
I placed a dab of Click Bond adhesive on the ends of the screw poking through nearest the light on each cap to prevent scraping of the wires when the light is adjusted.
I then scuffed the insides of the bulkhead caps and primed them, being careful not to get primer on the light's aim adjustment ball.
I then test fit the caps and drilled the bulkhead screws for the wires.
I decided to run the side lighting straight forward through the main bulkhead instead of down and through the bulkhead. Shorter trip this way.
First, I scuffed the inboard sides of the bulkhead cover flanges for a good primer bond.
Next, I drilled holes in the bulkhead caps for the dimmer wiring... then I realized there would be no way to install the wiring and rivet the cap in place. But then I thought of cutting a notch in the caps instead of just holes. This will allow me to run the wires through the bulkhead holes, then slip the caps in place. So I cut/filed these notches out.
I then added some extra heat shrink to the butt connectors for the side light wiring for extra durability.
After that, I scuffed and bonded Click Bond cable clamps for the side light wiring.
Finally, I loosely zip tied the USB power wires, left side floor cables and right side cables.
bulkhead caps scuffed
Initial wire hole placement in caps. Note the red circles.
Finishing up instrument dimmer and securing various wiring
Sep.06.2016 2 hrs
Date:
Sep 6, 2016
Hours:
1.75
I started by connecting a dimmer signal wire from the dimmer module to the dimmer input on the GDU 460.
I then added corrugated tubing around the dimmer wire bundle, zip tied it on and secured with an Adel clamp bolted to an existing hole in the subpanel.
Lastly, I installed Click Bond zip tie mounts to the left floor for cables and pitot/AOA tubing, on the back side of the instrument panel for the USB wires and on the vertical face of the port forward deck to secure AOA and Pitot tubing.
Adding dimmer wire to GDU 460
And to dimmer connector
Secured and protected the dimmer bundle
Adel clamp for pitot/AOA and wires on the port floor area
Another behind instrument panel
And finally, one up near the Pitot/Static/AOA sensors to secure the tubing up there.
More instrument Dimmer install work, AOA dimmer wiring, AOA CAN Bus grounding, Mini-B wire cleanup
Sep.04.2016 4 hrs
Date:
Sep 4, 2016
Hours:
4.00
A fair amount of work on wiring today...
I started with the instrument dimmer module:
First, I match drilled a couple holes from the little L brackets on the module to the sub-panel, just above the backup battery. Even before that, I ground down the screws holding those L brackets to the board so I'd have clearance for the screws. I also drilled the bracket holes out to #32 so that #6 screws would fit into them.
Next, after noting that the dimmer knob will stick out into the cockpit a ways, I measured how much and trimmed the shaft for a flusher fit. Now the knob sits nice and close to the panel like the light dimmers.
On to the holes in the panel. I measured a similar distance from the rightmost dimmer knob as between the existing dimmer knobs (.85") and drilled a 1/4" hole. I put blue tape down to draw guide lines so I wouldn't end up with Sharpie marks showing through the future paint job. As usual, I started undersize and finished at 1/4" with the reamer. Then I drilled two #40 holes for the positioning tabs. These came out very close. With a bit of pressing, the brightness adjustment knob fits flush. Looks nice!
Next was soldering the twisted pair wire to the potentiometer/brightness controller, then applying heat shrink over each connection, a 2nd heat shrink tube over both connections and a 3rd huge heat shrink tube over the Pot and the wires, clamping it down at the wires for a nice secure setup.
Quick side job: I'm not going to use the various serial connections and OAT line from the Mini-B, so I went ahead and removed those wires from the connector. This cleaned that area up some.
Next was connecting the ground and power wires to the dimmer module. I spliced into the power line going to the USB port for the positive line and back to the Field of Tabs for ground.
Finally, on to the AOA wiring. I determined I needed to connect the CAN Bus shield to the shield in the AOA cable. Since I'd cut that wire back a bit on the AOA cable, I had to extend it by crimping a length of wire to it. I then crimped a High Density male D-Sub pin to the resulting wire.
For the aircraft side of the AOA wiring, I had to splice in a shield wire to the existing wire connecting 2 halves of the CAN Bus at this connection. It was a bit tricky with little space to work with.
Holes for the Dimmer Module
Drilled out the bracket holes to #32
Mounted
Cut some length off potentiometer shaft
Drilling panel holes
Completed
Pot & knob installed
1st bit of heat shrink installed on pot pins
2nd & 3rd layers of heat shrink installed
Nest of wires coming off Mini-B
Trimmed down to 2: Power & Ground
Power, ground and potentiometer lines added to dimmer module.
Grounded at Field of Tabs
Power spliced into USB and Interior Light power line
AOA Shield Ground extended and Hi Density male DSub pin attached
Corresponding shield wire added at aircraft side of the connection
Tonight, I finished up the side ambient light mounts. I drilled the nutplate mounting holes in the wing spar covers using a nutplate as a template, deburred and riveted the 6 nutplates in place, 3 per light. I screwed one light in place to see how it looked. Not bad.
I also placed one cover in position to see how things will look. I think it'll be a good angle. Shouldn't reflect back at the pilot/copilot.
Another item I worked on was the Instrument Lighting Dimmer. This is a simple dimmer made for incandescent lights and will work nicely for providing a voltage signal to the various instruments that require dimming: G3X Touch, Autopilot Controller, Radio and AOA Indicator. The Mini-B backup EFIS does not have a separate dimmer input. All these devices have an auto dimming mode, but I want to have complete control.
So I did a bit of research with the directions to get ready for installing. I determined mine is a later model, telling me which pinout numbers to use. I wrote these numbers on the module for future reference.
Getting ready to drill the nutplate mounting holes
Nutplates all installed. Front view.
Back side
One of the lights mounted
And the cover placed on the bulkhead
A view of the instrument dimming controller
I considered using a back shell, but don't think I need it. The wires will be secure without it.
In addition to doing electrical work this evening, I set up some of the Pitot/STatic/AOA lines.
I cut small sections of line for the Pitot and Static lines that go between the Mini B and GDU 25. I also cut longer sections of AOA and Pitot lines to from the GDU 25 to the floor where they'll bend 90 degree via push-on fittings.
Short sections connecting Mini-B to GDU 25
Longer sections extending from floor to GDU 25 and Mini-B
Just a quick re-torque of the exhaust nuts. I asked the Vetterman folks what the torque should be with Anti-Seize applied. They said the lower spec I used was old and that I should use the higher spec. So I went up to 180 inch-lbs. The low end of the range, so with anti-seize, this should work well.
Just a shot of one exhaust to remind me what I'd done this evening
Tonight I started on the interior lighting. These will all be LEDs. I've gathered a collection of LED lighting and wanted to see how they all look.
Some were very bright while others were just right.
I ended up selecting a pair of flying saucer (See 1st image below) shaped lights for the side lights that will illuminate the instrument panel. These will be installed on the side cover plates for the wing spar. They have the ability to pivot the inner ball for light aiming.
I drilled a 3/4" hole for the ball and wire to extend through in each bulkhead cover. I selected a height that was about the same height as the switches on the panel.
I then carefully match drilled 3 holes through the LED light into the covers.
Finally, I deburred all the holes and installed a nutplate on one of them. I'll do the rest next time.
Flying Saucer light on the left and standoff light on right. The latter would probably catch on things.
Very bright white light
Little, non aim-able light, moderate brightness
Planned for an under dash light strip, but it's too bright.
Opening up manifold pressure port and securing line
Aug.30.2016 1 hrs
Date:
Aug 30, 2016
Hours:
1.00
Some work on the manifold pressure line:
I was a bit concerned that the tiny orifice in the manifold pressure metering device was too small and that there would be a lag in pressure readings. So I removed the 45 degree elbow and metering fitting and drilled the metering device out to 1/32". When I re-assembled the fittings, I swapped in a steel 45 degree elbow in place of the aluminum one. It's always best to have steel fittings on the vibration-ridden engine.
I also used 2 Adel Clamps to secure the hose: one on the engine mount tube and one on the manifold pressure hose.
The metering fitting secured to the steel 45 degree elbow
With all the wires run through the port firewall pass-though, it was time to complete it.
I already have a section of fire sleeve around the outside of the pass-though, now it's time to add the inner piece. This fills the inside and pads and protects the wires.
I cut a piece of fire sleeve and started pushing it through the passthrough from the aft side. There was less room than I expected and it took quite some time to get it through. I had to spray it with oil to help coax it through and pull from the other side when it got in far enough.
One other thing I did, since there is a small gap in the inner sleeving, was to insert a sliver of blister pack plastic to help protect the wires. I then wrapped the inside end with silicon tape to keep the inner sleeve tight and cinched down the end of the forward tube with a hose clamp.
When the wires are done for sure, I'll add some flame proof sealant.
Inner fire sleeve inserted from aft side of firewall
Through and some extending out forward side
You can just see the clear plastic strip I've inserted between the wires and pass-through.
I just wanted to identify which connections on the firewall have been completed, so used some Torque Seal to mark the nuts/insulating boots of items that have been final torqued:
I decided to install the exhaust for good tonight.
First, I applied some ant-seize to the studs.
It was then a simple matter of installing the gaskets, exhaust pipes, washers and nuts and torqueing them to 120 inch-pounds. The instructions specify 2 different torque settings: 100 to 140 inch-lbs and 180 to 200 inch-lbs. Since anti-seize lubricates the threads a bit, I went with mid range on the low spec, but will contact Vetterman for clarification.
2nd Field of Tabs install, ELT Power and Serial connections
Aug.26.2016 1 hrs
Date:
Aug 26, 2016
Hours:
1.25
Tonight I finished up the augmented Field of Tabs.
First I drilled a #30 pilot hole in the new FoT piece opposite the existing hole. Then I installed the tab overlapping under the existing one. This does double duty: In addition to securing it and providing a nice electrical connection, it acts as a spacer under the existing FoT so I don't need to use the separate spacer I'd used before. Since the old spacer is Alodined, it wouldn't have quite as good an electrical connection as the brass from the 2nd FoT sandwiched under it.
I noticed that the column of tabs closest to the large mounting hole had solder climbing up the sides. Maybe this is a side effect of how the device was held during soldering. I cut these tabs off since I didn't want to try to use those partially obstructed tabs by mistake.
I then match drilled a hole in the firewall through the new FoT hole using the #30 drill. I switched to a step drill and drilled the firewall and FoT to 7/32", following up with a reamer to 1/4", then deburring of the firewall and FoT.
Then I finished grinding down the 8 tabs to make room for the 2nd mounting bolt and finished bolting the 2nd FoT into place. I now have 12 additional tabs, 50% more than what I started with. Finally, I cut and crimped 2 grounds that had been waiting to be connected to the FoT and installed them.
Next, I routed the serial cable from the ELT and ELT power from the VP-X to the GDU 460 display. I'll connect these up next time.
New mounting hole drilled in firewall and deburred
Field of Tabs with match drilled 2nd mounting hole and line of tabs clipped down to make sure they aren't used (some solder had wicked up them).
