Electrical

I actually hauled out the Van's schematics to double-check some of my assumptions. All in all it is looking good. One area where I deviated was in the routing of the starter cable. The side suggested (right, facing forward) is already tight with the fuel supply line and the proper governor oil line. I routed the starter cable down the left side, and there is a LOT more room ... and it fits. So there.
Time : 3.0 hours

I'm also looking at maybe tweaking the routing of the prop governor line, and did little head-scratching on that front. Yeah, it should be noted in the FWF section, but I did so little that .. well .. this is good enough. :)
Time : 1.25 hours

Tonight I got out and worked on some wiring again, this time installing the ANL holder I got from the B&C folks. I decided where it needed to go on the firewall, drilled for the platenuts, installed the platenuts (with help from my #1 riveting helper, Theresa), and mounted the holder. I also used a random #2 wire from the Van's wiring kit to jumper from the ANL holder to the ammeter shunt. I need to cut the B-lead wire to length and crimp the connector, install the wire, and then that bit of work will be completed.
Time : 2.25 hours

After lunch I got out into the shop a bit and wrestled with Adel clamps. I needed to secure the starter cable, and ended up re-routing it slightly in the process. I found a more clear path and was able to add an Adel where I already had two (making a gang-of-three) to secure the cable so it didn't touch anything along the way. I'm pleased. But ... oh my, it was a battle. Adel clamps are a pain even if you _do_ use all the various tricks in the book to get them installed. The problem with this one spot was that the existing pair were already in a tight spot, so adding a clamp wasn't easy. But I got it done.

Then I had to puzzle out routing for the B-lead from the alternator. In the end I decided to route it over the #1 induction tube, then down _under_ the #3 induction tube and around to my ANL holder. I need to borrow a friend's cable clamp to smoosh (technical term) the terminal on the #8 wire I'm using from the alternator. I'll get that done tomorrow night before my commercial ground school session. (Speaking of which, time to finish my reading for tomorrow night's class.)
Time : 2.0 hours

I also want to mock up the switches for the panel to make sure I like the spacing. I'm trying two rows, one above each other, on 1-inch centers. The spacing looks somewhat wide, but I'm going to mount all the switches and see what I think.
Time : 2.0 hours

I measured for some conduit, and am going to run 2 pieces .. one down each side of the tunnel. That should give me some room to run wires. I also started to measure out the wire for the tail-light, and realized that the 50-pound bag of sand I have on the back deck to counterbalance the engine on the snout was getting in the way.

This caused me to burn a little time trying to figure out a better (i.e. less in the way) method for counterbalancing the engine. I have some ideas, but didn't have time to follow through on any of them today. Maybe tomorrow.
Time : 1.75 hours

I ran a shielded bundle (from SteinAir) for the elevator trim, and two wires (power and ground) for the tail light. That really should be all that is needed for the back-end of the plane. I also secured two pieces of short conduit in the tunnel under the boost pump for routing wires.

Leaning over the side of the plane into the back of the fuselage just about killed my back. But it is all done now. Thank goodness!
Time : 3.25 hours

A good bit of time was burned in head-scratching and test fitting various things. I had a few criteria I wanted to meet. First, I wanted it to be the case that I could easily get to the connectors (as easy as access to anything up under the panel can be, at least) once the box was installed. I also wanted it to be such that I could mount the box by installing a few screws pointing straight up (so that on my back in the fuselage it would be a straight shot to the screws). I also wanted it to _not_ encroach on any area behind where the radio stack will go so as to avoid the possibility of a deep radio tray conflicting with the VP-X installation.

I found a spot on the pilot side right in line with the forward upper fuselage rib. I am _very_ pleased with the location. I didn't get quite done with installing the brackets today. I still need to install four nutplates, need to prime the brackets, and then rivet everything in place. Then it'll be a done deal.

One final note .... it _snowed_ today! For us this is a rather early snow. There is some accumulation on the grass and bushes and trees, but little (if any) on the roads. That said, it is supposed to get down to 28 tonight so it might end up a bit icy in the morning. Good thing I have airplane parts to work on, isn't it? :)
Time : 4.0 hours

I also installed the two RAMI AV-17 antennas on the belly of the plane. This, too, went slow because I wanted to be sure they were _right_ before drilling holes that would be a pain to close back up if they were wrong. I got help from Marie to run the nuts onto the screws while I lay on the floor to tighten everything up. They look sharp, and are ready to hook up as soon as I have radios in hand.

I did NOT get around to doing the last bit of work I wanted to do on the baffles. That will be the next task.

UPDATE: My pictures of the VP-X install got included in a Vertical Power newsletter as examples of a good installation. Way cool. :)
Time : 5.0 hours

'Nuf said on that ... my logic is mine, and you can agree of disagree as you see fit. The install itself was more timely than I expected. The latch on my unit was .. well .. wrong. I had to fiddle with it to make it right. Then they wanted piddly-ass #4 screws, but the smallest I countersunk screws I had were #6s. So I opened up the holes and tweaked the countersinking so I could use #6s instead. I also had to figure out where to install the antenna, which leads me to the next controversy.

