Day 177

Today we worked some more on getting the coaxial cables made for the antenna connection on the avionics shelf. There’s about 25 connectors in total we will have to make. We got 5 made today before we ran out. And there were two that types of connectors we didn’t have. So we have some more ordered that should arrive by the end of the week.

In the meantime we worked on getting them routed down through the shelf and held away from the rudder cables with p-clamps and ran to the terminal section we’re making in the belly of the plane.

Today we also routed and installed the OAT. This runs from the main wiring harness connection and down to the left NACA duct. We drilled a hole in the composite material and temporarily mounted the sensor. We then routed the wire back up to the avionics shelf and wound up the excess wiring in on clean manner that will keep the loose wire from moving about. We will remove the sensor before we paint the plane so that there is no accidental overspray that gets on the sensor. It will get remounted during final assembly.

We also placed the dash back into the plane to work on getting it fitted again since having installed the front top skin and the avionics. We Cleco’ed on the dash mounts onto the inside of the fuselage so that we will know where the dash will rest. These don’t get riveted on until after we’ve had a chance to paint them, because they do show even after the upholstery is placed. We also noticed that a small portion of the inside of the front top skin showed above the dash at the rear. So these sections will also need to be painted black so that they do not stand out. Now that we know how it sits up against the window we can now set about trimming for the fitment of the instrument panel as well. The other reason for testing the fit today was because we wanted to know if it could be installed from inside the plane, as if the windshield had already been installed. We weren’t sure it the dash had to be installed before the front windshield was. Thankfully it can be placed from the inside because this will make doing the windshield much easier and cleaner. We will install the front windshield once all the cables, heater ductwork and priming of the front top skin are completed.

Now that we know where and what all the antenna’s are we also removed all of them and stored them safely until after paint when we’re ready for final assembly.

We will also remove the rudder virtual stabilizer and rudder so that we can finish prepping them for paint and complete their wiring now that we know how it is all to come together.