Apr 28, 2024     Harness done for now - (6.0 hours)       Category: Avionics

Got everything sorted out and organized back on the board. It turned into a real mess at some points but it all came together really nicely. I'm glad I took the extra time. I'm certain that there will be an extra wire or two to add but I'll deal with that when it happens. For now it looks perfect.

Took a while to figure out a system. Worked on a couple of the major branches back towards the middle and then once I got the middle segment sorted, the rest fell into place. Just time consuming. I bought a bag of 1000 zip ties and went through half of it temporarily tiring wires in small bundles and then bigger bundles and cutting the original ties.

Everything is zip tied for now. I'll use lacing chord when I finalize it with the connectors. Right now I just want it secure so I can put it to the side for a while and get back to finishing the forward fuselage.

5/1: test fit the harness back in the subpanel and realized I had one of the branches off a bit. Put it back on the board, upside down this time to allow easy access to the data wires. Was able to fix the routing and get a few more twists out of the data wires so they now lay as flat and smooth as the power wires. Put it back in the subpanel and confirmed the fit. Looks good.

  Apr 21, 2024     Rear terminal strip - (4.0 hours)       Category: Avionics

Wired the rear removal strip below the rear seat torque tube cover. In addition to a convenient place to wire the flap motor, I'm pulling all of the lighting together to one spot and then running it forward. Wing lights from the right wing cut through the tunnel behind the flap control horn. Glued a tie wrap mount in the tunnel to secure everything and avoid fouling the flap actuation.

Just a few feet short of ground wire to finish all the panel wiring. It'll be done this week. It is tidying up nicely, but I'm still going to put it back on the bench.

  Apr 15, 2024     Panel wiring - getting close - (6.0 hours)       Category: Avionics

Just continuing one wire at a time. Wires are a guess for the past several days a d are surely low compared to how much time I spend thinking about this. It is all consuming. Had to order some more wire and more shrink tube labels. Amazon told me that I've ordered 10 cartridges at $33 a piece. Ouch!

Was not happy with the trim disconnect switch on the panel. Really wanted it as a breaker, but it was awkward as I'd like to keep it on the essential bus. Also read of challenges of meeting FAR requirements for “flight critical” avionics on fuse panels that are not accessible in flight. Made the decision to abandon the ebus fuse holder and move the whole bus to panel breakers. This solves a couple problems at the expense of pricey breakers. Overall I think it is better though and I ran all the wires long enough that I don't need to rerun anything.

Also moving the GAD27 to the main bus breakers. That puts almost all LRUs on breakers except the MFD, GAD13, COM2 and transponder.

Made a wire checklist based on the original master interconnect diagram. Just added wires to the list and deleted from the diagram until all wires were gone. Then used that list to QC my installation. Already caught a couple of omissions. Just need to punch out that list and it'll be ready to go back on the bench.

  Apr 06, 2024     Still working the panel - (10 hours)       Category: Avionics

Little bit of time here and there this week. Pretty much running or wire at a time and making some minor tweaks in routing and LRU locations. The big change today was rerouting all the tunnel wires down the left side instead straight down into the tunnel. With that rerouting also went ahead and installed the terminal strips and adel clamps for the stick wiring on top of the gear mounts. Should work out well.

Went back to work on the radios stack support angles for the third time. Got everything clamped in place and marked. Measuring three or four times trying to get these holes all in the right place.

Also talked to Stein this week and they suggested switch to the Aithre CO detector. Actually much easier to wire except I had already wired for the GD-40. New detector doesn't have a status light. I was already on the fence about annunciation lights and Stein confirmed that nobody is really doing those anymore. So go rid of all the annunciators.

Almost all the wires are run. I need to buy just a little bit more wire to finish up.

4/7: finally got the radio stack redrilled to a state that I'm happy with. Also added lower braces between the panel and subpanel. There is an opportunity to add some support plates to grab the back GTN screw holes. I'm not sure if they're needed but it will stiffen everything up nicely.

Just a note that the upper most mounting holes of the GTN use #8 screws. The previous owner of this rack may have drilled those out larger. It seems Garmin oversized the holes, but those top ones just felt like #6s were barely holding.

4/10: made brackets to support the rear of the GTN. Not sure if it is needed, but it was convenient enough and really stiffens it up.

  Mar 30, 2024     Panel progress - (8.0 hours)       Category: Avionics

Got the harness put back in the sub panel and started worked out the final bus locations. Really didn't like that the GEA was behind the subpanel before so rearranged things a bit and got it forward of the subpanel. Finalized the fuse holes locations and primary bus power routing. Just a lot of staring at it and moving things around. I think I finally got it.

Started drilling some holes in the subpanel for LRU locations. Going to need to reroute some of the wiring but thankfully I ran everything quite a bit long. Should be able to salvage wires, but at some point I will probably rerun all the wires to try to get them pretty.

3/31: just a lot more tinkering. Running one wire at a time at this point. Finalizing LRU locations.

  Mar 23, 2024     Wire harness 90% done - (5.0 hours)       Category: Avionics

Reran the pilot and copilot headset wires down the middle to the center console. Looks like I will be ble to fit traditional jacks and Lemo jacks in there.

Ran the remainder of the power wires this morning until I ran out out of ground wire and ran out of labels again. Still have a few miscellaneous wires to run but 95% of the wires are run. Certainly enough to take it off the board and trial fit everything in the panel.