I am putting it in the tail, under the fiberglass fairing. Pros and cons with this location, but I think the pros outweigh the cons. I honestly think the traditional external mounting location is stupid as it is just as likely to get sheared off as anything else. In the back it is blanked somewhat by metal (but it would be blanked a bit if it were mounted on the top of a plane that ended up on its back) but others have reported good signals from that location even with the metal. The upside of this location is that it is likely to stay intact in a crash.

I still need to run the coax, because this is a slightly longer run than they anticipated. I also need to finish fishing the remote cable to the front of the cabin. That'll happen tomorrow. For now ... I'm gonna go fly. :)
Time : 4.5 hours

Then I started to look at putting together the cables for my strobes so I could pull them. First, I couldn't find the manual for the strobe power supply. Frustrating, but not the end of the world. I figured I would just to go the supplier website and pull down a copy.

Sadly, the supplier seems to have vanished. Lessons from that are :

• Never buy anything with electrons running through it until the very last instant you need it.
• Be aware than a non-major-supplier might just vanish, and don't be shocked when it happens.

The upside? This means I can move to solid state LED strobes and tail lights now, rather than stick with the older xenon flash tube technology. The downside? I gotta spend money I wasn't expecting to spend. BUT, I can toss out that power supply and don't have to replace it with some other one because LEDs just don't need big banks of caps to do their job. Interesting, and all in all a win (except on the $$$ front).
Time : 1.5 hours

However, in the scant amount of time I had left I did get the coax for the ELT run from the ELT mounting location back to the antenna. I got one connector on, but wasn't happy with my stripper ... so waited to buy a new one tomorrow before doing any more coax connectors.
Time : 1.0 hours

Let me make a note here that I hate .. absolutely positvely hate .. cutting holes in the firewall. I have trouble every freaking time I have to do more than just drill a small hole. My Unibits "grab". My Greenlee punches always _tear_ out the last little bit of metal, and get jammed. I hate stainless. There. I said it. And I still have one more 1-1/8 inch hole to cut. *sigh*
Time : 5.25 hours

Today I got out into the shop (after acquiring more propane for my shop heater ... again, it is *cold* today) and started pulling the EGT/CHT wires. I had to drill holes in the subpanel for the EFIS wire bundles then pull the wires through the firewall (and sort them out neatly, and once I get a quick question answered by the AFS guys it will be time to install the connectors on the ends).

I also picked up some brass screws and nuts to use to secure the magnetometer rather than the nylon screws I had used before. I feel better with the metal over the plastic.

After lunch I identified and pulled wires for a number of engine sensors. This entailed figuring out which wire was the wire-of-interest at any given moment (color being the primary identifying trait), stripping the end, checking the schematic to see which pin it should go to, and then ohm-ing it out to insure I really _did_ have the right wire. I then routed, terminated, and installed the wire. This also entailed installing about a million and a half adel clamps to hold the wire securely as it found its way through the engine compartment.

I did not get them all done, but did get the oil pressure, fuel pressure, oil temperature sensors connected, and almost completed the fuel flow sensor. I need to wrap that up, connect the RPM sensor, and then install the EGT/CHT wires. Once that is done virtually everything FWF will be completed. The only thing left will be to install my GPS antenna shelf (with its coax).
Time : 7.75 hours

I finished connecting the fuel flow sensor to the wires I ran yesterday, then sorted and ran a number of other wires. I was feeling so lousy I didn't want to do anything "significant", so just satisfied myself with getting wires identified and routed. I routed the RPM sensor wires, the ammeter shunt wires, and the manifold pressure wires.

I still need to decide how I'm going to support wires running across the inside of the cabin. I want to bear in mind that while I can reach them fine-and-dandy now, in the future it will be me on my back trying to get at the buggers. So, a short night of work, but at least I touched the project.
Time : 1.0 hours

The place was a zoo this afternoon. We had little trouble getting out, but by the time we were coming back there were multiple planes in the pattern and on downwind we saw five lined up to depart! Wow. Taxiing on the parallel taxiway we ended up nose-on with Cardnal, and since we could turn around (gotta love a full-swivel tailwheel) we turned tail and went back to another taxiway to let them pass. It was nuts out there, but I totally understand why. :)

Anyway, I did get out into the hangar after I got back and put a few hours in on the RV. Essentially I got the right-side engine EGT/CHT sensors wired. The next side will go quicker because I have a routine established now. I estimate I can finish the other side in half the time. Hopefully that will happen tomorrow night.
Time : 2.0 hours

I also spent some time tie-wraping wire bundles to tidy things up, tightening adel clamps now that all the wires are running through them, and eventually running my starter wires from the starter contactor into the cabin. Not a ton of things accomplished, but at least I got my hands back on the project after a week of distractions.
Time : 3.5 hours

Once we got back from lunch I got out into the shop and did a little work prior to Super Bowl time. I installed more adel clamps to finish tidying up the wiring in both the cabin and ahead of the firewall. I did final routing of the alternator control wires as well as the starter wires. I also installed the master control wire. I had forgotten to put little booties on the starter studs, so pulled the wires and slipped the booties on over the ring terminals and reinstalled them on the contactor.