2nd FoT installed
And with a couple connectors added
ELT power run from VP-X
ELT Power run near where serial cable will tie into G3X
The last remaining bit of Alternator wiring was to connect the Alt Field wire to power on the VP-X. I already had the lines run and taped together, so now that the wire is secured in it's final location and I know the length, I can cut and connect them. The 2 wires are 16ga from the Alternator and 18ga from the VP-X. So these wires span 2 sizes of standard butt connectors: Red at 22ga - 18ga and Blue at 16ga to 14ga. But then I checked my fancy heat shrink butt connectors and their blue connector fits 20ga to 16ga, so I'm good. Plus, I like the quality of these connectors.
Next up was connecting the EGT and CHT temperature sensor wires to the Garmin GEA 24 sensor box. Pretty straight forward: 4 cables for each type of sensor = 8 cables times 2 wires per cable is 16 wires to strip, crimp D-Sub pins to and insert into the D-Sub connector. Pretty easy stuff. Stripping the cable sheath from the inner wires was the trickier part, but carefully scoring the sheath with a box cutter knife and bending did the trick.
One last thing I did this evening was to augment my Field of Tabs grounding location on the firewall. I'd already started doubling up grounds on connectors and even so, I only had one tab left with at least a handful of circuits left to ground. So I bought a 48 tab Field of Tabs to replace my 24 tab setup. However, I didn't relish removing and re-installing all the connectors already in place, plus the redoing of the attach holes in the firewall.
So I did something different: I cut the new FoT strip in half, making it another 24 tab part with the plan to just append it to the existing one. After cutting and deburring, I used the bandsaw to cut 8 tabs off one end to make room for a mounting bolt at that end and started grinding down the stubs. So now it's down to 16 extra tabs.
Alternator Field power connected
Sheathing stripped from EGT and CHT sensor cables
Inner wires stripped and DSub pins crimped on
And inserted into 25 pin connector
Installed onto GEA 24
Field of tabs cut in half
Cut/ground 8 tabs off to make room for 2nd mounting hole
I'm going to need to gang some wires together for the interior lighting and possibly other places, so I wanted to see what the best way was to turn a single wire into 3 or 4.
I started by using a terminal strip: 2 rows of screw connections with each screw connected electrically to the one opposite it. My idea was to connect 3 or 4 in a row to each other along with the incoming wire and then have 3 or 4 on the other side that the outgoing leads come off.
This works nicely. Pros and cons:
Pros:
Seems like the 'proper' way
Wires easily removable
Cons:
Heavy. 5 times heavier than the other method. Still, an ounce won't kill you, will it? But every little bit...
Way more connections to fail. 16 crimp and screw connections for a 1 to 4 gang vs 2 to 6 with butt splices.
Takes longer to install: mounting the terminal strip, plus crimping 8 times, then screwing into place.
The other method, is using butt splices to connect wires directly. For this test, I doubled wires in 2 stages: 1 to 2, then each of those to another 2 wires. However, I could probably do it with just one butt splice: 3 wires into one side and 2 into the other also yields a 1 to 4.
I'll probably go with the single butt connector method.
Line of terminals crimped together for one side of the gang setup
Attached to terminal strip
Grounds too
Terminal strip complete
Comparison of the crimp only ganging vs terminal strip. Just the red wires were done for the crimp style since this was only a test.
Tonight, I undid some of the work I'd done earlier in securing cables in order to apply some recently received heat shielding. I zip tied the reflective heat shielding in place with the blue Tefzel heat resistant zip ties.
The starter cable ended up being an inch or so too long, so I cut it and installed a new ring connector. I also ordered some bronze lock washers for the connections.
Lastly, I secured the starter cable to the engine mount via the zip-tie fuel hose method.
Heat shielding installed on EGT sensor wires
Battery & CHT cables shielded
More shielding on battery & CHT cable
Starter cable secured
Battery cable shortened and reattached temporarily to starter solenoid
Securing EGT, CHT and alternator wiring, plus some heat shielding
Aug.21.2016 3 hrs
Date:
Aug 21, 2016
Hours:
2.50
Fun stuff, securing wiring today.
I started by securing the alternator wiring to an engine mount tube via 2 Adel Clamps.
Next, I wrapped heat shielding around the EGT and CHT sensor wires running by the #3 exhaust, securing it with high temp zip ties.
I then used waxed cord to bundle the alternator wires together as well as cockpit power cables together.
Next was running the EGT & CHT temp sensor cables across the engine mount over to the pilot side firewall pass through. Along the way, I secured them via a zip tie through fuel hose method: I would wrap the engine mount tubing with silicon tape to give the zip tie a firm grip, then pass the tip of the zip tie through the short length of fuel line, around the wires to secure, back through the fuel line, then around the engine mount tube and cinch it tight. A nice, secure standoff.
I used the same method for securing the other sensor wires: Manifold Pressure, Fuel Pressure and Oil Pressure.
I also secured the P-Mag wires and Fuel Flow sensor wires and secured the manifold pressure hose going to the P-Mags by taping to the engine mount via silicon tape, a layer under the hose and one over it.
Alternator cables secured
Applying heat shielding over temp sensor wires
Completed
Bundling cord on alternator wiring
Power and other wires bundled
EGT/CHT wires passing over engine mount loop with tubing for protection.
Today, I went ahead and secured the EGT, CHT, Starter and Alternator wiring to the engine. This is something I've wondered about for a long time. I've been checking other engine compartments at Oshkosh and photos online to see how others do it. I've actually seen some pretty ratty ones.
For any wiring being secured to parts of the engine and the 1st connection to the engine mount, I'm using Adel Clamps for strength. I use one to clamp to a secure object, like the engine mount or intake tubes and combine with another Adel Clamp holding the cables.
For the clamps on the engine mount, I do an initial wrap of Silicon tape to make for more secure clamping.
With a good collection of clamps in my supplies, I can find a clamp for most any application. Also, I use temporary zip ties to secure cables to each other until later when I use a permanent solution.
The technique for installing two clamps together, wrangling 4 flange screw holes plus the wiring and support, was to use a punch that happened to be nearly the same diameter as the Adel Clamp mounting holes, IE, a #10 screw or 3/16". You first get the clamps in generally the right position, then insert the punch through both flanges of boith clamps. Then use a Vise Grip Adel Clamp tool to clamp the flanges together, wobble the punch a bit for screw clearance, then remove the punch. Finally, install a screw, washer and nut (all metal for firewall forward), remove the vise grip, final position the clamps and tighten the nut.
Starter, EGT, CHT and Fuel Flow cables secured
Starboard side EGT, CHT and Alternator cables secured
At the end of the evening, I grabbed some cabin heat hose to check how I'd route the cabin heater hose from the port aft baffle to the heat muff to the cabin entry valve. Lots of options for which direction and where to place the heat muff and where to route the hose. I still haven't decided on a location.
Like the 1st, I connected the remaining long EGT cables to the EGT sensors using the ring terminals, screws, nuts and washers, put heat shrink on the connections and wrapped with heat resistant cloth tubing.
I also labeled the cables for easy identification later.
Finally getting these last things done so I can complete wiring.
I measured 2.75" down from the exhaust pipe flanges, picked an orientation (these don't seem to matter much since there's plenty of clearance with the Cowling) and, using cutting oil, drilled a 7/64" hole in each exhaust. I then final reamed them to #30 for a better hole.
Next, I installed the EGT probes by spraying a bit of WD40 on the base of each and worked the probes into the holes, then tightened the screw clamps down. In order to get them started, I bent a tighter turn at the end of each so that they engaged the screw teeth easier. Some of them took a little tapping with a dowel and hammer to fully seat.
Lastly, I connected a couple of the cable runs to the EGT tails via the ring terminals already crimped to each. These use a small screw, lock washer and nut. Once tightened, I applied heat shrink over each connection, then covered the connection pair with heat resistant mesh cloth tubing and zip tied in place.
Moving over to the other side of the engine from the Alternator, I wired up the Starter.
First, I crimped connectors onto the 4ga welding cable using the hydraulic crimper, carefully determining the orientation of the connectors to keep the cable relaxed. I then added shrink wrap and boots and connected the cable to the starter solenoid and starter contactor.
In order to secure the starter cable, I used a large Adel clamp on each intake tube and a small one to hold the starter cable, plus CHT cable(s). I got one clamp installed tonight.
I also determined a good distance from the head to install the EGT sensors (2.75") and marked a good location for each. Test positioning the lower cowl showed that there is plenty of room for the sensors, even if they stick out straight to the sides.
The radio antenna cable and fuel sensor wire will be rounding a bend with some sheet metal edges at the bottom of the calf bulkhead. Ditto for the other side. To fix this, I applied some adhesive backed foam rubber cushion in this area on both sides of the fuselage. This was sourced from Boeing long ago and sticks like crazy.
I also ran the right wing fuel tank level sensor wire from outside the fuselage to the GEA 24, connected a DSub pin and inserted into the connector.
I wasn't happy with the crimps on the 8ga wire done by the hammer crimper and the closest hydraulic crimper die was too small. How about filing the die opening larger? So I spent some time filing some material away, testing a crimp, filing some more, etc. until I got a nice crimp. See photo below.
I then crimped ring terminals onto a short length of 8ga cable to create a connection between the ANL fuse and switched side of the battery contactor. I added rubber boots to help prevent short circuits and installed the cable.
I also constructed, ran and connected a cable between the alternator and other side of the ANL fuse.
Cushioning applied at bottom of bulkhead
Right wing fuel sensor wire run
Wing fuel sensor wire inserted into connector
Hammer/die crimp on left, hydraulic die on right after filing die larger
Here's the die that I modified
ANL Fuse to Battery Contactor cable connected
Alternator cable connected
And at the alternator
Boots also installed on the positive battery cable
Lots of social commitments today, so just an hour of work.
I started by wondering what some of the wires hanging out of the cockpit were for. If I don't know now, then I'll really not know later, so I decided to track them down and label them. They were: Magnetometer cables and the Dimmer/USB Ground.
Next, I started running the wiring the alternator. This is 8ga cable that runs from the alternator to a big fuse, then to the switched side of the master solenoid.
I did some testing with crimp on ring terminals to find the best way to crimp them. I have a crimper that you use a hammer to pound a pointed weight into a valley that the crimp lies in. It works nicely for big 4ga crimps, but for 8ga ones, it just sort of flattens the crimp. Probably good enough, but I wanted it a bit better.
So I tried my hydraulic crimper. This tool uses various dies to compress the crimp into a hex shape. 2 complications: The dies are all metric, so I needed to find the right one for our standard gauge system and there is no die that works well for 8ga connectors. When crimping using the closest size, which is a little too small, the connector gets pinched out between the dies. See the photo below. I'll fix this tomorrow. :-)
I then cut a length of 8ga wire and added connectors in the correct orientation to nicely connect the fuse and solenoid.
Labeling the magnetometer cables
And USB/Dimmer ground
The 2 crimping methods: Hammer/die on the left and hydraulic/die on the right
Tonight, I worked on the low power circuit from the VP-X that will drive LED cabin lighting and the USB charging plugs.
First, I added an additional ground splice to the grounds going to some of the panel switches (backup power, avionics) and ran this to the ignition switch LED ground.