Everything is pretty good except in double flipping the orientation of the harness on the board I ended up getting it upside down. It's fine, but I intended the power wires be in the bottom. It actually probably looks better with all the white wires in bottom - we'll see.

With the harness in place below the panel, I was able to finalize locations of a few items and start finishing out the subpanel work.

  Mar 16, 2024     Wiring harness progress - (10.0 hours)       Category: Avionics

Lots of work on wiring harness. Shop is a complete mess. Wires everywhere. But there is some order in the chaos. I have been using my cut sheets I made for each system and a lot of cross referencing against my wire list and the larger interconnect drawings I have. It's honestly mostly in my head at this point though. Needing to make some adjustments on the fly for CANBUS routing and general routing of miscellaneous wires. I'm afraid some of the runs might come up short but I'll deal with that when and if it comes. To worry too much about perfect lengths now would stop me in my tracks.

Finished most of the data wires and moved on to some of the power and grounds. I got a few of the “branches” complete today including the GTN, IBBS and GTR. Ran out of 2 wire shielded wire, and need some single wire unshielded wire among other things. Putting together yet another large Steinair order.

3/19: little bit of progress running some power and ground wires. Finished out GEA, PFD MFD, GMC and GAD29 bundles.

3/21: some more progress. Bundle is really growing. Starting to second guess headset routing. I wanted traditional jacks on the panel and Lemos in the center console. Stating to wonder why I need regular jacks at all.

  Mar 08, 2024     Wiring harness progress - (3.0 hours)       Category: Avionics

Worked a little here and there on the wiring harness this week. Actually a lot of time on my diagrams and excel cleaning up my wire list.

Had use some spare wire I thought was 3 wire shielded and made a few runs between LRUs. Then discovered it was 5 wire unshielded trim servo wire. Had to retrace my steps and pull it all out. Lesson learned.

Slowly building up. Still need to develop a good QC plan for how I'm going to check all of this. So far I've been going off my cut sheets I made for each component. I'll check it all against the Garmin manuals when done.

  Feb 27, 2024     Wiring harness - (2.0 hours)       Category: Avionics

Started playing around with the wiring harness. I transferred my chord lengths from the panel to the workbench and plan to build all the harness there. Ran a few wires I had laying around just to get a feel for how it might go. Need to figure out the order to keep everything organized. I'm building it upside down so I think I want to lay down all the data first then power and grounds. If I need to add anything later, it is most likely power. It's gonna be interesting.

  Feb 25, 2024     Transponder rack - (3.0 hours)       Category: Avionics

Going to mount the transponder behind the sub-panel but need to make some supports to hold the tray. Planning to mount the tray on the copilot side and allow room for the transponder to slide out on the pilot side.

I had previously ordered the tray from Steinair. Used the tray to fabricate some 1 1/2” angles to span between the forward ribs. Cut the angles to length and then ripped one leg down to about 7/8”. Marked the holes from the tray and drilled those mounting holes. Also marked out the airflow holes in the tray to provide holes in the angle as well. And drilled a few more holes just for lightening the thick angles. Came out well.

Then clamped the assembly behind the sub-panel and match drilled holes to the forward ribs for AN3 bolts. It will be tough, but in theory the whole tray should be removable. Transponder itself should be easy slide in/slide out.

  Feb 24, 2024     More rear power panel - (4.0 hours)       Category: Avionics

A little work here and there over the past week tinkering with the rear power panel. Today received several parts included much need mounting hardware and some new primer. Got the power pa el and support brackets prepped and primed and the. Install all the nut plates. Then mounted the fuse blocks, ground power contractor and e-bus relay and started running some wires. Got the fat wire run from the ground power to the master contractor and the hot and switched battery busses. Then ran wire for the left and right mags. Pulled the wires for the mags and e-bus feed to the front.
Crimped a couple of the fat wire connectors onto the master contractor. Need a click bond support or something to secure the wires to the bottom skin.

Came out well and is really helping me visualize the wiring in the rear.

  Feb 18, 2024     LRU placement - (3.0 hours)       Category: Avionics

Spent a lot of time with my plexi LRU templates from steinair trying to confirm where everything will go. Was really trying to avoid having anything behind the sub-panel but it just doesn't seem possible without being quite cramped. I got on my back under the panel to see just how difficult it would be to access things - it wasn't that bad for my 46 year old self. It willl get worse I'm sure.

Ultimately elected to mount the transponder between two of the fuse ribs behind the sub-panel. Im also going to mount the GEA and IBBS on the backside of the sub-panel. That moves the fuse holder to the shelf behind the MFD. I think it is better.

With everything mostly set, I decide to go ahead and run some parachord to visualize where the wire runs will go. Still a little ways away but getting set to run wires soon.

  Feb 13, 2024     Rear power panel - (1.5 hours)       Category: Avionics

Made up a little panel for mounting the two battery busses, the ground power contractor, and the E-bus feed relay. Cut the panel from 0.063” and supported with 3/4” angles attached to the j channels similar to the Vans ELT mount.

  Feb 06, 2024     Panel mock-up       Category: Avionics

Sent the CAD file to sendcutsend last week and had it cut in plexiglass as a trial. Showed up today. Looks awesome.