All in all a good couple of hours of work. Progress is progress, no matter how small! Right?? RIGHT?? :)
Time : 2.5 hours

I replaced the copper jumper between the ammeter shunt and the starter contactor because the 1.8" copper was taking up too much "depth" on the stud. I also started to think it was (a) over kill and (b) subject to eventually work hardening and cracking. I also installed the #8 wire from the starter contactor lug into the cabin (main 12v buss power).

Another task was to take my newly arrived single sheilded wire and fabricated p-leads for the mags. I got that done easily enough and installed them on the mags. I will have to wait until I have the switches installed on the panel to finish the other ends. (Though I'm tempted to terminate them anyway, and then tie the two ends together to ground the mags ... just for good measure. We'll see.)

I also finshed routing the Comm #1 coax, which meant I had to finalize how I am running wires through the tunnel and up the firewall. This entailed installing some sticky-pads for zip-ties (with a dab of E6000 to make sure they stay in place long-term) and some adels up the center AL angle on the firewall. Things are really starting to look good ... nice and tidy, at least for those wires that have been put in place.

I also started routing the cable for the magnetometer back into the rear cabin, but finishing that will be a task for tomorrow.

All in all a good day of work.
Time : 5.5 hours

Anyway, with that done I carved out a little time to start installing the wire for the final time. I couldn't get the task completed as we were meeting friends in the evening, but every little bit helps.
Time : 0.5 hours

Other things that got done today were installing the spike-catching diodes on the starter/battery contactors (after having to take almost all that area apart to get the ring termials on .. its crowded down there, and that took forever). I ran the EFIS ground wire, and for those functions that were not going to be used on the EFIS I pulled (and saved) the wires from the EFIS D-sub connector. Finally, I took the VP-X mounting rails out of the fuselage, installed them on the VP-X, and will finish mounting it tomorrow when I've gotten some 8-32 socket head screws. They'll be easier to install/remove in that tight location under the panel than would phillips head screws. Or so it seems to me.
Time : 7.5 hours

I also installed an adel clamp to hold the wires which will run from the switches to the VP-X, and fabricated the harness for the flap position sensor. That was run to the VP-X and are the first set of wires to be connected to the box. Wiring is now kicking into yet again a higher gear!

Other work done today included pulling the flap motor wires forward, connecting the flap motor ground to the central ground block, and connecting the EFIS to the ground block. I got most of the way through pulling the boost pump wires forward when .. after some small thing went awry (truly not a big deal) .. my response was "arrrrrgh!". That was my hint that it was time to call it a day. Even so, I got in a good 7 hours so I'm not complaining.

One thing I've promissed myself I'd so is update documentation _as_ _I_ _go_, so that when I'm done the wiring docs are totally in sync with reality. I had to stop a few times today to go up to the office to verify details, and update documentation when I found issues. All good stuff.
Time : 7.25 hours

What got connected to the VP-X today? The pitch trim wires, boost pump wires, flap wires, and nav/strobe light wires. On the boost pump I removed the two pigtails that came with the pump and replace them with a continuous wire run up to the VP-X. That saved splicing. As for the lights and pitch trim, there is clearly nothing connected on the far ends yet. That will happen during final assembly.
Time : 5.0 hours

I'm taking a break now to go help a fellow builder Ernest (building a Dyke Delta). He needs to borrow my engine lift. Back in a bit ....

The post-lift-and-lunch timeframe was one of those "fits and starts" afternoons. I first started into working on the aileron trim install (should log it in another section, really, but since I wanted to get it installed to further the whole electrical install exercise I'm putting it here). I got the UMHW block drilled and trimmed, then went to trim the mounting plate. I did it exactly as specified in the instructions .... and it was, of course, too short. *sigh* I should know better by now. So I'll have to order another one.

Another thing that has been needed is a connector to the battery to allow me to connect a smart-charger. It took a few iterations to get something I was happy with, and it is out there merrily charging right now. This will allow me to start testing some electical circuits without abusing the battery too badly.

In the spirit of being able to test electrical stuff without causing grief .... I disconnected the wire from the starter. I don't want a rogue signal causing the prop to start turning for ANY reason. While I was messing with that I installed a pair of adel clamps to secure it off the forward induction tube (something I've been meaning to do for some time).

It doesn't seem like much ... but as I've said before, any progress is good progress.
Time : 5.25 hours

Basically I brought the wires down to under the pilot seatpan, and fanned them out from there to the tail and both wings. To do this neatly I had to install some more snap bushings in the seat ribs, so that took a little fiddling. I then used crimp butt-splices as a nice tidy way to tie them together.

I also unpinned a few more wires from my EFIS harness as they weren't going to be used, and added a wire for backup power.
Time : 3.0 hours

Then to get something useful done on the RV I routed the wires for the roll servo. They are just hanging out the side of the fuselage at the wing root, of course, but they are ready to run down the wing to the servo once the wings are on.