Next, I soldered positive and negative leads to the USB power unit and combined these into power the VP-X power lead and lighting controller power.Basically, a 'Y'. Ditto for the ground lead.
Finally, I secured the other positive and negative wires to the lighting controller.
Tonight I started wiring the instrument light dimmer and USB power adapter.
First, I jumpered the ground from one of the neighboring switches to an illumination pin on the starter button. Though now that I think about it... the LED dimmer adjusts the pulse width for dimming. This may not work nicely with the switches that use a ground for activation with the VP-X. I'll redo this.
Next, I soldered power and ground wires to the USB module and secured with a zip tie. I then Y'd a couple wires together for both ground and power to feed the USB adapter and light dimmer and routed the ground to the forest of tabs area.
Finally, I attached the power and ground to the dimmer via its screw terminals.
Starter button illumination ground shared with switches
Power lines soldered to USB module
'Y' added to power and ground lines for both USB and Illumination
A bit more wiring clean up: This time wiring the starter switch.
I already had a wire coming from the VP-X to the switch. I now ran one from the switch along the panel, through the right side of the firewall and to the starter solenoid.
I also installed a zip tie mount near the right gear mount to hold wires going through the main wing spar.
Wire from starter switch attached to starter solenoid
Starter wire attached to starter switch
Zip tie mount near gear mount for holding the radio antenna cable and other cables
Started working on running the antenna cable today.
I want to keep this cable as far away from other wiring as possible to keep interference away from the radio and vice versa. So it's going along the right side of the plane. To do that, I added the same cable tie mounts as I did on the left ankle bulkhead: one Click Bond zip tie mount near the bottom and two bolted on mounts midway up and near the top. I also added a nutplate at the bottom outboard edge of the sub-panel for wiring going around the vent tubing as well as one more inboard for the antenna cable.
I then installed one BNC end onto the antenna cable as well as some heat shrink where an Adel Clamp under the panel will grab it for a nice, secure grip. Finally, I routed the cable from the radio down the right side and aft through the wing spar.
Nutplate and zip tie mounts installed
Close up of bolted on zip tie mounts
Antenna cable routed
Cable routing near radio
Better for Adel Clamp gripping
BNC connector installed
Click Bond zip tie mount mounted via rubber plugs holding it in place while adhesive cures
Today, I spent a little more time on electrical items. It just goes on forever! Luckily, I enjoy it.
Previously, I'd left the wires for the spare stick grip switch on each grip coiled behind the panel for future use. Today, I went ahead and connected them to the G3X Touch, hopefully to allow paging through screens (if the G3X has that feature, otherwise, it'll be something else. :-) ).
A quick side task: I replaced the bolt holding the passenger stick in place with a quick release pin. Though I'm a bit concerned that it's too big to allow clearance. We'll see.
Next, I ran a wire from the battery to the battery bus fuse block. This will supply always-on power when needed. Initially for the Cigarette Power Plug.
Finally, I installed DSub connectors on the flap position sensor cable along with a ground for the shielding, then plugged the pins into the VP-X.
Spare stick switch wires plugged into GEA 24 connector
Left Fuel Tank Level Sensor and Flap Position Wiring
Aug.02.2016 1 hrs
Date:
Aug 2, 2016
Hours:
1.00
This evening, I concentrated on some more wiring.
First, I routed and cut the left wing tank fuel level sensor wire to length and connected a D-Sub pin and shield ground terminal. I then installed the terminal into the 50 pin connector on the GEA-24. I also labeled this cable and the flap position cable. I need to buy more single conductor shielded cable for the right wing.
Regarding the flap position cable, I routed this through the main wing spar, up the pilot side knee bulkhead and under the panel to the VP-X. I also stripped the sheathing from the cable and left some shielding, prepping for connecting to the VP-X.
Fuel Level Sensor Wiring, Comm Antenna Placement Research
Jul.12.2016 1 hrs
Date:
Jul 12, 2016
Hours:
1.00
One last bit of wiring in the wings is the fuel level sensor wire. This is simply a single shielded wire going from the sensor to the G3X through the side of the fuselage. I saw that most people simply ran it through the fuselage side forward of the wing spar since it really can't go through the wing spar to join the other wing wires.
So I measured and carefully drilled a 1/4" hole on each side of the fuselage around where the fuel sensor is located. I first used an undersize drill, then reamed to 1/4". This is the size for one of the small bushings that works nicely with the wire. After drilling, I deburred as much as I could: both sides of the outer skin and the inside of the inner skin. The outside of the inner skin couldn't be reached since the gear weldment is in the way. Since I used a reamer for final drilling, there shouldn't be much of a burr there.
I didn't want to pop in a bushing to find it was not long enough and not be able to remove it, so I pulled the locking tabs off a bushing and inserted it into the hole. Looks just long enough! So I popped an intact bushing into each side.
Next, I did some investigation on where to place the comm antenna. It needs an 18" x 18" ground plane and its cable shouldn't run along other cables that might be sensitive to interference. After looking around the fuselage, checking out areas in front of and behind the main spar, I think I'll place the antenna behind the spar underneath the copilot seat and run the cable forward through the spar and up the right side of the bulkhead near the copilot's right calf. A spot forward of the spar would interfere with the carpeting.
When it's time to test the wiring, I don't want any short circuits, so I installed all the bare pins on the fuselage wiring at the wing roots into appropriate connectors: DSub pins into 9 pin DSub connectors and the Molex pins into 4 position Molex connectors. Nice and safe now.
Initially, I was considering not using the DSub connectors and just inserting the pins into each other with heat shrink around them. But I think using connectors will actually be faster for potential removal in the future. Instead of tedious cutting of heat shrink off individual wires, it'll just be using a pin extractor to pull pins out of connectors.
One thing I noticed was that i still had the bushings in the left wing ribs for holding the Pitot and AOA air lines. Since I re-routed these lines into the corrugated tubing, there's no reason for these, so I removed them. Saved 9 grams!
I also wanted to be sure that the CAN Bus works without the wings on. One wing has the CAN Bus going out to the Autopilot Servo and coming back into the plane to the Pitch Servo. Without the wings on, the CAN Bus will be broken. So I assembled a DSub Connector with short loops of wire for Ground, CAN Hi and CAN Lo to jumper these CAN lines.
One important task I did was document the wiring going through all the connectors at the wing root. I want to make sure maintenance and troubleshooting is easy in the future. I wrote the wire functions, colors and associated pin number on my VP-X wiring diagram. Maybe I'll transfer it to someplace by itself in the future.
I also tested to make sure the 2 air lines would fit through the bushings in the main spar along with the cables I've routed through the bushings. They do. :-)
I also did a bit more forming of the static air line clips that will be used later. Instead of a 1/4" reamer with some tape wrapped around it, I used a 17/64 drill bit. This is a firm enough form that the clips now allow plenty of room for the tubing and their flanges sit pretty flat against each other.
Tonight, I started by pulling the mounting frames off the Click Bond zip tie mounts for the flap position wiring at the sensor and under the seat floor. I then zip tied wires at each location. It was pretty tricky under the seat floor since I had to do it one handed, completely blind.
I also bound the 3 wires at the sensor in a bundle with some waxed cord.
There were 3 zip tie mounts that I installed on a rib forward of the instrument panel that I won't be using, so I heated them up with a heat gun and popped them off. A few grams of less weight. :-)
I then prepped and installed zip tie mounts on the floor skin for the wing wiring at the wing wire entrance to the fuselage on both sides and one forward of the left gear weldment to hold wires that come through the wing spar there and go forward and up along the bulkhead at the pilot's left ankle.
zip tie mount under the pilot seat floor
And one at the flap position sensor
Wires secured together with lacing cord
Flap position wire zip tied under the floor
Unused zip tie mounts removed from their locations on the rib above them here
zip tie mount installed at port side wing wiring entrance
zip tie mount installed at starboard side wing wiring entrance
A bit of side work was tweaking the 2 remaining clips that will hold the Static Air line along the Longeron aft of the baggage area. These were holding the hose too tight and the 2 tabs weren't resting against each other very well. Using a 17/64 drill bit to form around using a vise grip made quick work of this. I should have started with that method. :-)
I found a protected way to run the flap position sensor wiring, avoiding running it along the baggage compartment floor: routing it through the bulkhead behind the seats, into the floor and forward towards the wing root.
I detached the upper end of the bracket holding the sensor to get access, then drilled a 1/4" hole below the rudder cable hole for a plastic bushing. I also drilled a similar hole in the floor ahead of the bulkhead. After deburring, I popped a bushing into each.
Next, I crimped the wires from a 3 conductor shielded cable to the 3 leads coming from the sensor, slipped a short section of heat shrink onto the cable and slipped it through the bulkhead bushing. This will prevent the cable from slipping through the bushing.
I also applied some heat shrink tubing to the cable on the other side of the bulkhead to protect and ensure it stays in place on that side.
I then routed the cable into the floor space and forward towards the wing root.
Lastly, I cleaned the skin and bulkhead and installed Click Bond zip tie mounts. One behind the bulkhead to secure the wires coming out of the sensor, the other under the cabin floor to secure the cable running along there.
Holes drilled and bushings installed
Cable crimped onto the sensor wires
Click Bond zip tie mount bonded to floor under seating area
Cable routed through bulkhead into floor with heat shrink attached
Zip tie mount attached near sensor. Also note the heat shrink tubing on this side.
Beth helped me with this little job: riveting 2 of the static line clips to the port longeron. It took some fiddling to get them in place, plus, I had to cut and rig a piece of steel and tape it to a bucking bar to allow bucking the rivets without compressing the loops of the clips.
The clips are a bit tough to work with since it's quite difficult to get the 2 arms to lay flat together while the loop is the proper size for the static line tubing. I grabbed the 2 that were closest and it worked out well. But I might consider zip tie mounts for the other area the static line needs support. We'll see.
Tonight, I prepped 2 of the little clips that hold the static line to the longeron next to the pilot side of the cockpit.
I drilled out 2 equally spaced rivets already securing the skin to the longeron and drilled a 3/32 hole in 2 of the clips I'd fabricated. pretty straight forward stuff.
Brake line relief and Throttle, Mixture pass-throughs
Jul.03.2016 2 hrs
Date:
Jul 3, 2016
Hours:
1.50
Shifting gears a bit, but still related to brake lines, I knew I needed to make space in the center cabin cover for the brake lines since they don't transition from the center floor area to the firewall exactly where planned.
First, I took a bunch of measurements of where the brake lines obstruct the cover by measuring from a known location: the forward screw hole in the left floor skin stiffener. I then cut this area out of the cover, rounded the corners and smoothed the edges. I ended up removing a bit more than necessary, but no big deal.
So while I was working on the center cabin cover, I noticed I hadn't yet drilled holes for the throttle and mixture cables. So now is as good a time as any.
I started by estimating the angle that the cables will come through the firewall eyeball fittings and used a sharpie to mark the hole locations through the eyeball fitting holes onto the center cover and its smaller fuel line cover (temporarily screwed in place).
Examining the plans, I saw that we place 1/2" bushings here. Using a step drill, I drilled 1/2" holes and deburred them.