  Jan 23, 2024     Electrical/Avionics Design - (30 hours)       Category: Avionics

It's been too cold to work in the garage and it has been a long time since I reviewed my electrical and avionics design. With the AC hoses going in, I'm losing some conduit space so thought it would be a good time to revisit the wire runs and confirm where everything is going to go. Spent a lot of time over the past couple weeks updating diagrams and visualizing the data and power wiring. Made some decisions on:
- IBBS power distribution - hooking directly to the critical components more in line with Garmin and IBBS manual
- Battery Bus - figured out circuit protection and finalized circuits. Moved the hot buss and E-bus relay to the back to avoid long run of high current, on-switched hot wire per Bob Knuckles. It's a fire issue in a crash.
- Fuses - moving most of the avionics items to fuses to save space, weight and money. Only airframe items (flaps, lights, etc) and AP and trim will be on CBs.
- Final decision on GTN750 vs. GTN650 and a GNX. I will the G3X as backup GPS - even though it is not IFR approved it should be sufficient in an emergency. Will mount a remote GTX behind the panel. Trying to still figure out if I will fit a GMA on the panel or mount remote.

Developed wiring layout for the major behind panel harness for power and data - it's a lot of wires!

Found someone on VAF selling a GTN tray, backplate and connectors for a good price and bought it. Ordered a GMA tray from Stein, but I may end up not needing it. Also ordered their acrylic G3X component templates - those should help me finalize locations and even wire everything before ordering components.

Started CAD drawing of panel cut-outs. It is going to be difficult to fit the GTN, GMA and GMC in the center stack without modifications to the cross support bar and center rib. I do want to extend the panel all the way to the bottom of the cross support though, and maybe extend it down in the corners to house the vents. I'm going to have the panel cut for me, so might as well make the geometry what I want.

Also did a little research on the courtesy lights - I want some LED strips in the footwells and want them on a slight timer. Can do a simple circuit with a capacitor that achieves what I want. Open door - lights slowly come up. Close door - lights slowly go out. Like a couple of seconds. It'll be a nice touch.

1/26: was able to get the panel actually drawn up properly in CAD.helped me identify some spacing issues and make some adjustments. Very happy with it.

  Dec 25, 2023     Relocating COM antenna - (4.5 hours)       Category: Avionics

That was a lot of work to move the antenna. I drilled out all of the previous doubler rivets and removed the double let and the fill plate. I wasn't in love with the previous doubler plate so scrapped it and made another with 0.060” plate I had specific for making doublers. I was able to salvage the fill plate and use it to transfer the hole pattern to the new doubler and the bottom skin. Took some careful back and forth, but go all the hole redrilled.

Made a new splice plate to patch the old antenna hole in the bottom of the skin and then made a small circular plug to fill the hole. I put three small oops rivet to hold the plug.

Got everything deburred, countersunk and then Alodined. Alodine came out good. Will need the dimple the bottom skin with close quarters die and then rivet. Good for now though.

1/6: Dad was in town, and we were able to get the cover plate and new doubler riveted into place. They're alodined, but I will paint them before I close it up.

  Oct 11, 2023     Transponder Antenna Doubler - (3.0 hours)       Category: Avionics

Finalized the location of the transponder antenna under the co-pilot seat. Laid out the holes based on the pattern for the RAMI antenna, it appears the same as the Commant. Sized the doubler and number of rivets per AC43-13 and laid them out of a 0.063" sheet. Drilled, cut and positioned in the fuselage so that the bolts and coax fitting lined up with the joggle that I put in the fuel line. Drilled a couple alignment holes in the bottom skin, and then cleco'd the doubler onto the underside of the skin and match drilled everything. Upsized the bolt holes and center coax hole and then trial fit the Commant antenna in place - fits perfect.

Then being stupid, I'm looking at it from the top and it appears that I missed the four holes right around the coax hole as I can see primer through them. I thought I got them, but I guess I'll just redrill them from the top. When I looked under the belly, I immediately realized that I wasn't seeing primer, I was seeing the antenna and I drilled #40 holes right through the base. Just cosmetic damage. I guess it is too late and time to go to bed. Before checking out for the night though I thought I would check how stiff my doubler is and pushed on the side of the antenna. With a disappointingly small amount of force, the base of the antenna blade broke right off from the base. Well, that's official, I just trashed an antenna.

11/13: Alodined the doubler plate. Didn't come out nearly as dark as previous but I think it is adequate to protect the doubler. I initially planned to remove the primer below the doubler and alodine that portion of the skin too, but when I tried to remove the primer with some acetone, it didn't budge. Nice durability EkoPoxy.

11/15: countersunk the holes n the bottom skin since it is 0,040”. Touched up w the holes with primer and then riveted the doubler in place with my wife's help. Tested the continuity between the doubler and some other parts of the airframe and had good results despite not removing the primer below the doubler.

This little side project is done and ready for a new antenna install.

  Oct 11, 2023     Antenna planning Category: Avionics

Documenting spacing requirements and planned location for each antenna:
COM1 - mounted on belly under pilot side rear seat, at least 6' from other COM, no specific requirement from xpndr. measured 42" from planned xpndr location.
COM2 - mounted on top of tail cone - at least 6' from other COM antennas, "as far as practical from ELT" per G3X manual
GPS - minimum of 2' from com antenna. min 3' from COM unit. No closer than 9" to other passive (GPS) antennas. per G3X manual. Some are mounting on top of fiberglass cabin top. Van's says not to drill hole in cabin, need to research.
ELT - didn't find specific spacing requirements. Will mount on tail, just ahead of the rear fairing.
XPDR - mounted on belly under co-pilot seat. Minimum 3' from unit. Not within 3' of ADF OR ANY OTHER COM ANTENNA per GNX375 manual
NAV - In the left wingtip - no issues (Back-up location is top of vertical stabilizer)

  Mar 12, 2023     COM1 antenna - (4.5 hours)       Category: Avionics

Going to mount the COM1 antenna under the rear passenger seat. Need to make a doubler plate as I'm working on those seat ribs.