None of the stuff I ordered this week has come in. Annoying. But I still have stuff to do so I'm not even close to being blocked. That said, I have to hop the Citabria over to Lake Ridge tomorrow morning so it'll be another short RV-work day. Dang.
Time : 1.0 hours

I need to make a decision on the switch guards. I'm not SURE that I want to use them, but we'll see. They aren't really _needed_ as the start is deactivated once the right mag is turned on.

As a side note, today we had a truly terrific line of t-storms come through which spawned tornados across the central and eastern parts of the state. I just had a run-in with tornados in Florida at SnF, and having another set come near where I was in such a short period of time is a bit surreal.
Time : 2.0 hours

I also crimped D-sub pins onto the grip wires once everything was installed in the stick. I finally had to confirm by buzzing the switches exactly how it was wired as it is different than literally shown in the pictures. But what has been done makes sense, and will be no problem.

I also installed the trim wire bundle from the VP-X down to where I am going to install a terminal strip in the fuselage. The two grips will be _mostly_ tied together at the terminal strip. One difference is that the ground for the co-pilot grip, for the trim hat-switch only, will run through a switch on the panel. This is so I can disable the trim off of that stick. I don't want the passengers to be able to accidentally tweak the trim. Most of the other buttons won't be a problem.
Time : 5.0 hours

I then launched into doing the same thing on the pilot stick. That was a bit more tedious because I had to unbolt it from the control attachments (unlike the copilot stick which could just be pulled out of its socket).

But after a bit of cutting, and trimming, and filing, I got the pilot-side Tosten stick grip fitted. I finally found gromets that would fit where the wires exited and installed them in both sticks. I also terminated the wires on the end of the stick with male machined DB style pins.

With filing the ends of the sticks to get the bushings as flush as I could manage ... this was somewhat slow tedious work. But I'm very pleased with the results.
Time : 5.5 hours

I also got pigtails soldered onto the master and start switch, and got the starter power path partially wired up between the two mag switches. I am adopting the convention of demanding that the left mag be on, and the right mag be off, for engine start. I'm running the engine start power through the two DPDT mag switches and then down to the start pushbutton to enforce this convention. I had a little confusion over something I was seeing on the mags yesterday so didn't finish all that work up. But I hope to get out there tonight and complete the mag and start pushbutton wiring. I hope to get to the point where I have (a) fired up the VP-X for the first time and (b) can send power to the (disconnected!) starter.

Oh ... wait. Maybe it won't happen tonight. I think we have a birthday dinner for my niece. We _do_ have our priorities!
Time : 2.5 hours

After lunch I only had a little time before I needed to launch off into non-airplane-building chores, but I did get the wiring of the mag switches completed. That allowed me to tidy up that area with heat-shrink and tie wraps. It will all have to come out to be reinstalled in a new panel, but only one of the switches will actually have to be disconnected because all but one can be removed from the back of the panel. The master keyswitch has to exit the front, but with little knife-splices (not yet heat shrunk) that is a trivial problem.
Time : 3.75 hours

What I'm doing is using a bit of lexan bought at Lowe's and am pop-riveting rows of the fast-on adapters along that strip of plastic. Since the fast-on tabs come off at a 45 degree angle I can gang a pair together at each position and end up with room for four wires to be tied together (though in this case I only need three). I can create two rows of five each, and can stack them to make a very compact termination bundle.

I got the lexan pieces drilled today, and have started to pop-rivet the fast-on tabs in place. I've got to stop now to go do family-duty, but will share pictures when I'm done with this exercise. (Assuming it works out, of course.)
Time : 2.25 hours

I also got word back from Vertical Power on what might be causing my problem with the wigwag, and Marc suggested I had not assigned one of the devices being configured to a switch. I was _sure_ I had, but he was right and one of the landing lights was _not_ configured to a switch. I made that change, and was able to configure the wigwag with no problem after that.
Time : 0.75 hours

I did go out and install switches in holes. This was actually a useful and productive exercise because the hole sizes were so spot-on that there was no tolerance for manufacturing variation and some of the switches would not _quite_ fit. This was expected, and easily fixed by running a deburring tool around the hole a few times to take off a few 10-thousanths. Now the fit is _perfect_.

Off to do wedding-stuff now!
Time : 1.25 hours

I did start on my switches and got a couple done in the small amount of time spent on the RV today. Both the alternator and the avionics master are wired. Note that this is not the usual sort of avionics master, but is the data input switch into the VP-X that is programmed to turn on all of the individual avionics outputs.
Time : 0.50 hours

The first thing I did was create a convenient ground block on the forward panel rib to use as a ground for all the panel switches. I will run a single #10 wire from this block back to the firewall ground block. This will keep me from having to string wires back to the rear ground block and will provide a good solid ground up front in a convenient place. I got some little U-shaped AMP faston terminals and soldered them to a piece of brass. That got bolted to the rib and made for a fabulous ground block. I'm pleased.