Small problem: The bushings don't fit over the cables. So I split them on one side with a razor knife. This allows them to slip over the cable and into the holes.
Finally, I popped them into the holes for later.
The brake lines to trim the center cover for.
Plenty of clearance
Installed main cover and small cover to mark throttle and mixture cable openings
I've not yet run the Static Air Line, so I decided to fabricate the little aluminum loops to hold the lines at the longerons where there is too long a span between bulkheads to support the lines.
First, I cut some .025 sheet aluminum into 5/8 by 1 3/4" strips. Then I bent them into loops.
It took some trial and error, but with a combination of wrapping the strips around a tape covered 1/4" reamer, pinching with vise grips, tweaking with needle nose pliers and clamping in a vise, I was able to produce 4 loops after 2 bad ones.
Strips ready for bending
Left loops are good. The ones on the right didn't work out.
In order to fit the wiring properly on the copilot side, especially the headset/mic wiring, I needed to install the vent hose.
So using the pilot side as an example, I cut a length of hose the same size, unraveled and cut off the inner wire from each end about 1.5", cut off the outer string from one end the same amount and test fitted it. Fits perfectly. I cut the wire out to make a better seal on both ends, plus the wire and string needs to come off one end to provide enough stretch to slip over the Stein sourced air vent tubes.
I want to make really sure that the headphone and mic wiring is secure since they are soldered to the jacks and I don't want the solder joints cracking with vibration.
So with the vent hoses installed and the headphone/mic jack wiring tucked under the hoses, I located good spots to install Click Bond zip tie mounts against the outer skin where the wiring will be very secure. I also located a position on the far right side of the copilot sub-panel where a zip tie mount will be handy, just like on the pilot side.
I then prepped the areas, mixed adhesive and applied the zip tie mounts.
Pilot side headphone/mic zip tie mount
Copilot side headphone/mic and sub-panel zip tie mounts
Completed Brake Line shortening and install, priming mounting areas
Jul.02.2016 2 hrs
Date:
Jul 2, 2016
Hours:
2.25
Some fun work contorted under the panel... Actually, not that bad.
First, I cleaned the area around the various Adel Clamp and zip tie mounts I'd installed recently and shot them with some primer. Not pretty, but these areas won't be visible.
I then completed the shortening of the starboard brake line by installing its -3 AN hose end fitting. Pretty straight forward.
Next, I mounted the brake lines in the Adel Clamps along the floor and on the firewall, but found the starboard line to still be slightly long. I re-arranged the lines a bit by placing the Adel Clamps on the other side of the posts (rotating them 180 degrees) and found the length to be perfect this way. :-)
I tightened the Adel Clamp mounting nuts and then looked at where any rubbing could occur. I certainly don't want any rubbing at the fuel lines... or the wiring for that matter. Steel braided line can be like a metal file, cutting into adjacent items. So I wrapped the brake lines and fuel lines with corrugated split loom at pertinent locations. They probably wouldn't have rubbed or worn anyway, but I want to be absolutely sure.
Priming the zip tie and Adel Clamp mounting areas
Along the left bulkhead where I'd tried installing zip tie mounts before, but removed them
And a close up near the fuel vent where I added a zip tie mount
Brake lines mounted and fitting perfectly
Ditto, up along the firewall
Corrugated split loom installed along floor brake line and at the firewall
Split loom installed on the brake and fuel lines near the fuel valve
The right hand brake line is an inch or so too long, not allowing it to run next to the left line the whole way across the cockpit floor.
So I removed the brake line from all the Adel Clamps and cut the end off the line along with the fitting that attaches to the parking brake using a dremel cut off wheel. I used a razor tubing cutter to cut through the teflon part.
I then disassembled the fitting for potential re-use later. it took some work holding the hose in a vise and wrenching on the fitting, but I finally got it apart. The Acorn piece won't be reusable, but the rest should be. And I have spare Acorns from the extra/incorrect fittings Beringer gave me through the process of getting the correct bulkhead fittings.
Flap wiring, Fuel line and wire bundle securing, Flap Position Sensor wiring
Jun.29.2016 1 hrs
Date:
Jun 29, 2016
Hours:
1.00
I started the evening by installing heat shrink tubing on the fuel pump wiring where it exits the tunnel cover. Alas, when I attempted to pull the tunnel cover back out, the fuel line was still connected to the pump and I popped the Adel Clamp post off the floor. Interestingly, it separated at the post side, not the belly skin side. So the prep work on the skin was good.
So I heated the area with the remnants of cured adhesive and scraped it off, cleaned the area, scuffed a Click Bond post and applied it to the same location.
I recently received some longer cap screws, so I installed one on the main fuse holder. The longer length provided plenty of room for the Adel Clamp, washers and nut with a thread showing above on the back side of the firewall where the screw passed through a nutplate. This is the Adel Clamp that holds the firewall wiring corrugated tube at the bottom.
Lastly, I started on the flap position sensor wiring, cutting some 24ga 3 conductor cable to length and installing DSub connectors on one end.
Fuel line Click Bond post disconnected
Another shot
Re-installed
Heat shrink on the fuel pump wires for extra protection.
First, I drilled a 7/16" hole in the center tunnel cover/fuel pump mount, deburred it, primed it and installed a rubber grommet. This size grommet is big enough to allow wires with ring terminals to easily pass through.
Since I'm running out of ground tabs at the Forrest of Tabs grounding area at the firewall, I spent a little time consolidating a couple of the grounds onto shared terminals.
Next, I grabbed an 18ga wire with a VP-X connector already installed from the VP-X wiring kit and threaded it down through the corrugated tubing at the firewall, connected the connector end to pin 1 of J12 at the VP-X and ran the other end down near the fuel pump location.
I also ran an 18ga ground wire from the Forrest of Tabs through the tube to the fuel pump.
Finally, I positioned the fuel pump in its place while running the power wires through the grommet, cut them to an appropriate length and installed ring terminals on them.
Tonight, I installed DSub pins on the OAT Probe cable at the GDU 25 and installed them in the connector.
Next, I installed pins on the trim cable (motor drive and sensor lines) coming from the roll trim servo at the VP-X and installed them into that connector.
Also started looking at the Flap Position Sensor wiring. Looks like I'll have to run it across the floor behind the pilot seat since the floor is already buttoned up with blind rivets.
Hard day of work cutting down a couple trees and stacking firewood, but managed to limp into the garage for a bit. :-)
I tried my hand at bundling wire by tying with waxed cord instead of zip ties... I tried 2 knotting methods and found both to work nicely, though I like the noose method a bit better. www.aeroelectric.com/articles/cable_lace/cable_lace.html
I tied the wires/butt connectors at the roll trim servo to tidy them up better. I like it! Much easier on the hands than scratchy zip ties.
Next, I crimped male DSub pins onto the fuselage trim cable at the wing root. This heads out to the Autopilot roll servo to control trim when the autopilot is engaged.
Lastly, I fixed a little screwup from the day before. I had the heat gun plugged into a trouble light which was hanging from the roll bar and resting on the top edge of the instrument panel. Somehow, the panel was pushed between the plug and trouble light, short circuiting the plug. Sparks, smoke, heat and some pitting of the panel edge. I think the worst result was the pitting, not a big deal. So I took a couple small files to it and smoothed out the pits.
Testing the 2 wire lacing methods
Tidying up the roll trim servo wires
Added DSub pins to the roll trim servo wires leaving the fuselage
I started with the Radio Push To Talk (PTT) wiring. I had previously connected the PTT for Pilot and Copilot to the Mic Jack as noted in the manual, but on closer inspection, I saw that this is only for use with a hand Mic. With a boom Mic and stick grip PTT switch, this isn't required. So I cut these wires off at the jacks and routed the PTT wires from the sticks to the radio, installed DSub pins and connected them. It took removing the radio and DSub connector to get enough room to remove the old PTT wire/pin.
I also installed the discrete input wires for the radio. One (from the pilot stick grip) is Frequency Swap and the other (copilot stick grip) is to be defined.
There are 2 unused wires from the stick grips (the little index finger button) that I tucked away for future use.
Next was installing the trim switch wires from the stick grips into the VP-X inputs. This was pretty quick as the wires were already routed nearby and there's easy access to the plug on the VP-X.
I then added male DSub pins to the Pitch Trim Servo wires and attached them to the VP-X. 5 wires: 3 position sense wires and the 2 motor drive wires (which first go to the pitch autopilot servo).
Finally, I finished up the wiring at the Roll Trim Servo, connecting it to the roll autopilot and to the VP-X.
Installing PTT and Discrete input wires onto the radio
I started with looking at how to route wires and air lines up the left side of the fuselage behind the panel. I decided to route air and wires up the bulkhead outboard of the pilots knee/calve. I installed some Click Bond zip tie mounts along the bulkhead. Also installed a plate nut on the bottom of the instrument sub panel to the far left. This will secure intercom wiring and any other wiring in this area.
I also ran the Pitot Heat ground wire through the cockpit to the sub panel.
Next, I installed Pitot sense wiring through this same path and added a Molex pin to the wing root side.
After this, I started attaching wires to the trim servo using the fancy crimps.
Later in the day, I started 2nd guessing the Click Bond zip tie mount install. These, along with Pitot/AOA tubing will encroach 1/2" into the cabin, possibly making the interior trim panels difficult to fit. So I decided to go a different route.
They had only cured for 6 or 7 hours, so they might be easier to remove. I don't think that was the case, but some heat from the heat gun allowed me to easily pop the mounts off.
I installed the fuel vent line to see where I could route the tubing and wiring. The forward side of this bulkhead looks good. I tried a new method of attaching zip tie mounts: screwing it on instead of Click Bond. This was easier in this area since the smaller mounts fit better. Drilled holes, deburred and mounted the zip tie mounts. Easy.
Lastly, I did install one Click Bond mount near the bottom of the bulkhead. I used one where wires run the other direction: laterally instead of longitudinally. There was no room to use the Click Bond mounting bracket, so I used a couple rubber tubing ends to hold the mount in place as it cured.
Nutplate installed
Areas scuffed and cleaned for Click Bond zip tie mounts
Zip tie mounts installed
Pitot Heat ground cable installed
The other end with a Molex connector attached.
Pitot Heat sensor line installed
The other end of the ground and pitot heat sense wires with connectors installed
Roll trim servo wiring started
Click Bond zip tie mounts removed
Screw mounted zip tie mounts installed
adapting hose plugs to apply pressure to Click Bond zip tie mount while adhesive cures
Installed DSub connectors onto the OAT Probe cable at the Fuselage wing root area. This is some pretty special cable: 2 layers of shielding, so I found a route that allowed me to use the limited length I had available: through wing spar along the left side of the fuselage and up the left side to the GSU 25.
DSub connectors installed on fuselage OAT probe cable
In order to judge where items around the vent hose need to be routed, the hose had to be installed. So I installed one end on the air vent after removing a bit more wire and string from the hose to allow it to fit over the vent inlet pipe. Then I determined the length to reach the cabin air inlet and cut it. It fits nicely and now I can determine spacing around it.