Plan is to have a 0.032” doubler plate between seat ribs. I will also need a 0.025” filler plate to make up for the seat rib flange. Decide I would bend up the filler plate to attach to the rib that doesn't have a flange. 13/16" hole - AC43-13 Table 4-10 says 8.9 rivets per inch for 3/32" rivets in 0.032" 2024T3 plate, so 8 rivets min per side. In this case the rivets for the nutplates will count toward that.

Drew up a basic sketch of what I thought I'd do and then just started working directly with metal on the plane. Harvested 0.032” from the baggage door cut out of the side skin. Once I had the overall dimensions figured out I cut and bent the plates. Then marked edge distances and drilled a starter hole in the doubler to align with the rivet in the seat rib flange. Then just worked from there drilling and clecoing, and removing and marking additional holes and then drilling the filler. Eventually got to where I had all the holes drilled in the doubler and filler. Then removed the bottom skin from the skeleton and drilled the holes in the skin. Dimpled the filler and countersunk the doubler. Came out good. I'm going to alodine these parts to maximize conductivity.

3/14: I was not 100% happy with the doubler. Some of the holes had wandered a bit when I countersunk them. I was thinking it's ok, because they're only holding nutplates, but really these rivets are critical to transferring the load from the surrounding plate to the doubler around the hole. Decided it was easy enough to make a new one. Just back drilled everything using the holes that were already in the skins. Then was much more careful with the countersink - did it on the drill press with a solid aluminum angle to back up the hole. They say 0.032" is the minimum for countersinking a -3, but when you go 7 clicks past to accept a dimple, it is a little too thin.

3/14: Alodined these parts today. Used a zip lock bag. Only left then in a minute or so. Seems like they overcooked a little. Alodined the skin too before priming it.

  Nov 23, 2022     Pitot tube and OAT - (0.5 hour)       Category: Avionics

As part of the left wing bottom skin riveting I made the final installation of the pitot tube and the outside air temp probe.

Tied the pitot heater wires up as best I could while confirming the ties can still be cut in the future through the access hole. Air hoses are routed nicely but not tied to anything. Shouldn't flip around with the stiffness if the lines. Blue is pitot. Green is AOA.

Installed pitot to the mast with stainless button head screws. Need to come back with some lock-tite.

  Oct 30, 2022     Adjust coax conduit - (0.5 hour)       Category: Avionics

As I was trial fitting the aileron pushrods, I noticed that it directly conflicts with the future coax conduit I had installed in the left wing. In all my wire runs I was conscious of the main pushrod and the belcrank, but wasn't thinking at all about the smaller bell crank to aileron pushrod.

Easy fix. Just popped off the sharkbite clamp and removed the rivets. Moved the clamp on the ribs just inboard and outboard if the bell crank. Re drillled and re riveted. All good now.

  Oct 04, 2022     Back on the wing wiring - (5.8 hours)       Category: Avionics

Need to at least check continuity and pin-outs before closing up the wing. I bought a new multimeter; my old one was garbage. Mad up som long test leads so I could check the root all the way to the tip. Started checking the power wires and realized I put the molex pins in backwards on the tips - female pins in the female plug. It still seems to make a good connection, but I decided to fix it.

Then got to the wing root and realized I basically did the same thing the small CPC connector. Put the male pins in the male plug. Took that connector all apart and receipted new pins and reassembled. Not bad, but tight quarters. I'll be more careful in the future.

Got started on the right wing root connection. Received my larger unibit from Amazon so was able to drill the hole for the larger CPC. Cut the hole for the molex connector with the dremel as before.

10/6: worked on the CPC connector tonight. I got all the shield drains soldered and wires trimmed and stripped. Ready for pins. Used a little different technique for the shield drains that I like. First cut a window for the drain wire, then make the solder connection, then remove the remaining shield leaving a short piece of insulation between the window and the end. This keeps the shield in good shape for soldering with no chance of unraveling. Then I used the wire label heat shrink to cover the whole thing.

10/7: got all the pins crimped and then checked continuity of all the wires - all good. Installed the pins in the CPC and finished off the backshell. Finished off the molex connections for all the power wires. Wing roots are finished.

10/8: Finalized installation of the conduit all the way out to the end of the left wing for future coax.

The wing wiring is done. Organized all of my leftover electrical supplies and tools and put them away. Won't need them again for a long time.

  Sep 25, 2022     Wing wiring - Left root connection - (2.8 hours)       Category: Avionics

Made up the brackets for the wing root connectors. The right wing will have a large CPC for the data and a molex for the lighting wire. The left has a much smaller CPC for just the pitot sense and OAT probe and a similar large molex connector for lighting and the pitot heat. I am also making an accommodation for coax in the left wing so will provide an adel clamp just in case.

Marked and cut and bent some scrap aluminum plates to make the brackets. Laid out where the connectors would go and started drilling. Need to get a larger step drill bit for the large CPC on the right wing. Proceeding with the left wing. Got the CPC drilled, then marked the adel clamp location and marked the molex connection. Predrilled the corners of the molex then used a dremel wheel to cut the opening. Finished it with files. Fits good.