I then ran wires from all the switches on the panel to the ground block. I also ran the signal wires from the flap switch to the VP-X. I then lost a lot of time trying to get my Mac running Win7 under VMWare Fusion to work. It has worked before, but didn't tonight. I have -no- clue why, but it cost me a good bit of time and worry. Eventually I just installed the VP-X configuration software on my wife's Windows Vista box, and that worked fine. I was able to fiddle with the flap configuration and have now run my flaps using the switch on the panel. Kinda gratifying. Tomorrow I'm going to get the rest of the panel switches connected.
Time : 4.0 hours

I also finished up the connection of the switch ground block to the main ground block which had been waiting on me receiving the right size ring terminals. That is all in place now and buttoned up.
Time : 3.75 hours

I also installed a 10ga wire from the VP-X power stud to a small fuseblock used for a "backup bus". Along with a backup capability, it will also be a source of switched power direct from the battery/alternator (though I have no plans for anyting that will use that at this time). This is to implement the "Method B" backup plan as detailed in the VP-X Pro manual. At the moment I'm only intending to provide backup for the 430W as the EFIS will have an internal backup battery. I'm using a DPDT switch, though, so backing up another device is an option on that single switch if I decide I need it.
Time : 1.5 hours

I also finshed soldering the wires to the dimmer pots and ran the wires to the dimmer controller. Fiddly work, but it is done now. I also needed to swap out two adel clamps holding wires running up from the floorboard so got that tedious task done as well.

I did discover that where I put my transponder antenna won't work. I am dismayed ... but, thats life. I'll move it. Dang. This doesn't sound like much work for an afternoon, but crawling in and out (over and over again) of the fuselage makes for slow progress.
Time : 3.50 hours

Additionally, the ground for the trim hat-switch on the copilot side is grounded through a switch on the panel. I particularly wanted to be able to disable the trim (but nothing else) on the passenger/copilot stick. I didn't want an accidental fiddling with the stick to change the trim at a bad time. Maybe that is being too cautious, but it seemed worth the trouble given it really wasn't much additional trouble.

I have now had the joy of getting to see the roll trim run from both sticks. Little else is actually connected at this point, but that will change soon once I get my avionics delivered and installed.
Time : 5.25 hours

I also installed my LED flood lights purchased from the pimp-your-ride department of an auto parts store. I wired them to channel #2 of the dimmer I purchased from Steinair, and even though it is not the -right- technology (ideally) to dim the LEDs ... it works like a champ. They are -bright-, but will dim right on down. I'm pleased.
Time : 3.5 hours

One box arrived badly beat up, and my wife had the presence of mind to open it right there with the UPS dude watching. Fortunately everything in the big box was fine. *whew*

My plan is to start installing avionics over the T'giving holiday starting with mechanical installation. Things are getting exciting!

I then pulled the little black boxes back out, stuck them back in their protective wrappers, and put them back in their boxes. They are in storage until the rest of the work is done. I then proceeded to remove the back plates so I could cut the harness loose. Without that done it would be murder maneuvering the trays around in the plane to get the side mounting rails drilled and the sub-panel cut. I took a 4-inch long #0 phillips head screwdriver and worked my hands into the trays to get the screws out. It was not as bad as I thought it might be. Fortunately there are many open spaces in the top/bottom of most trays, and that helped me get my hands into the tight spaces. The SL-30 tray was the biggest pain, and will be the biggest pain to re-install. However, Paul from Steinair has a special long-handle custom-made screwdriver headed my way which he says makes the re-installation of these tiny screws a snap. We will just see how that works out.

I spent some time working on the fit of the trays in the panel. I screwed in the mounting rails, and tried to slide the duct-taped collection of trays into the panel. No joy ... which isn't unexpected. The trays vary in width a bit, and I'm not surprised that one of them (the 430W tray) is a tad wider than the opening. I broke out a file and started opening up the panel ... going slowly so as to not take off too much metal. As of noon the trays themselves fit, but can't get past the duct tape on the trays. I believe I need a duct tape thickness of clearance anyway, so am going to open things up a _tad_ more to accomidate. But since it is noon, it is time for family-stuff here on Thanksgiving day. Hope you didn't eat too much!

After the trays go in .... it'll be on to figuring out where to cut the sub-panel. Scary!
Time : 3.5 hours

Anyway, today was spent again slowly fitting the radio trays to the panel. Talk about tedious, but I wanted to move slowly so that I didn't eliminate too much metal. I'm at the point where I have marked the section of the sub-panel that needs to be removed, but have to break now to get ready for more family-activities. We are all headed out to a movie together. Maybe there'll be more RV-work when I get back, but time will tell.
Time : 2.5 hours

In trying to gauge where the trays should fall so that my faceplates extend out only as much as I want (which isn't much), I realized that my first set of mounting rails wouldn't work. They are not deep enough to recess the trays as much as I'd like. Dang it. So I had to burn some time this afternoon fabricating rails with 1 1/4" deep flanges.

Why is nothing ever easy? (Rhetorical question, I know.)
Time : 4.5 hours

However, this also meant that I had to pull the panel back out of the plane so I insured the holes were straight, plumb, and positioned correctly. Dang it. So all the switches, pots, and other mounted gorp came out.