In figuring out how to route Pitot & AOA, I kept coming back to running these 2 lines through the bushings in the left side of the wing attach bulkhead. However, the bushings used here have a lip that reduces the inner diameter a bit, creating a step that keeps 2 air lines from fitting side by side. So I finally decided this is the way I want to go, so used a round file to grind away some of the lip (top & bottom). I tested with 2 air lines and this worked perfectly.
I also determined where on the left forward bulkhead to attach Click Bond zip tie mounts to secure the hoses and some wiring and marked these locations.
2 air lines fitting nicely
Testing the routing of air lines with some Static line tubing that I have handy
CAN and RS232 lines terminated + Trim circuit planning
Jun.22.2016 2 hrs
Date:
Jun 22, 2016
Hours:
1.50
Today I installed DSub pins on the CAN and RS232 wires in the Fuselage at the wing root.
Also spent some time planning the wire runs for Roll Trim. It's a little complicated. A 4 conductor cable comes from the roll A/P servo: The trim drive wires go to and back from the servo so that the servo can command the trim when engaged. The switch wires route to the VP-X and the motor drive wires route to the trim servo. Also from the trim servo are the 3 position sense wires that run back to the VP-X. The resulting diagram is shown below.
Spent a little time today installer connectors on the 3 autopilot lines in the fuselage at the wing connection point: Power, Ground and Disconnect. Also added a connector to the Landing light in this area. All 4 will be installed in the same connector.
I also labeled the CAN bus and RS232 lines. I had to trace them in order to determine which they were. Better now than later!
Finished up the Taxi and Landing light wiring, routing the wires to the wing attach points.
I also started looking at routing the fuel pump wires. I adapted some edging material to clip on the inside of the hole for the fuel line in the center floor panel. This is because the hole edges have different thicknesses of material near a reinforcing strip. However, I may just drill a hole specifically for the fuel pump wires.
Landing light wires plugged into the connector
Right wing Landing Light wire
Left wing Taxi Light wire
Fuel Pump tubing hole with edging installed (to slip the fuel pump wiring through)
Amazing! A year after I brought the incorrect brake line bulkhead fittings to Beringer's attention, I received new/corrected (sorts) fittings. The originals were combination hose-end/bulkhead fittings which nicely reduced the number of connections, but were 45 degree Automotive fittings. They must not have been able to source the same type of fitting in Aircraft style (37 degrees). So they switched to an easy fix: an AN Bulkhead fitting and separate AN Hose-End fitting.
One thing I did tonight was to measure how much I need to cut off one of my brake lines. It's just a bit longer than I'd prefer.
Old combo hose end/bulkhead automotive fitting on the left, new separate bulkhead and hose-end AN fittings on the right:
The other work I did this evening was to install the Pitot Heat, Taxi and Landing Light power lines.
I grabbed a few wires from the VP-X kit with pre-installed VP-X end connectors on them: One 14ga and two 18ga wires. The 14ga wire is for Pitot Heat and the 18ga wires are for the lights. I would have used 16ga for the lights, but the kit didn't come with 16ga wires and 18ga is plenty good for the length I'll need.
I routed these from the VP-X area, down the corrugated tubing at the firewall, along the floor, through the main bulkhead and to each wing opening in the fuselage sides. Also plugged the VP-X pins into the appropriate connectors and Molex pins on the other ends.
Wires plugged into VP-X connector
Routed to wing area
Molex pin installed
Out of order, but a couple of the wires pulled through the tubing at the firewall
In preparation for attaching the wings, I started crimping pins on the wing wiring.
First, I cut the wires to a length to get inside the fuselage with a few inches to spare. Then I stripped the tips of the wires for the types of pins to be installed: Molex pins will go on higher amperage circuits (Landing lights and Pitot Heater) and DSub pins will go on lower amperage (Nav/Position lights and Autopilot Servo). I also used solder sleeves to attach ground wires to cable shielding.
I've yet to decide if I'll use DSub backshells or not. Many people don't.
Some of the left wing wiring done. Pitot heater and landing light.
Right wing items: Autopilot CAN Bus x 2, RS232, Power, Ground, Trim, Taxi Light
Tonight, I popped off the Click Bond frames from the posts and zip tie mounts in the center cockpit area and attached the wires via zip ties and brake lines via adel clamps. Really cleans the area up nicely.
For the brake lines, I squeezed the adel clamps in a vise to shape them to hold 2 brake lines nicely.
It's time to tame the mess of wires running along the cockpit center floor.
First, I measured where I wanted the wire and brake line runs to go in reference to the edges of the center channel. They need to stay clear of the center cockpit tunnel cover. I decided on 3" from the right side and 2" from the left. I cut a couple lengths of cardboard these widths to make it easier and then traced the lines. I then cleared out the tools from the seating area and placed padding on the floor so I could sit, lay and kneel in there without hurting anything... both the airplane and me.
Next, I measured positions for Click Bond posts (for brake line Adel Clamps) and Click Bond zip tie mounts (for wiring). 4 of each worked out nicely.
I then traced the outlines and scuffed the areas with a Scotch Brite pad and cleaned them with water, then Acetone so the adhesive will stick well.
Finally, I mixed up some adhesive and applied the Click Bond fixtures to the floor.
One other quick item I did was to pop the Click Bond installation frames off of the pitot/AOA tube support standoffs.
The holes I drilled way back for wire/pitot/aoa entry into the fuselage needed to be drilled out to 5/8 for fitting plastic bushings. I went ahead and did this, then deburred them and popped the busings in.
I also drilled and deburred a 2nd hole and installed a bushing where I'd measured the spot that the courrugated tubing comes out of the wings so that I have a straight shot for the Pitot and AOA tubing.
Starboard wire access bushing installed
Port bushings installed. The aft (on right in photo) one is for Pitot and AOA
For grins, I tested how strong the metal tab I bonded to a wing spare for holding AOA wiring was... it started pulling away with surprisingly little force. So I pulled it the rest of the way off and used a heat gun and plastic chisel to scrape the Click Bond adhesive off. I probably would have held in actual use, but I'm anal.
I then bonded an actual Click Bond standoff to this location.
I was also a bit nervous about the Pitot and AOA line stability where they transition from the aluminum tubing to plastic. There's a fair bit of weight here and I had just used some adhesive backed rubber to cushion them a bit at the wing rib cutout they passed through.
I decided to secure them better with a Click Bond zip tie standoff. So scuffed and cleaned the area and installed one.
Today I received my Conec DSub Backshells, so went out to test how they work. They're very easy to assemble and the pins used to connect 2 backshells pop right in. However, they don't hold the shells together super firmly, allowing the shells to shift towards/away from each other a bit and rock side to side. So I probably won't use them. :-(
I also received another order of Click Bond Zip Tie mounts, so bonded a couple to the 2 remaining spots I wanted to install them on the Flap Drive side panel.
Conec backshells and pins that allow them to mate to each other
Connected. You can just see that they allow the connectors to pull apart a bit.
Remaining zip tie mounts bonded onto flap motor cover
The previous location of the pitot and AOA lines in the wing have them getting to the fuselage in a location difficult to enter (not lined up with access holes), so I pulled them out and re-routed through the wiring conduit. I also bonded a Click Bond zip tie mount to the wing spar to help hold the tubing away from the aileron push rod.
Tonight, I did some testing on methods for routing the various air lines.
First, I looked at the static line again. I'm pretty sure I'll run this right along the left longeron and under the canopy decks. Just need to secure it to the longeron next to the pilot and drill a hole in the bulkhead that the seats rest against.
For the Pitot and AOA lines, I plan to run them from the wings, straight through a new hole in the fuselage and forward through existing holes/bushings through the main spar, then up along the bulkhead just forward of the instrument panel.
Related to this, I would like to run both Pitot and AOA through single bushings, but the bushings have a lip inside that constricts the size a bit, not allowing them to fit. I tested grinding away this lip and it works well for making room for 2 air lines.
I also measured and marked the locations where the air lines will come into the fuselage. I want them to come straight in vs doing an 'S' bend to get through the existing fuselage passthrough.
Lastly, I test routed an air line up the instrument panel bulkhead to behind the panel to make sure it worked with the vent hose and comm wiring. Looks good.
ground the inner lip off a bushing to check the fit of 2 air lines running through. Works well.
New hole location marked
Routing air line up the bulkhead edge and to the instruments behind the panel.
From above
Testing fit of 2 air lines and all wing wiring through a bushing. A bit snug.
Today I started by measuring and cutting the Nav/Strobe light wires to length. I then attached a ground wire to the shield via a solder sleeve and crimped D-Sub pins onto the wires. I also printed some heat shrink labels and added them to the wires.
I then grabbed a couple 20ga wires with VP-X pins already attached. I changed my mind on the D-Sub pins, cut them off and simply crimped the Nav/Strobe light wires to the VP-X wires and plugged them into the VP-X socket.
I also finished up the avionics end of the AOA sensor wiring, crimping D-Sub pins onto the trimmed power and ground wires, then surrounding them all with heat shrink tubing to prevent fraying.
I combined a couple ground wires together, crimped a spade connector on and attached to the grounding block.
I also looked into the PTT wire coming from the headphone jacks. I don't think I actually need them with my setup, but I'll check before removing them from the Mic jacks.
Nav/Strobe lines that will come from the VP-X
Combined ground wires crimped to blue spade connector and attached to forrest of tabs
Today, I spent some time investigating better ways to connect two D-Sub connectors.
The typical method for connecting two D-Sub (DB9 here) connectors together is to use two #4 standoffs. You use a nut and a couple washers to secure them to one DB9 connector (some grinding of the backshell innards required). You then screw the other DB9 backshell into the standoff.
Problem is, the other DB9 backshell is not secured to the assembly, so can wobble and strain the wires a bit.
So I looked into some other solutions.
The first was to use elongated nuts from McMaster Carr that can be placed between the connectors and each backshell's screws thread into each side of the nut. I did have to grind/shorten the backshell screws a bit to prevent them from butting up against each other in the nuts. I also ground the nuts slightly shorter so that the connectors mated completely. Maybe just 1/64 or so. The nuts worked pretty well.
Another option that I liked better was to simply use longer standoffs, also from McMaster. They call them Jack Screws. These go all the way through the DB9 backshells and get secured in place by washers and a nut. I put the standard washer under the jackscrew head to move it closer to the other backshell. Again, both backshells are secured firmly together.
One other thing I did today was install a Molex plug on the flap power wires. I practiced crimping on some throw-away wires before the real deal. Easy. I also installed the power wires at the VP-X and ran them down to the center floor area and back to the flap actuator.
I decided I needed a 3rd zip tie mount in the lower rudder cap to secure the tail light wiring properly. Since the fiberglass is curved a bit where I place the mount, I used extra adhesive and held the mounting frame in place with a stack of Scotch Brite pads between the mount and the other side of the rudder cap.
I measured, marked, scuffed and cleaned areas on the right side flap drive cover to install Click Bond zip tie mounts to hold the flap motor wire. I ran out of zip tie mounts after installing one mount. More on order.
3rd zip tie mount in the lower rudder cap.
Prepared spots for 3 zip tie mounts, but only had one left.