Running a piece of the Vans conduit in the left wing for potential coax. Using shark bite clamps to secure to the ribs. They're a little big but wrapping the conduit in six wraps of electrical seems to work well. Marked on the inboard rib where the center of the adel clamp would fall then tried to center the conduit on that point. With everything clamped tightly in close proximity I shouldn't have to worry about chafing at the end of the conduit. Riveted the shark bite clamp in place. The rivets will preclude rivets in the middle of the connector bracket but can still fit four rivets total.

Trial fit everything. Looks good.

9/26: got the pins all crimped and finished off the left wing root connections. Very happy with how it looks.

  Sep 24, 2022     Pitot Mast - (3.0 hours)       Category: Avionics

Getting the cut done in the bottom skin for the pitot mast. Now that the heater control box was mounted, I concluded that the location I was planning was a bit too far away from the box. I moved it to the inboard rib in the same bay, so just outside of the heater box, on the same rib. Rather than just using the paper template to directly mark and cut the hole in the skin, I decided to make an aluminum template that I could cleco in place and help me align everything prior to the big skin being in the way.

So I traced the paper template onto the scrap aluminum and drilled a couple holes, then up sized with the uni-bit. Then used the dremel to trim it to the line. Test fit the mast a few times and got a nice fit. Got the template and mast assembly clamped to the skeleton and confirmed the initial alignment then back drilled from the spar through the template. Now I could cleco template in place. Then drilled the holes in the mast from the outside.

Then went to install the angle bracket that I want between the mast and the rib. Predrilled some #40 holes in both legs and then clamped it in place behind the mast. Then match drilled into the rib, and upsized to #30s. Cleco'd that in place then backdrilled through the mast and template. Riveted the angle bracket to the rib.

With the mast drilled, I mounted the actual skin on the wing and cleco'd the template over it. Traced the hole onto the skin and made the initial holes in the skin. Same deal, upsized with the Unibit and then dremeled to the shape. When I got close to the line, I just cleco'd the template back in place and sanded right to the hole in the template. Test fit the mast and decided to give a little more room for the chrome plating.

Now the trouble. I need to be sure that I'm going to be able to follow the assembly sequence for riveting the bottom skin. The rear half of the skin will be riveted and I will need to carefully install the mast and skin together. Well, I tried but there is no way. The angle bracket I had riveted to the rib prevented the mast from being able to slip into place. So I drilled those out and I'll just have to use blind rivets from the access hole when it comes time. It's still difficult but I was able to get the mast and skin into position with the rear half of the skin cleco'd in place.

Flipped the template over to mark a mirror of the three bracket holes on the opposite side of the mast. Marked to additional holes and then match drilled everything through the skin and mast. Then countersunk all of the holes in the mast that will receive skin dimples.

Put the GAP 26 pitot tube into the mast and tried to mark the screw holes using extended centerlines. First shot at the hole locations was not as good as I hoped, but I was able to enlarge the holes a bit and get the 6-32 screws to align. I have some old RC hardware to check the fit, but I'll need to order some nice button head screws.

Started work on the GAP 26 pitot tube itself. Cut the tubes to about the minimum length required in the install manual and flared the ends for the AN hardware. Installed the AN fittings and the transitions to push fit fittings for the plastic hoses.

Everything looks good. Fun morning of work. I'm going to call around town and find someone to chrome plate the mast.

  Sep 19, 2022     Pitot heat controller - (2.5 hours)       Category: Avionics

Messing around with how to mount the pitot heat control box. I want it in the aileron bellcrank bay so I can access it, yet outboard ofthe bellcrank so none of the wires cause problems with controls. With the lightening holes and the formed flanges on the ribs, there is no good level spot to mount all four screws. The plan is to run two screws through a flat spot on the rib and then use a piece of angle stock to provide an additional line of support through the lightening hole. Want to keep the angle stock high enough that I still have access to the pitot through the lightening hole.

Version 1 - this worked pretty clean although I end up with a lot of unsecured wire in the pitot tube bay. I will tie a service loop, but it still feels like I should have an adel clamp somewhere to provide some strain relief to the heater box. Plus a service loop in the pitot bay will be difficult to access and re-tie if necessary.

Version 2 - Flipped the box over so the wires come through the lightening hole nearest the spar. Then I can actually put an adel clamp on the leg of the angle and secure the wires with the service loop in the aileron belcrank bay. This will be easy to access, and I think I can even get a wrench on the adel clamp.

9/20: Satisfied with the design I started fabricating the angle and carefully marked out where the screw holes would be. Assembled, clamped, drilled, disassembled, install nut plates, reassemble, temporary bolts, drill, disassemble, install nut plates…finally had something that looked about right. Installed the controller and used several nylon washers to provide enough stand-off to clear the rib hole flanges. I think it looks good. Exactly as I planned. As hard as I tried to accommodate, it will still be very difficult to replace if ever needed. Don't let me down Garmin.

9/21: finished this off by crimping the wires from the controller onto the appropriate wires in the main harness that I had already run.

  Sep 18, 2022     Wing wiring - (5.5 hours)       Category: Avionics

Spent a lot of time in the garage on a variety of wing close out items, mostly wiring related. I had previously used 5/8” snap bushings for all of the holes in the ribs for wiring. That was a good size for the max number of wires, but outboard of the roll servo t the wires were pretty loose in the bushings. I elected to pull all the wires out of the wing and install tighter bushings where appropriate. Happier with it now.