But the panel is back in right now, with the only thing left to do being drill the rivet holes for the left-side half-rib I had to move to clear the EFIS. That'll be a task for tomorrow morning. Now I'm off to do dinner with the kids.
Time : 2.0 hours

So I decided to just pull the panel out, install the trays and harness out of the cockpit, and I'll open up the sub-panel more in the morning. This is what I should have done to begin with. It would have gone faster. But now I know that the metal I'm cutting away will really be what is needed. Small consolation. :)

Other than that everything went fine today. I did drill the rails for the trays, and did eventually got all the trays mounted. I did waste time on some bracing angle along the bottom of the sub-panel cutout. It had to go so that I could open the sub-panel more. Tomorrow morning I go in with a chain-saw! (Not really.)
Time : 5.25 hours

I wasted a lot of time head-scratching, discovering things I'd done earlier wasn't quite going to work out as hoped, reworking those things, and other delays. But, where I ended up looks really good to me so I'm not going to complain.

Except ... I ache. Kneeling in the cockpit and crawling in and out and in and out, took a toll. My back -hurts-, so I'm calling it done. I still need to re-install the switches, and I may slide all the avionics in for a static photo before I start running wires, but that can all happen at some later date. Now I need a hot shower!
Time : 3.25 hours

I also re-installed all the switches in the panel, and attached the control cable support bracket. I confirmed that the VP-X powers up and that the one really visible electrical widget so far installed (the panel flood LEDs) still worked. They do. :)
Time : 1.0 hours

The task would have been easier if I had not neglected to pay attention on the first attempt. I made the mistake of not insuring that the bundle of cable massed up front was routed clear of all structure. Sadly, just as I had it about halfway pulled (with the most difficult part of the exercise being the first half of the routing) I realized it had looped over a forward rib. It all had to come back out, be re-routed. But it is done now. Remaining pain-in-the-ass-routing exercises will be the autopilot servo wiring. (Another thing I did in advance, which will now be replaced by the wiring done by the pros. I wish I had gotten a better idea of what did and didn't make sense to pre-wire. Pity that one tends to learn these little details too _late_ to do you any good.)
Time : 2.25 hours

Today I pulled the roll servo wires I had already run, and pulled the Steinair-harness supplied wires instead. Bluntly, the Steinair supplied bundle was already nicely integrated into the harness, and it had anti-chafe down the whole length of the run making it a _much_ nicer installation. The roll servo wires were the easy ones to route ... but the pitch servo wires are going to be a bear to get back into the tailcone of the plane. That'll come tomorrow or the next day. Progress happens.
Time : 2.0 hours

In place of the conduit I have some large gauge plastic spiral wrap which does a MUCH better job, and still provides anti-chafe protection. And it will be MUCH easier to add new wires if/when I need. Lesson learned.

Pulling the new pitch servo wires proved to be a LOT easier than I had anticipated. I lucked out. I still need to get the pinouts from Stein but they are coming along with a few short cables I need that I got Jon at Steinair to make for me. That won't get here until Tuesday, but that is no problem. I still have plenty of other things to work on.

I also tidied up some of the wire bundles that I'm routing. This included the OAT cable, the serial cable from the AFS to the VP-X, the servo wires, and the AFS battery backup wires. I mainly now need to connect the VP-X serial cable, the control-wheel stearing line, the PTT lines, and all the power and ground connections.

This afternoon I came back and routed and terminated the ground wires. I had to spend a little time thinking about routing options until I found what seemed most ideal. I then routed them, terminated them on the ground block at the firewall, and then secured them along the route. I probably need to go tighten up the bundle in a few places (either with ty-wraps or lacing) to make it a bit neater.

I also started routing the power and headset wires. I had been concerned that the power wires might be too short and may need to be extended, but that is not looking to be the case after all. I'll know more when I finish the routing tomorrow. The one thing that may need extending are the pilot side headset wires. They may be a TAD too short to allow for nice tidy routing of the wires. I'll survive.

Progress continues to happen! :)
Time : 4.75 hours

I laced up the ground wires nice and neat, then started on routing the power wires. I had not really done my homework on those wires and was confused by a thing or two that I saw once I started looking at the labels. A little investigation revealed all, however. I then divided them up into groups based on which of the VP-X connectors they were destined for, and took the first bundle (to the furthest-away connector) and got them routed. This called for another adel, of course, and a bit more lacing. But I connected the transponder, SL-30, and audio panel power wires into the VP-X. I then ran out of time and had to call it done for the day.

My plan is to very methodically get everything connected, then check the power one pin at a time to insure that everything is kosher. Only then will I start to power up boxes (cheapest first) one at a time. But I _am_ getting close to that exciting day.

Oh ... and Happy New Year, everyone!
Time : 3.75 hours

The plan is to have power be normally routed from the VP-X, but in the case of VP-X failure the DPDT switch can be moved to provide power off of the switched (i.e. on the near side of the battery contactor) battery buss. The "backup" can also be used before engine start to get ATIS/AWOS information without bringing up ALL the avionics. So the flow will be to power on the master (bringing up the VP-X and EFIS), then switch to the backup position to power up the SL-30, get ATIS/AWOS, switch back to the normal position on the backup switch, then start the engine. Once the engine is running the avionics master (i.e. the VP-X switch that directs the VP-X to bring up all the avionics related output pins) is switched to bring everything else up. This serves two purposes. It will reduce demand on the battery before engine start, _and_ will have me exercising the backup circuit before every flight as a preflight measure.