First, I need to secure the lead coming from the motor to the motor support/enclosure. I thought about Click Bond zip tie mounts, but think I'll go with riveting plastic zip tie mounts into place. I dug through my blind rivet collection and found some that are about the right thickness and length. They also happen to be closed, IE, no hole in the inner end for the pin to fall out.
Also cut a few pieces of heat shrink tubing and slipped them over the wire for protection.
Shifting gears a bit from the Stick Grip wiring...
Now that I have enough 3 conductor 20ga shielded wiring, I can continue wiring the strobe/nav lights. The way this will work is that the 2 wing light cables and the tail light cable will come together near the flap actuator and will all be tied to each other along with a 4th cable going to the VP-X for power, all in parallel. All conductors will be connected to each other except for the blue wire which is only used to sync the 3 strobes to flash in unison.
The cable wire colors are a little different from the wires coming off the lights, so here's how they are connected:
Red --> Orange
Yellow --> White
Green --> Blue
Black --> Shield
Separately, a ground wire will run from the light mounts to the airframe.
I started by crimping female DSub pins onto the tail light wires. I also added a length of ground wire to the tail light mount for grounding to the airframe.
Next, I bonded some Click Bond zip tie mounts to the inside of the rudder bottom to secure the tail light wiring.
Then, I stripped the cables that will all come together and started crimping them together with the fancy crimps/shrink tubing insulators. These are so good and compact, I like to use them for everything. I used the blue butt connectors that are made for 20ga - 16ga wires and crimped 2 wires into each side to connect all of them to each other, with the exception of the green wires which don't need to go forward to the VP-X. The shields were connected using solder sleeves to attach black 20ga wire to.
I stripped the outer sheathing enough to slide the shrink tubing onto one side before crimping, but I made them just long enough, making the job of inserting the stripped ends into the butt connectors especially challenging. But they're on!
DSub pins crimped to tail light wires
Click Bond zip tie mounts bonded into place. The near one on will actually be moved to the bottom.
Zip tie mount moved to bottom where it'll provide a straight shot to the leading edge opening. Since the bottom is curved a bit, I used weights to hold it while curing instead of the self stick frame.
Cables from tail and VP-X crimped to one side of butt splices
The wing light cables crimped to the other ends of the butt splices and shrink covering applied.
So I decided to use the Stein method for connecting these. They shouldn't wobble too much and I can change them out if something better comes up.
I used Loctite on the special nuthead screws to keep them from loosening and causing a FOD hazard. I then attached the backshells and cinched the thumbscrews down. Pretty secure.
Connecting copilot stick grip D-Sub connectors together
May.15.2016 1 hrs
Date:
May 15, 2016
Hours:
1.00
The parts from Stein Air that allow connecting 2 D-Sub plugs together recently arrived.
They consist of 2 special screws that instead of a standard screw head, have a nut shaped head, along with a normal nut and washer. So another screw can screw into them. It looks like you screw these to one of the D-Sub connectors, then the other connector can screw into this one via that connector's standard attach screws/thumbscrews.
I trimmed the inside of one backshell to make room for the normal nut and assembled the 2 backshells. Unfortunately, the backshell attached to the connector with the special screws wobbles since the backshell isn't secured in any way besides the hooks grasping the connector. I worry that this will strain the wiring over time. I emailed Stein Air to see what they think.
I pulled the mounting frames off the 2 new Click Bond zip tie mounts installed last night, then loosely zip tied the Nav/Strobe light cables to the right side rib and other cabling to the left rib.
Wires zip tied to the new Click Bond zip tie mounts
Autopilot power and Nav/Strobe wiring; securing stick grip cable slack
May.09.2016 1 hrs
Date:
May 9, 2016
Hours:
1.00
First, I pulled the click bond frames off the zip tie mounts that secure the stick grip cable slack sections.
Next, I measured, cut and connected the 2 autopilot power wires to the 18ga wire going to the VP-X.
Then I routed, measured and cut lengths of 3 x 20ga shielded cabled from each wing attach area, through the center tunnel and aft to where the cable from the tail ends (near the flap actuator. I still need more of this cable to reach the VP-X, so holding off connecting these wires until the additional cable arrives.
I was a bit worried that the cables exiting the bushings on each center rib, entering the center tunnel, would rub the elevator actuator rod or stick to stick aileron attach rod, so I added another zip tie mount near these bushings to keep the cables close to the sides.
I need to complete the CAN Bus by routing the CAN Bus cable to the GI 260 AOA Indicator.
I started by routing the CAN Bus cable from the panel area after the Radio node to the forward area just behind the firewall near where the wiring goes through the corrugated tube down to the cabin floor. I took it to the port side of the center rib where it'll connect to the AOA Indicator pigtail. I then crimped the ends to D-Sub pins which will mate to the pins on the pigtail. I took a few strands out of the wires to allow 2 x 22ga wires to go into each D-Sub pin. Also used the solder sleeve method to connect the cable shields.
Next was tidying up the stick grip wiring in the aft center of the main spar. I want the wiring there to loop without rubbing the ribs on either side. In order to do that, I took up slack by lifting the stick grip cable in neighboring ribs. I added Click Bond Zip Tie mounts to the locations needed to pull the slack up. Once the slack was taken up, I zip tied the wire into a more compact loop, staying away from the ribs.
I then routed the CAN Bus cable along the center cockpit floor, through the main spar and to the right wing area of the fuselage.
I also ran a power wire from the backup bus fuse panel to the G! 260 pigtail.
CAN Bus leads connected to D-Sub pin that will connect to AOA pigtail
Stick grip cable slack being taken up on pilot side
Copilot side
Power line labelled and connected
Stick grip wiring tidied up
Cables pulled to right wing connection area
Click Bond zip tie mounts attached to upper center rib for pigtail
Zip tie mounts bonded in place for taking up cable slack
Shifting gears a bit, started working on the Garmin GI 260 wiring.
The pigtail from the AOA indicator has 11 wires, only 6 of which I'll need to connect: Power, Ground, CAN Lo, CAN Hi, CAN Ground and Illumination Bus in case I want to manually control brightness.
The interesting part is, I have an early version of the display, so my wiring doesn't quite match the documentation. Specifically for me: which wire is the shield/ground for the CAN Bus? The manual says the 3 CAN wires are wrapped by heat shrink to indicate they are related, but mine are not. So I removed the larger heat shrink tubing around the cable end to get a look at the wires where they exit the cable. This helped. I could see that both black wires (the one bundled in heat shrink with the audio wires and the lone one) were connected to cable shielding. So the lone black wire must be the one I use with the CAN Bus. I added a small bit of heat shrink around the 3 CAN wires like the manual shows and re-applied heat shrink around the cable end.
The other question I had was: CAN Bus nodes can be a maximum of .3 meters (just under a foot). The pigtail is over 2' and the manual says I can connect up to 15" of additional CAN Bus Node cable to the pigtail, making over 3' of node length. I'm guessing this is OK since the manual specifies it, but I sent an email off to the Garmin X Team folks to be sure. They're very responsive.
Next, I crimped male DSub pins to the 6 wires I'm using and attached heat shrink tubing to the ends of the wires I'm not using.
Finally, after positioning the sensor about where I think it'll go, I stuck a Click Bond zip tie mount to the center forward fuselage rib to hold the cable securely. I've really gone all-in on Click Bond items. I could have drilled a hole and pop riveted a zip tie mount there more quickly, but I'm not as confident with pop rivets as I am with Click Bond adhesive attached items.
The six wires I'll be using (highlighted) and the pigtail end after I added a heat shrink to the CAN lines and re-applied the larger heat shrink to the cable end.
Tonight, I completed the remaining stick grip function wiring at the stick grip cables.
First, I cut 3 more 8' lengths of wire for the Copilot Radio Push To Talk switch and 2 additional wires for the index switch for future use.
Next, I labelled each with heat shrink for easy identification and routed them along the cockpit floor and up through the corrugated tubing at the firewall to the behind-the-panel area.
Then crimped the wires to the appropriate stick grip wires using the fancy heat shrink crimps.
Finally, I installed a Click Bond zip tie mount to secure the upper loop of these wires at the aft/center main spar area.
Wow, it takes a while to do some things. 45 minutes to connect up 4 trim wires.
Since all the wires are white, I needed to pull on each end of the wire run to determine which one was each trim direction. Then I connected them with butt connectors: the wire from the pilot stick and the wire to the VP-X crimped in one end of the butt connector and the copilot stick wire in the other end of the connector. Since the connectors are 20ga to 16ga and the wires are 22ga, I doubled the single wire over for a good grip.
I also shifted the butt connectors on the cable. 5 in one spot and the remainder a couple inches away so they don't form too large a bundle.
Starting on wiring the stick grips to each other and to the aircraft systems.
First, I started with the wires that get tied together from the sticks: the ground wires and Autopilot Disconnect wires. I used the high quality butt splices with heat shrink. 4 wires go into each, combining them all together, 2 in each end.
Next, I loosely zip tied the wires running through the center tunnel to the zip tie pads to get a better idea of wire length. Also labeled these wires with the heat shrink label tool.
Then I started working on the trim, radio freq. swap, PTT and [future use] wires. I cut 7 lengths of 8' 22ga wire and ran them from the panel to the center aft spar area. These will go to the radio and VP-X
Ground and A/P Disconnect wires connected
wires cleaned up in the center tunnel
Cutting 7 wires to 8'
Wire bundle threaded up to instrument panel with heat shrink labels attached
First, I re-wired the CAN Bus cable to the roll servo in the right wing, replacing the cable with a 2' lead connecting the servo with a 10" one. Luckily, I had one left over from redoing the pitch servo that worked nicely. The right wing may be ready to button up now!
With all the wires connected to the pitch servo, I found the D-Sub backplate cover and closed it up.
The right wing has bushings in most of the ribs to allow routing a pitot tube or wiring. Since I'm using a corrugated tube to run wire through the wings, I don't need these bushings, so I removed them and the grams of weight they cost. :-)
Previously, I'd routed the right wing can bus and power wires up the center of the cabin floor and outboard along the forward side of the main spar. I decided to run them through the spar and outboard along the aft side of the spar where everything else is going.
Finally, I ran the power leads from the A/P Servos through the main spar where they'll meet up with the 18ga power cable coming from the VP-X.
Sigh... I managed to waste some time today. I'd been worrying that the CAN Bus wiring going to the autopilot servo in the wing was too fine a gauge (26ga) so decided to replace it with heavier, 22ga wire. About the time I finished, I figured out how to decode the little ribbon inside the cable. Turns out that it's actually 24ga. I thought it was 26ga because my wire stripper doesn't strip it very well with the 24ga opening. Well, it turns out that the wire is 24ga, but the insulation is extra thin. So I didn't need to swap in the 22ga.
I also created a pitch servo cable that included the typical lead coming off the CAN Bus with the CAN Bus cabling continuing on to the next component. I re-read the CAN Bus wiring instructions and noted that each lead coming off the bus can be a maximum of .3 meters. Somehow, I'd read this as "up to a meter". So my CAN Bus leads were too long on the Autopilot servos. I re-did the pitch servo cable with 11" leads. I'll do the roll servo tomorrow.