Other motive for pulling the harness was I wanted to replace the ground wire for the AP servo. It was a little shorter than the other wires and preventing me from adding the service loop I want to have at the wing root. Could have spliced a little more wire on, but why have a wire splice on a brand new wiring install? Took apart the Garmin connector and switched out the wire.

I noticed as I was removing the harness that many of the original ties I had done are not holding up well. I had some Gen 1 lacing ties that were garbage that I had already removed and redone. These were Gen 2 and still aren't holding up well either. The Gen 3 ties seem to be ok. I'll re-tie everything in the wing and probably get rid of my group ties, just tie the big bundle.
Then worked on the molex connectors at the tips. Got the connectors done and wiring tidied up. Looks good. Going to just keep working from the tip toward the root finalizing all the wiring as I go.

9/19: got the right wing wire bundles all tied. Cleaned up the AP servo loop and the branch for the trim servo. Still need to add the connectors for the trim.

  Sep 01, 2022     Pitot mast and Heater - (0.8 hour)       Category: Avionics

Planning: Need to get the pitot mast figured out before I can button if the bottom skin. Apparently the Gretz mount t that most people seem to have used is no longer available so I bought the blue anodized Avery mast from Aircraft Spruce. Previous versions of this mast had weld problems, but I believe they have been addressed. The mast looks good. The installation instructions don't seem very stout though and I'm going to add an angle bracket to the adjacent rib to stiffen it up. That means I need to mount it next to a rib with the web on the correct side. I've decided to mount in the bay just outboard if the aileron bellcrank. The heater box will mount in the same bay as the bel tank but in the outboard rib; it allows for pretty clean wiring with no chance of interference with the aileron pushrods.

Used the template provided in the instructions to mark the cut out in the skin. First clamped the mast in place where I think it will go. Used a sharpie to mark holes through the spar to confirm edge distances. Then slid the template over the mast and taped it to the leading edge skin. Then removed the mast and cleco'd the bottom skin in place, then traced the template into the skin.

I think I'm going to chrome plate the mast once everything is fit up and drilled. Will look pretty sweet.

  Sep 01, 2022     Wing tip wiring - (1.2 hours)       Category: Avionics

A little rainy day project. Did a lot of thinking about how to route wires for wingtip lighting. Decided to go ahead and have molex connections for the landing lights and the nav/strobe lights. Made an aluminum bracket to mount the molex connectors and riveted it to the wing. Carefully cut out the holes for the connectors by drilling the corners, dremel cutoff wheel, and then finished off with a file. Came out pretty good.

Trimmed the wire and crimped a molex connector on to the landing light lead. Plan is to run the landing light wire through a snap bushings in the face of the duct work bracket and then secure with an adel clamp just as it exits the wing rib. There will be slack for a small service loop and the connect to the new brackets.

  Jul 16, 2022     OP-38: Aileron trim - (2.5 hours)       Category: Avionics

I was having a hard time visualizing how the wiring for the aileron trim would go without the trim servo in place so I decided to go ahead and install it. I did the small amount of part fabrication and primed everything. Then assembly was pretty straightforward. On to wiring.

I didn't like the way it shows the connector mounting in the instructions. They would have you make the connection inside the trim servo housing. Doesn't seem like you could keep if from fouling the bellcrank arm. I decided I would just make a small bracket and cut a hole for the micro molex connector. It took two tries but I ended up with a nice rectangular hole snug fit to the connector. I just drilled a couple starter holes and then used the square file to finish it. Not too bad. Good practice for future connector brackets.

The micro molex pins were pretty easy to crimp but I found it difficult to get them to engage in the connector. Just no positive click. I tugged on them and they seem secure.

Finished off the wiring with a little snake skin and some shrink wrap. Looks professional grade.

Cleco'd the assembly to the wing and now it is easy to see how I'll run the wires from the harness.

  Jul 15, 2022     More wing wiring - (2.5 hours)       Category: Avionics

Hard to really track all the time I e spent researching and contemplating wiring in the wings.

I did test the co to unity of the previously made connectors and sure enough had a bad shield drain on the AP CANBUS. Redid that. Also re-tied some of my original wire groups as I used a bad knot technique and they were already loosening.

Measured and leveled the mount for the GMU 22 in the wing tip. I extended a perpendicular line from the spar - that should be close enough to level. Drilled and mounted with four solid -4 rivets. Trying to figure how to mount the CPC connector still. The bulkhead connector I ordered is the wrong sex and the correct one doesn't seem to exist. Someone on VAF suggested to just tie wrap it, but I feel like I want something better. Maybe a large adel clamp around the CPC shell.

Got the AP servo wires clamped with an adel clamp which fixes the position of the entire bundle in the wing. Then started tying the individual wire groups into a large bundle. It's getting stiff and is pretty cool to see.

7/16: got all the wires bundled and tied in the right wing. Ran the additional wires for the trim servo. Installed adel clamps on the wingtip to secure lighting and GMU wires.

  Jul 09, 2022     Connectors / OAT Probe - (2 hours) Category: Avionics

I spent a lot of time researching connectors for the wing roots. I know some people try to avoid connectors here, particularly in the CANBUS, but I really want to be able to close up and finish the wings with all the wiring in place because the first time they are mated to the fuselage and remainder of the wiring harness is likely to be in a hangar, and I just don't want to deal with it them. So I've been thinking CPC connectors for the data and molex for higher power stuff. I had purchased the molex stuff a few weeks ago, but was holding off on the CPC because I just really didn't get it and the sites that sell it (Mouser, Digikey, etc) are overwhelming. I saw what ACS and Stein were selling, but it didn't seem to be the sizes that I wanted and based on my limited understanding of the TE Connector Catalog, I thought I could do better.