Currently only the SL-30 is going on the backup, though I have provision for two devices. The EFIS will have a battery backup, as will the Gemini (when it is installed). So they are backed up in a different manner and can operate even with a full electrical failure. I'll also have an Icom antenna switch-box to allow me to connect my handheld radio to the COM #2 external antenna, and a backup handheld GPS. Can I still get stuck in the clouds without a way to communicate and navigate? Maybe. But I think this plan has me fairly well covered.

After re-working the SL-30 wiring, I came back in the evening and pushed forward on making the rest of the connections. I got them all mostly done, with only a few odds and ends left. I need to add the EFIS backup power pin into the DB-25 for the EFIS, and need to wire the backup power switch on the panel for the SL-30. All in all it has ended up being a very productive day.

I still need to mount the ARINC box, mount the Icom antenna backup switchbox, and terminate the coax connections on the radios. I also need to fabricate the GPS antenna mount and get the antenna mounted. So I have another good bit of work left, but I'm getting close to the end.
Time : 2.5 hours

Another task taken care of was the wiring of the backup power switch for avionics. Right now the only piece of equipment I'm putting on the backup switch is the SL-30, given that both the main and backup EFIS will have independent battery backup power. I'm very close to being ready to power up avionics. Or so it seems.

This is the weekend my daughter goes back to school, so work on the RV might be sporadic. We want to spend a lot of time doing stuff with her before she flies away for her next semester tomorrow!
Time : 2.0 hours

I did have a visitor (potential RV-builder) come by and spent a bit of time with him answering questions. It is always fun to talk about RVs and building and flying, so it was a very enjoyable visit.

I also got a little work done. I came to realize that the mounting plates I had fabricated for the headset jacks were simply going to be too small. Somehow I had not envisioned the jacks being so ... lumpy. They need more room than one might expect. So I started roughing out a replacement for the right side, which will be the easier one to replace. The left side plate already has the alternate air cable mounted to it and that cable will have to be pulled out to replace the mounting plate. Ugh. Oh well.
Time : 1.0 hours

I hope to get it drilled and finished today, and the left side done as well, but we'll see how that goes after lunch. :)
Time : 1.0 hours

The next task was to extend the PTT lines into the anti-chafe along with the headset wiring. The existing wiring was covered in a nylon mesh woven anti-chafe which would be hard to thread wires through without some sort of assistance. What I did was feed a piece of brass hobby tubing up the anti-chafe, used an awl to open up th mesh where I wanted to insert the new wires, and then pushed the wires down the tubing. Once they exited the far end of the tube, I could pull them on through and then pull the tubing out of the anti-chafe mesh. It worked like a champ.

Now I just need to solder the wires to the headset/mic jacks and mount them in the plane.
Time : 2.5 hours

With the replacement switch in hand I finished the wiring of the pilot side headset jacks and installed everything in the mounting plate. I have a slight fit problem with the alternate air bowden cable assembly and will need to open up a pass-through hole to accomodate the slightly different positioning of the hole in the mounting plate. I'll get that taken care of this evening. Now it is time to head over to a friend's house for a 9-mo toddler celebration!

After the celebration I came back and got the wires routed and installed for the passenger side headset jacks. I have a little tidying up to do (supporting the wire runs, etc.) and that will be done. I'll wrap that up tomorrow and then press on with terminating the coax, and mounting the ARINC box. Then it will be time to start powering up avionics, I believe.
Time : 4.75 hours

Since I wanted to accomplish SOMETHING positive today, I installed the EFIS. It needed to go in, and I was tired of the various dangling cables hitting me in the face. Running against the trend for the day (i.e. not having anything work out) the installation of the AFS-5600 went quite well. In fact, cables that I had run ages ago ... and in which I took my best guess as to the correct length ... fit _perfectly_. They are so good a fit it is almost like I had the EFIS installed while running the sensor wires. Wow.

After calling it done for the day, I had yet another thought on where/how I can mount the ARINC box. I almost want to run back out to the shop and see if what I'm proposing will really solve my problems. But, I am going to wrap it up for today as I am _hurting_ from all the laying under the panel I did! I am _not_ looking forward to re-mounting the VP-X. *groan*
Time : 3.5 hours

I also re-mounted the VP-X, and started to close up the DB connectors (i.e. put on the shells) I got one done before I had to call it quits for the day and will do the other one tomorrow. Not much to talk about, but it was a very productive day given how tedious some of the work was!
Time : 4.5 hours

Ok. There is a lot of red being shown, but that is because nothing ELSE is installed and powered up at this point! The display is a little messy due to the fact I've not pulled off the protective platic yet. That will stay on for some time to come. But you can't imagine how thrilled I am to see this puppy come to life! Wow. Now .. time to power up a few more things to see if my panel really is going to come alive.