Alas, the pitch servo is the last component on this end of the CAN Bus. So no need for the out and back cable with a lead coming off. I re-did it with just a single line going to the servo, grounding the shield to the backshell.
Roll Autopilot Servo CAN Bus re-wired... again
Pitch Servo cable with 11" lead... that I did not need.
Pitch servo cable replaced with simple straight lead.
Connected at the pitch servo. This wiring is done now.
Threaded the wiring forward, over the center Adel clamp in the center of the main spar and towards the right wing.
When getting ready to connect the stick wiring up to the various aircraft circuits, I noticed that the lower ends of the stick, where the aileron pushrods connect and the sticks are connected to each other, would rub the stick cabling if I were to run the cables straight over through the inboard rib bushings. We can't have this!
So I bonded on a Click Bond zip tie mount to each area near the sticks to hold the cabling away.
I also did a bit of planning for how to route the cabling where they meet in the center rib channel.
Tonight, I started work on the plane with the intention of connecting up the 2 sticks and the items they control, but I got distracted by the need to make a few improvements.
First, I re-positioned 2 wires in the lower copilot connector. I'd done the upper one to share a ground instead of losing a switch, but I also needed to do the same to the mating connector in order to keep the wire coloring standardized. I didn't combine the grounds on the lower connector, will just use the green wire. No need to split them back out in my opinion.
I also secured the cable to the stick mount with 2 zip ties instead of 1 for both sticks.
Next, I tested the lower cable connections to make sure the wiring was correct through both connectors. They were. :-)
The Adel clamps for holding the stick grip cables to the main spar weren't quite gripping the cable as tightly as I wanted. I was worried the cables could wander up or down. So I slipped some heat shrink tubing over the cable and shrunk it down, adding some girth and making for a very secure connection.
Lastly, I added a Click Bond Adel Clamp post in the upper center of the aft side of the main spar to secure the cables as they cross this area above the elevator.
Re-secured the cable with 2 zip ties on each.
Testing the copilot wiring
Secured copilot side cable better using heat shrink tubing under Adel Clamp
Previously, I omitted the index switch from the wiring of the copilot stick grip since the DB-9 obviously can't handle all 10 wires from the stick. So I sacrificed the theoretical least used switch. But then I figured I could save a wire by ganging the 2 grounds together. So I pulled a few pins out of the D-SUB connector I'd assembled, popped the previously unused wire in and soldered one ground to the other ground.
I figured it was a good time to test the wiring in the stick, so I quickly fabricated test leads from wire and a couple male D-Sub leads, connected them to a multimeter and tested each switch, confirming that each pin was wired to the appropriate switch. They all checked out.
Soon, I'll be wiring the stick cable wires together and to the various devices they operate. So I needed a plan vs winging it. So I spent an hour drawing out a circuit wiring the sticks to the VP-X, Radio and Autopilot Servos. I still ended up not using the index switches, but will run wires for future use behind the panel.
The Plan:
The trim wires coming from the sticks connect together and route to the VP-X. Pilot and Copilot Radio Push To Talk switches and a Discrete input from each stick (for freq swap, ICS, etc) go to the radio. The unused index button from each stick will be wired separately to an unattached wire behind the panel for now. The Autopilot Disconnect will be combined from the sticks and go to each Autopilot Servo
After noodling on this forever, it's finally complete! Tonight I did the final securing of the stick wiring.
First, I applied adhesive backed rubber to the aft and forward sides of the upper end of the copilot stick mount so that the zip tied cable will stay in place. This is from Boeing and sticks forever! I've used it in car engine compartments and it stays put. I then zip tied the cable to this.
Next, I wrapped the lower part of the mount with some self bonding silicon tape, then continued, using the same piece to secure the cable in an inverted 'U'. I then wrapped this with a zip tie. Pretty secure!
Finally, I attached the cable to an Adel Clamp and the Click Bond post and torqued it down.
I did basically the same to the pilot side except I only needed to secure the cable with the silicon tape/zip tie since that cable comes out the bottom of the stick, making routing a bit easier.
I then routed the cables to the center of the fuselage, ready to connect up to various systems forward and aft.
While attaching the stick grip cables to the sticks, it made sense to do this beforehand. Vans now recommends bolting the copilot stick to the base instead of just letting it slip in and out.
I considered pulling the stick and base out to drill a bolt hole on the drill press, but this can be a hassle with removing the cotter pin on the pivot castle nut in a constrained area. So I pulled out a helpful drill guide with multiple sized drill holes, a V to center it over tubing and little tick marks to line each hole up.
I taped the guide securely to the stick base with electrical tape. Next time, I'd use something less flexible since the guide shifts a bit. But once the hole was started, it went fine. After drilling the hole, I deburred holes in both stick and base and vacuumed up the shavings.
Slipping the bolt in went smoothly and the copilot stick is now secure.
I also popped the mounting frames off the Click-Bond Adel Clamp mounting posts added the night before.
Previously, I'd determined where I wanted to secure the cables from the sticks to allow movement without rubbing. This ended up being about 3" down from the top of the next outboard floor rib and wing spar intersection.
At first, I was going to install a nutplate on each of the ribs in this area, but there wasn't a good spot to mount them with the neighboring stiffening area. So I went with a couple Click-Bond Adel Clamp posts. I scuffed and cleaned the areas these were getting installed, mixed up a batch of adhesive and popped them in place.
I also applied some adhesive backed rubber padding to the pilot side bracket holding the stick mechanism. Wires will run by this bracket, so this will prevent abrasion.
After a ton of research and trial fitting, I've decided to route the cable all the way out the bottom of the stick and forward up to near the neutral (hinge) point where there is least movement. From there, it'll loop up a bit, then down along the the next outboard rib against the wing spar. This allows no interference and very little bending.
When I found the point in the cable that come out the bottom of the stick, I shrunk some heat shrink in that location for extra abrasion resistance.
I also looked at routing the passenger cable. It's a mirror image of the pilot side.
Next, I installed the wires into the lower DB-9 connector of the copilot stick, shrunk heat shrink around the cable along with a bit of electrical tape for a snug fit in the backshell.
I still need the nuts to tie the backshells together.
Heat shrink where the cable will come out the bottom of the stick
Time to trim the pilot stick to size. I measured where the copilot grip sits on that stick and marked the similar location on the pilot stick. I then pulled the stick out of the plane (getting the cotter pin out was a pain!), cut the stick with the band saw, drilled a hole for grip mounting, deburred and primed the inside.
I re-installed the stick and started looking at how to route the cable to avoid binding/rubbing.
Tonight, I wired up the DB-9 plug for the cable coming from the stick grip.
I left one wire out (for the middle finger button) since there are 10 wires and of course the DB-9 connectors only have 9 pins. I thought about using the case as a ground, but thought better of it.
After all the wires were stripped and pins crimped on, I inserted them into the connector and assembled the backshell. Looks good.
Wires inserted into connector. You can see the extra wire tucked away.
Working on setting up a quick disconnect system in case the passenger doesn't want a stick moving around in front of them...
I've decided on DB-9 connectors. I'll have to forfeit one of the buttons on the copilot stick grip, but not a big deal.
I spent some more time determining where on the stick (height and clocking around the stick) to place the plugs so that they wouldn't interfere with any of the aircraft structure during stick movement. I decided against the location I drilled last time and instead went with the aft side of the stick about midway down.
While I was at it, I decided to prime the inside of the tube since it's made of steel. Once the primer was dry, I threaded the stick grip cable through the upper hole and cut off excess cable.
I kept having a nagging dislike for the thick, stiff bundle of wires going to the stick grips. 17 wires of a higher gauge than necessary, switches with redundant grounds. I was looking into re-wiring with thinner gauge wire, but this looked like a hassle.
So I looked into other grip options. Tosten has a new Fighter style grip. Not a authentic looking as the Infinity, but with plenty of switches. Plus, I can configure it without a side thumb button, making the grips ambidextrous. Also, they use only 10 wires that are thinner (22 gauge). They also use a net style sheathing instead of solid rubber, which also increases flexibility.
Sure enough, the cable is far more flexible. So I trimmed the co-pilot stick and drilled a hole for the grip clamping bolt. Nice design!
I also want to be able to remove the co-pilot stick for those passengers who don't want a stick moving around in front of them. So I drilled a hole in the lower end of the stick to pass the cable out. I'll attach a plug here to disconnect the cable when removing the stick.
A fair amount of time spent noodling and refactoring yesterday.
After redoing some of the wire runs that either weren't long enough or weren't as thick a gauge as I'd have liked, I ended up getting the following done:
I ran an 18ga autopilot power line from the VP-X to just behind the wing spar as well as a 22ga power line from the aft servo to the same area.
I also ran the Autopilot Disconnect from the pitch servo to just aft of the wing spar.
I connected two ground wires to a single spade connector and ran them from the grounding tabs at the firewall to the pitch servo and right wing attach area.
It's getting quite busy!
Some time not included in the logged hours was spent re-organizing the garage a bit and starting to remove stuff from the main work table since I'd like to use the table for each wing as I close them up.
Power, ground and AP disconnect added to Servo D-Sub
After removing the 26ga wire, I added mating D-Sub pins to the 24ga wire. Went a lot quicker the 2nd time.
I then ran the cable through the fuselage to the Autopilot servo, removed a section of outer insulation, pulled the white wires out, cut them and crimped on female D-Sub pins for the D-Sub plug at the Autopilot.
Next, I started looking at the Infinity stick grips and super thick cabling coming out of them. They use 16 x 20ga and 22ga wires. This continues to bother me. So I opened up one of the stick grips to see how tough it'd be to replace the 20ga wiring with 22 or 24ga. I'd also remove all the redundant ground wires, leaving only 1 required. I also did some research on the Tosten grips. They now have a military style grip that might work well and they use only 10 x 22ga wires.
The other thing I may like about the Tosten grip is the ability to not have the thumb rest, which will make the grip ambidextrous. So I can fly with my right hand if I want.
One of the things I wanted to do with the elevator trim wiring was to create a disconnect in the tail area so that I can attach and detach the elevator without cutting and resplicing the wire. I came up with a way to allow the wire to be pulled through 1/4" bushings: crimp D-Sub pins onto increasing lengths of wires in the bundle so that no two pins are next to each other.
First, I re-installed the left elevator while pulling the cable into the horizontal stab. The elevator is just loosely attached for now.
Then I measured the length of the wires needed, cut and stripped them and crimped on the d-sub pins. I also doubled the wires over to provide more thickness for the crimps, being that the wire is 26ga. Cutting the mating wires was easy since I simply needed to start with one crimp, attach it, push a mating pin into the next crimp, measure where to cut/strip, crimp that pin on, etc.
Once all the pins were installed, I slipped some heat shrink tubing over each set of pins and shrunk it down. I then installed a larger heat shrink tubing over the whole assembly.
Next, I ran the wire through the fuselage floor to the autopilot pitch servo and started working on attaching the 2 motor drive wires to the servo. The autopilot servo helps drive the trim. So I stripped off a section of insulation from the middle of the cable near where the autopilot servo is and cut the 2 white wires to add D-sub pins for the servo 15 pin D-sub connector.