After hours of research and cross-referencing part numbers on Mouser, I finally had what I thought I wanted. But it used Class 1 pins which are different than the d-sub pins used in Class 2 connections. When I tallied everything up with those pins, it was very expensive - much more than just buying a larger connector from Stein or ACS. So, I ended up just buying a 28 pin Class 2 CPC connector from ACS, even though I only need about 20 pins.

Also had been doing some reading on OAT probes. I originally planned to put it in the back of the tail, below the horizontal stabilizer, but now I think in the left wing is better. I went ahead and ordered the Davtron probe with the Garmin GAD 13 to connect it to the CANBUS. The Davtonr/GAD13 combo was quite a bit cheaper than buying the GTP59 they specifically suggest for a G3X install. The GAD13 documentation talks about G5 installations, but I'm pretty sure it will work with a G3X - VAF seems to think so too.

Purchases: ACS - CPC connectors, Stein - OAT Probe, Molex connectors and pins, D-sub pins

  Jun 23, 2022     Starting on wing wiring - (5.0 hours)       Category: Avionics

Tired of working in the hot garage so moved to the kitchen table to do some wiring and try my hand at building some connectors. Thought I'd just see how it goes and if it gets written off as practice, oh well.

Decided to start on the GMU 22 connector. It's a simple CPC connector and doesn't have any CANBUS wiring so it's pretty simple. First used my new label maker to print heat shrink labels. Then gathered supplies and started stripping wires. Stripped off the insulation and trimmed the shield flush. Then stripped another 1/4” of insulation leaving the shield exposed. Wrapped a drain wire around the shield and soldered and heat shrunk. Trimmed all the wires even and stripped the wires. Learned that my “nice” Klein wire strippers don't work well on 22 ga wire. That sucks.

Crimped d-sub pins on the wire ends and inserted into the CPC connector. Double checked the pin outs several times. Got to use the pin removal tool a few times too.

Also learned backshell for CPC connector needs to go on wires before inserting pins.

Wrapped wires in silicon tape at the strain relief and screwed it together. One GMU 22 connector complete. I think it came out pretty good.

6/24: started cutting the full lengths of wire for the lights and pitot heat. Landing light and taxi lights share a ground so I bundled the three wires together and twisted them using a drill. Just clamped one end in a vice and the other chucked in the drill. Worked great. Pitot heat is 12 ga and I couldn't get red and white wires that gauge so I just put black bands of heat shrink every 6”-8” on the ground wire. Then twisted that pair too. Made labels for each end knowing that one will probably get cut off in the future when wing harnesses are cut to final length.

6/26: cut the wire for the roll servo me built the connector. Used solder sleeves for the shield drains and I think they came out well. Tedious but fun work.

6/27-28: starting lacing the wires into individual bundles for each component. Then I plan to run them through the wing and then tie the bundles together into a larger harness. Looks good so far. Ordered more of the larger snap bushings from Van's. Don't know why I didn't buy more before

6/29: laced more wires. Also ordered molex connectors for the lights. Still not sure what to use for inboard data connections.

Purchases: Van's - snap bushings, mini molex connectors. Stein - molex connectors

  Jun 03, 2022     First big Steinair purchase Category: Avionics

Well, it wasn't that big in the grand scheme, but a big order, nonetheless. Ordered most of what I need to wire the wings, short of the actual AP servo and GMU 22 Magnetometer. Got the wires, connector kits, mounting brackets, etc. And some crimpers for molex and D-sub. The wiring has begun!

Shopped a little between Steinair and Aircraft Spruce. Steinair reflected a recent jump in Garmin prices, and Aircraft Spruce was a little cheaper. Until I got to check out on both and realized that I was paying sales tax for ACS and not Steinair. That made a big difference and would rather just get everything from Stein.

Purchases: Steinair - Wing wiring and avionics; Wicks - terminals, backshell screws

  Jun 01, 2022     Research - CANBUS length - (2.5 hours) Category: Avionics

Spent a little time today researching and shopping. I've known that there is a limit to the overall CANBUS length of 66 ft but thought I should be able to stay under that. Running through some rough numbers though, I'll be right at the limit, or even over if I put the GMU 11 magnetometer in the right wing tip as planned. I don't really want to mess with alternate locations for fear of interference, and I do want to reserve the option of putting an air conditioner behind the baggage bulkhead. So the general consensus on VAF and even the RV-10 Facebook group seems to be use a GMU 22 in the wingtip. The GMU 22 uses RS-232, not the CANBUS, so it doesn't count against the overall length - probably saves 5' of CANBUS wiring, which is enough.

Lots of finalization of wiring planning in the wings and I have $1400 worth of stuff in my Steinair cart, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. The heated pitot is the big item, and then brackets and garmin connectors and wire. Wire seems cheap, but it adds up.

  Dec 26, 2021     More electrical design - (10 hours) Category: Avionics

The hours listed don't begin to capture the near constant thinking, reading, and dreaming of electrical system designs over the last month. I was really struggling with how I thought I wanted it work and why did I feel like I was going a direction that others were not. I had gotten to the point of a dual bus system, plus an e-bus powered by an IBBS. It was too complicated. I wasn't trying to achieve a true dual bus system with cross feeds and whatnot. I did want an avionics switch, and it makes sense for the E-bus to be a sub set of the avionics bus. I was getting hung up on the idea that some things on that e-bus are not avionics, mainly electric trim which I consider critical since there is no manual trim.