I then took the next step, configured the EFIS to talk to a VP-X Pro, and confirmed that the AFS-5600 and the VP-X were going to be happy together. It worked like a charm, and now I have control of the VP-X from the EFIS screen. I then installed the audio panel, and brought it up. As best I can tell it works fine (little lights turn on, etc.). Now it is time to connect a few coax cables .. mainly on things that transmit, in case they decide on a whim to transmit. I want there to be a load on the output of any transmitter that tries to pump out some power.

One last little test had to do with making sure the Bluetooth connection to the PMA-8000BT audio panel worked. I paired it with my cell phone and initially could only get music to play, but no phone connection. Then I reconfigured my cell phone to include the phone functionality in the BT connection ... the default was music-only. I was then able to make a call and converse with a friend via my headset and the audio panel. These tests served also to confirm that my mike and headset jacks were wired correctly. One last test was to trigger the PTT, and see the "transmit in process" indication on the audio panel ... the selected COM LED blinking. Everything worked. That just rocks. :)
Time : 3.5 hours

I finished putting connectors on the COM antenna coax, and connected Com1 and Com2 to the 430 and SL-30 respectively. I still need to concoct a GPS antenna mounting plate for the 430, so the next piece of avionics I brought up was the SL-30. It came up with zero problems. I was able to confirm that I could transmit by bring my handheld into the shop and seeing if (even with the squelch turned way up) it would get an RX indication on a locally unused frequency when I triggered the PTT. I was rewarded with success. When I flipped to Com1 on the audio panel it .. as expected .. didn't trigger the SL-30. Not bad for a Monday night after a .. well, you know .. a Monday workday. :)
Time : 2.0 hours

I also worked on mounting the GPS antenna, as well as the emergency handheld antenna switchbox. Truthfully, I had not planned well for the mounting of the switchbox and am having to scratch my head a bit to find a good location. It needs to be out of the way, but reachable by me in flight. Things are just getting kinda busy under the panel.

I'm also trying a slightly different approach to mounting the GPS antenna. I want to get it as far forward as possible so am creating a little mounting plate that can clamp to the engine mount. This is to allow me to have the antenna out of the way under the cowl, but also to avoid shading by the firewall as much as possible. We'll see how that works out. :)
Time : 3.5 hours

Another issue is that the 430 is not acquiring satellites. I don't know if this is due to a problem in my antenna, coax, or the fact that I'm in a garage (with a 2nd floor above it). The last issue is that I am not getting any sidetone when transmitting on the 430. I get sidetone fine from the SL-30. I'll have to talk with the folks at SteinAir about that .. but I'm sure it can be resolved.

The only piece of avionics left (that I have taken delivery of, at least .. the Gemini PFD is still not delivering yet) which is not installed and powered up is the autopilot. I have to dive back into the tailcone to get to the servo to complete that work. Maybe that'll happen today, but not likely.
Time : 4.25 hours

Step #1 today (since it is nice and sunny out) was to roll the fuselage out into the driveway to confirm that my GPS was working. I needed a good view of the sky so that it could acquire satellites. It got itself oriented in very short order, and communicated the position successfully to the EFIS as well. I was able to pull up the charts for the local area (now that the EFIS no longer thinks I'm out in the Minneapolis area). I also adjusted the very weak sidetone on the 430, but I'm not sure it doesn't need a bit more work. I'll talk to Stein about that on Monday.

While the fuselage was out in the sunshine I took the rare opportunity to really sweep out the shop. Man ... it was filthy. It won't stay clean long but I'll enjoy it while it does. :)

I spent a little time revisiting the Gretz Aero heated pitot. There were labels on the wires which were just masking tape and ball point pen which I replaced with printed heat-shrink tubing. I also went ahead and flaired the end of the pitot tube (remembering, thank goodness, to put the requisite fittings on before flairing the end!). Now that I am refamiliarized with how that install works I'm putting it back in the box until we head to the airport for final assembly.

Using pin-outs sent by SteinAir I connected the pitch servo wires to the connector, and then installed the connector on the pitch servo. I also got the autopilot head installed, which is the last piece of avionics until the TrueTrak Gemini PFD is available and delivered.

Now with all that installed I am spending a little time tidying up the wiring. This means it is adel-clamp/lacing/zip-tie time.
Time : 4.25 hours

One other non-wiring task I accomplished was re-mounting the pitot and static manifolds. The way I had done it before had issues, and now that I know how deep the AFS-5600 is (not very) I could take a different approach. MUCH better, if you ask me. It did require tracking down a longer #4 screw than it seemed most hardware stores had on hand. But I found something that worked eventually.

I do seem to have a problem with my light dimmer. It worked earlier, but seems to have failed. No clue why. I may have to pull it out of the plane and do some more troubleshooting on the bench. OR, I may just have to replace it. We'll see.
Time : 3.5 hours

Today I spent time doing some wiring cleanup. I re-routed a few coaxes to reduce the size of one bundle running through the center tunnel. It also allowed me to position a COM antenna more conveniently for mounting my Icom coax switchbox (for connecting my handheld). I'm going to complete that work today. I also did some troubleshooting on my dimmer, and I think it is just dead. Frustrating.
Time : 2.0 hours