But... I was a bit nervous about running 26ga wire, so inspected the wires where I removed the insulation. Alas, I saw that I had nicked the inner wire insulation a bit when cutting the outer insulation. That, coupled with my nervousness for the light gauge, caused me to scrap the night's work and start over with 24ga wire later. The last thing for the day was cutting the heat shrink off the connections and removing that section of cable.
Elevator re-installed
D-Sub pins added to wire leading to elevator trim
Mating female D-Sub pins being added to the cable leading to Elevator auto pilot.
All pins crimped on
Heat shrink added to pares of pins
Larger heat shrink tube installed over whole assembly
And everything apart again as I get ready to use 24ga wire
Today, I removed the zip tie frames. Adel posts are firmly in place! Now I can mount the Magnetometer cables with Adel clamps.
I then routed those wires, along with the ELT antenna cable, down along the edge of a bulkhead with Adel clamps attached to the stud. Turned out clean!
Routing the ELT antenna cable to the ELT, I was able to determine the proper length of the cable, then cut and stripped it and mounted a BNC connector and attached to the ELT.
I then routed the Magnetometer cables forward to the firewall, then up to the panel. Nice to have all the wire securing parts in place!
The final thing for the night was planning how to attach and detach the elevator trim wiring when the horizontal stab is removed and replaced. I think I'll us simple DSUB Pins without the plug. If I stagger the wires in length, I can avoid the bulkiness that will prevent the cable from threading through the horizontal stab rib. Or maybe I'll just drill the hole bigger for a larger bushing.
Adel clamps holding the Magnetometer cables secure
Antenna cable joins the party along the bulkhead
ELT Antenna cable cut and plug attached
And the cable attached to the ELT
Wires run across cockpit floor
Also along the center channel
Testing whether a DSub pin and the other wires will fit through a small bushing. It does!
First, I needed to secure Magnetometer wiring to the aft portion of the left longeron. This is a 1" length of angle aluminum. I didn't want to drill a hole in it and the typical zip tie mounts wouldn't fit, so I used a couple Click Bond studs. I ground off a bit of one side so it'd fit better into longeron corner. I scuffed and cleaned areas of the longeron to attach the posts and bonded them into place.
To secure the ELT antenna wiring, I decided to attach nutplates to the bulkhead just forward of where I mounted the antenna. What a pain in the ass it was crawling in there to drill 12 holes (3 for each nutplate) and rivet the nutplates on. I mounted the 1st section of ELT Antenna cable using an Adel clamp. The others will wait for when I'm ready to run the Magnetometer wiring.
In reviewing the one cable I wired into the Magnetometer plug, I saw that I'd managed to insert the pins into the wrong holes. Sort of a mirror image of where they were supposed to be. So I spent too much time removing the pins and rewiring the old cable as well as installing the 2nd cable. One 2 conductor and one 3 conductor, plus a ground for each. I added a good amount of shrink tubing for strain relief.
To finish the day, I routed the tail light and pitch trim wiring into the plane and along the floor, loosely zip tying for now.
Trimmed Click Bond studs
Bonding into place
Nutplate holes drilled and deburred
Antenna wiring getting secured
Other side
Old wires pulled out of the plug (using the dsub pin removal tool)
New wiring with DSub Pins added
Plug taking shape
Closed up
And installed
Long shot of wire runs on floor as well as antenna and Magnetometer
With the game and party, not much time to work on the plane, but did get a bit in...
Started by popping the frames off the zip tie mounts bonded in yesterday.
Drilled a cable hole in the lower part of the 2nd from most aft bulkhead. There was already a tooling hole there, so just enlarged it. Then deburred and primed it.
Popped bushings into the other bulkhead holes I'd drilled & primed yesterday.
Found another 2 places where zip tie mounts were needed, so mounted them.
First, I removed the holders for the Click-Bond zip tie mounts I bonded in last night.
I finally resigned myself to the fact that I need to remove the left elevator to gain access to the areas I need to work on for running the elevator trim wiring.
Once the left elevator was removed, I trimmed the edges of a nylon bushing so it could pop into the hole in the horizontal stab for the trim cable and popped it in place.
Next, I drilled a hole in the far aft bulkhead for the tail lighting cable. I still need to deburr and prime it.
With the elevator off, I drilled a small hole above the large hole (that provides clearance for the trim actuator jack screw), deburred and primed it. Once the primer dried, I popped a bushing in.
Prepping for re-installing the trim actuator, I did a final affixing of the cable to the actuator.
Next was running the cable through the new hole/bushing, installing the actuator, re-attaching the actuator arm and cotter pinning the ends.
I also installed a bushing in the elevator spar and inboard rib and ran the wire through them.
There are still more zip tie mounts to install, so cleaned those areas, mixed up another batch of adhesive and popped them in place.
Lastly, I drilled holes in the lower area of 2 aft bulkheads, deburred and primed them for the cables to run through.
Frames removed from Zip Tie mounts
Left elevator removed
Bushing trimmed and popped into horizontal stab hole
Hole drilled and filled with bushing for tail light wiring
Bushing for the trim actuator in the elevator
Cable cinched tightly
One end of the trim actuator attached & cotter pinned
And the other
Cable run out of the elevator
And out the elevator
Zip Tie mounts bonded in place
And on the floor
Lower portion of bulkheads drilled for more wiring
Started by determining what BNC connectors I'll need for the various radios as well as how much cable. Came up with 4 right angle males and 4 straight males. This will provide a couple extra. Also getting another 8' of RG400 cable.
I cleaned the floor of the next section back in the fuselage and popped in 4 more zip tie holders. Getting there!
Tonight I removed the frames from the cured Click-Bond zip tie mounts and riveted the little wire bracket to the vertical angle. A bit of a pain moving the Hydro-Pneumatic riveter over for 2 rivets, but it does a great job.
I started this evening with pulling the installation frames off the Click-Bond Zip-Tie holders after the adhesive had cured overnight.
When I tried to test fit the elevator trim actuator with the zip-tie bracket installed, I found that an already tight fit had become unmanageable. So I trimmed the edges of the bracket to the dimensions of the actuator. The reinforcing flange still sticks out a bit, but I managed to find the trick to installing the actuator. I then primed the edges I'd trimmed off.
There's a vertical aluminum angle that wiring will have to go around, so I fabricated a small bracket to comfortably hold the wiring as it passes the aluminum angle. I decided to rivet it on, so I match drilled 2 holes, deburred, smoothed, bent the bracket and Alodined it.
Next, I mixed up more adhesive and installed Click-Bond zip-tie brackets to the floor behind the baggage area. The wire will route around the ELT.
Zip Tie bracket after zip-tie holder adhesive cured
Click-Bond Zip Tie brackets installed in baggage tunnel
And in the cockpit tunnel
Trimmed edges and primed. Not pretty, but she'll work.
Tonight, I fabricated a little bracket to mount to the elevator trim actuator to mount a Click-Bond zip-tie holder to. I had tried bonding a piece of aluminum to the trim actuator as a test since the plastic looked pretty slick. Sure enough, the adhesive doesn't stick well, hence the bracket that the zip-tie mount will bond to.
It took a few iterations, but the bracket turned out well. I bent it to add stiffness. Probably huge overkill. After drilling, deburring, smoothing and scuffing, I Alodined it, then bonded the zip-tie mount in place.
This evening, I also bonded more zip tie mounts to the starboard side of the center tunnel. These will hold the tail nav and strobe lights.
Started wiring the elevator trim... Initially, I was going to run the 5 wire cable out the side of the elevator, but then decided to run it out the forward part of the elevator. It just looks to be the right way and will put less strain on the cable.
I pulled the trim servo out of the elevator to splice the 5 conductor cable on. After stripping the wire ends, I crimped on male and female D-Sub pins to create the connection. I then slipped heat shrink tubing over the wires, attached the connectors, then heated the heat shrink over them.
I was thinking about bonding a Click-Bond Zip Tie holder to the trim module, but the plastic seems adhesive averse. So I tested this by bonding a strip of aluminum to another trim module. After curing, I tried pulling off the aluminum. Sure enough, it popped off with very little force. Looks like I'll need to find a plan B for securing the cable.
Lastly, I drilled a couple plastic grommet holes - one in the tail deck and another in the inboard horizontal stab rib for the cable to pass through.
First try: routing the wire inboard.
D-Sub pins connected
And connected
Heat shrinked
Hole drilled in tail deck
And another in the inboard rib of the horizontal stab
This had been hanging around left to do for a while, so I pop riveted the nylon loops in place to secure the static line that connects the 2 sides of the aircraft.
My plan is to run wire down the center tunnel on either side of the elevator pushrod and secure with Click-Bond zip tie mounts. So I measured where I wanted them to go to provide good stability, cleaned the areas, mixed up some adhesive and bonded 5 of the mounts in place on the port side of the tunnel. I'll probably also do some on the starboard side.
Tonight, I assembled one end of the ELT antenna cable using RG400 (overkill) cable and a BNC fitting. These crimp in place very nicely... after I spend forever finding my BNC plug die!
The adhesive on the roll servo wiring wire clamp had cured, so I removed my ghetto clamp and zip tied the wire bundle to the clamp. That'll hold nicely.
I then started work on the Auto Pilot Pitch Servo plug, installing the following wires:
+12v Power
Ground
Pitch Trim Motor... though now that I think about it, I cut this wire to the length to reach the roll trim actuator. I'll have to redo this.
I started working on the pitch autopilot wiring by adding a couple jumpers to the DB15 plug. One is for Pitch Strap, IE, designating that this servo is for pitch. The other jumper is to terminate the CAN Bus at this servo. While most people terminate the CAN Bus at the Roll servo, I figured terminating at the Roll servo would save a bit of backtracking of wire.
One wire I didn't think I needed, but later thought better of was the Autopilot Cutoff/CWS. But it's a good thing to be able to disable the Autopilot at the press of a button. So I went ahead and installed this on the Roll servo DSub plug.
The Autopilot Cutoff wire completed the wiring to this plug, so I installed the shield after wrapping the wires in silicone tape. I then looked for a way to secure the wire bundle. At first, I began bonding a zip tie anchor to the roll servo, but then thought there was a chance the servo arm would touch and wear the wiring, so I removed it before the adhesive cured and installed a special Click Bond wire anchor on an arm to a nearby wing rib. This worked out nicely, though I had to remove Click Bond's clamping mechanism and devise my own since there wasn't room for Click Bond's. The bonus with this wire anchor arm is that the half moon part that hold the wire can be swiveled to the orientation you need.
Jumpers inserted
Full plug of wires
Silicon wrap to protect wires in the wire clamp
Plug housing installed
Initial idea of attaching wires to servo... veto'd that pretty quickly.
Better option: Wire mount on an arm attached to a wing rib. Perfect.
Finally managed to get back into the garage. It's been quite a while and took a bit of time to figure out where I'd left off on various projects.
Today, I ran wiring through the right wing for the Roll Servo. First was adding DSub connectors to the CAN Bus and RS232 shielded cables. Then I crimped the incoming and outgoing CAN Bus wires to a 2' leader that was connected to the servo DSub connector. Finally, I routed the wires through the wing conduit to the wing root.