Tail Mounted

I mounted the vertical stabilizer and horizontal stabilizer in the last week. I had to drill several holes for the many bolts that are used to attach them to the fuselage. I used reamers for this job, to get nice tight tolerances on the bolt holes. It looks kinda cool, with these parts mounted. Unfortunately, I don't have the space to leave them on, so they had to come right off again and go back on the wall.... Later, after the canopy is done, I will break down that large wooden box in the background and there will be lots more room to work- then I will remount the tail parts, and attach and rig  the elevators and rudder.

I also drilled and reamed the engine mount holes and started work on the panel, drilling holes. The 3 1/8" instrument hoels didn't turn out that great, may have to rethink that step...

Plan for the near future- rivet aft top skin, then get going on the canopy again. It's warm enough now I don't have to worry about the plexiglass cracking.

Instrument Panel Design

Here is my almost-final instrument panel design. I've already purchased most of the items shown, with the notable exception of the Dynon D10A EFIS. There is a modified 6-pack on the left, where the directional gyro has been replaced with the EFIS. This was done to satisfy several of my "needs" in a cost effective way. I wanted a 2-axis autopilot, a CDI for the NAV radio, and some kind of stall warning. The Dynon with the HS34 *should* work with the analog Collins NAV, to provide a very nice digital HSI. The Dynon also provides the autopilot function, with the purchase of the servos. Also, with the special pitot tube, the Dynon give an angle-of-attack indication, a step-up from just a stall warning.

The engine istrumentation is an I-K technologies AIM-1, it will monitor all 4 CHTs and all 4 EGTs as well as oil temp, pressure, and fuel pressure. I don't plan on using the fuel flow option. It also measures MAP. I plan on using a MGL digital tachometer and an MGL digital volt/amp meter. The fuel gauges will most likely be the analog display units from Vans. 

My handheld GPS will attach to a RAM mount on the right side of the cockpit, not attached to the panel. This will make it much easier to upgrade in the future. I can still use the GPS serial output for the HSI and the ELT.

A few funkier things, not shown, I am going to use NASA space shuttle -style switch guards on the master and ignition toggles. Also from Perihelion Designs, a nice red/white LED gooseneck lamp is mounted to the pilot side and can be directed at the panel or charts at night. Also, I have a "START ENGINE" pushbutton from a Honda S2000. 

Electrical Design

I've spent alot of time recently planning the electrical system and instrument panel layout. This post is mainly about the electrical system. The almost final design is shown here - don't bother with this bitmap- click this link for the pdf of schematic,  (on fileQube page, just look for small "download file" link near the bottom).

The design is based on Bob Nuckolls Aeroelectric schematic Z-11. I really like the E-bus, the alternator loadmeter, and the simpler started control, so I've used those ideas. I've already bought most all of the components shown, as well as wire, crimp terminals, etc.

I've also put some effort into planning the wire and cable routing.

The biggest problem on RVs is routing cable from the panel/forward area through the spar carry-through tot the wings and aft fuse. I have one conduit through the center to route to the aft fuselage. The wings might be tricky since there is only one hole on each side. I'm routing the Dynon remote compass cable along the upper longeron to the fron, to keep it away from the strobe lines and the transponder coax. Also, the strobe lines to the wings have been routed along the outside, under the seats, to keep them away from sensitive lines.

- see the pdf of routing diagram.

Brakes, Wiring started

Lots of smaller tasks have been completed- I installed the brake lines and fuel lines inside the fuselage, plumbed the static line, and drilled and mounted the cabin heat valve to firewall. Also installed the crotch strap mounts. I decided to go with 5 point belts, and bought a pair of harnesses from Crow Enterprises in CA. I'll include those in a pic someday. 

I also installed the smaller,shorter (of the two) elevator  pushrod (after making a new one- long story). Just last Fri. I had help and rivetted the strobe box support, and two antenna doubler onto the fuselage bottom. My plan is to finish up the interior aft area, so I can rivet on the remaining aft top skin. Once that skin is on, access to the region will be much more difficult so I want to minimize what I have to do there. One snag is the ELT (emergency locator transmitter) that will likely mount aft. I've been waiting for a newer, less expensive 406MHz model to hit the market, the ACK E-04. I may just go ahead and rivet the skin on, and resign myself to installing the ELT later. The aft wiring has begun, it looks really bad here, but it's a work in progress. 

The picture makes it look pretty dirty back there- most of that is overspray from the fuselage interior painting. I definitely need to clean that up before rivetting on the skin.