I finally went through the various phases of flight, including engine startup sequence and determined what I want when. And what do I want in various emergency scenarios. I simplified and compromised a bit and came up something that looks very much like the Aeroelectric Z-12 architecture, except that I will still incorporate an IBBS to backup the e-bus (primarily for brown-out protection during engine start).

Feels good to have the problem somewhat solved. I'm sure I'll change my mind over the next few years.

  Nov 23, 2021     Preliminary Panel Layout - (4.0 hours)       Category: Avionics

I've spent a lot more time over the last week working through wiring and reading up on electrical systems. Tonight, I decided to start seriously laying out the panel so that I can better visualize where everything is going to go. I used the Draw.io program for this too and I think it turned out really well. I used overall measurements from Garmin literature and then imported an image of the component to trace some of the detail.

After looking at all the cool panel options from Aerosport, I think I'm leaning towards using the stock panel now. I'm planning on a GTN650 instead of a 750 with just two G3x screens. Looks pretty good with a GTN650. With the com2 radio and transponder mounted remote, I think there will be adequate room. And currently thinking regular circuit breakers instead of the VPX that everyone seems to be doing. I may change my mind on that by the time I'm ready.

  Nov 14, 2021     Continuing Panel Wiring Schematic - (5.0 hours)       Category: Avionics

This one is getting complicated. Still in progress, but have most of the wiring figured out for GDUs, the GADs, the GEA, even the GTN. Working on the Audio Panel. Its funny how a simple function like a trim hat switch can involve 12 wires. I can't wait to build these actual harnesses.

  Nov 11, 2021     More Avionics Schematics - (4.0 hours)       Category: Avionics

Just working my way forward thinking about how wires will run through the fuse and eventually to the panel. This is all in progress. Just posting for posterity.

  Nov 08, 2021     Avionics/Electrical System Layout - (4 hours)       Category: Avionics

Started diving into laying out the electrical system in draw.io. This is a blast! I'm digging through the manuals for each components and really figuring out exactly how everything will connect, and then drawing them up with somewhat correct location on the airframe and figuring out what some of the wire bundles will look like. I'm going to produce a layout for each wing, the tail, and the forward fuselage. I imagine an entirely separate one for the panel. It really helps visualize everything and I think will be so much better for me than just paying someone else to do it. So far I have made an overall G3 Interconnect Diagram, and a draft version of both the left and right wing.

  Sep 09, 2021     Yaw damper mount - (2.0 hours)       Category: Avionics

After reading a few forum posts regarding using the RV-14 yaw servo mount on the RV-10, I decided I was up for it. It is a significant savings over the Garmin part. I probably spent more time researching and planning than actually doing. Some people opt to bolt the bracket in place so that it is removable and easier to access the back of the tail in the future. I opted to just rivet it in and probably regret it later.
Not a lot of pics because it was very hard and much of the work was blind. I did get the bracket cleco'd to the upper plate and confirmed that the center hole of the bracket, which is meant to clear the head of the bulkhead rivet on an RV-14, does not clear the rivet on an RV-10. Glad I didn't rivet any of that bulkhead yet. I managed to dimple the bulkhead and squeezed a flush rivet. I then squeezed the upper bulkhead to bellcrank assembly rivet but I had to buck the bottom ones. Not too bad, just very awkward. Then temporarily installed the yaw servo bracket assembly so that I could blindly drill the holes from the back side, through the bulkhead. I had already confirm by sticking a red sharpie through the holes that they would be roughly in line with the existing holes and maintain minimum spacing. What a pain, but eventually got it.
Then disassemble, deburr, countersink the holes in the top plate and then quick prime. Opted to just do self-etch in the rattle can. Will try to assemble tomorrow.

  Jul 06, 2021     Static plumbing and ADHRS bracket - (2.0 hours)       Category: Avionics

I cleco'd the top skin in place and quickly remembered that I should stop and wait for the static lines to arrive. They arrived today along with a lot of hardware from ACS.

I used the snap fit connections and 1/4” nylon tube. The snap fit connectors connected nicely onto the Cleaveland static ports. I ran both lines up to a high point to keep moisture out of the system and then joined them with a “Y” connector and then ran the line forward along the left side of the fuse. I installed a nut plate for the #6 machine screw to hold the Y in place. Then I used a few adel clamps to hold the lines in position against the F-1006 bulkhead. The line coming forward is zip tied to the lower skin stiffeners and then penetrates the F-1007 bulkhead with a 1/4” snap bushing.

I'm happy with install, it all looks pretty clean. I plan to use different colors for static, pitot and AOA and didn't think if there is a standard coding system. Finally found in AC43.13 that shows red is standard for static and red for white is for pitot. Oh well, maybe I'll switch the static to red when it comes into the forward fuse so there is no confusion. Or will it just cause more?

Also installed the ADHRS bracket from VANS. I don't actually plan to put my ADHRS back here but maybe my magnetometer. Maybe nothing. Figured it was easy to install now even if I don't use it. Simply held the bracket in place against the stiffeners and drilled the first hole, then cleco'd as I went drilling the other holes. It just gets blind riveted in place but I'm going to hold off so I don't mess up any alignment of the stiffeners to the top skin.

Also played with laying a board inside the cone. Somebody is going to have to get in there to rivet and it's going to be tight.