Working (mostly) on avionics: Panel now IN THE AIRPLANE

Since last post, working on a few odds and ends, like installing the fuel flow transducer on the engine, and finishing some items related to engine installation.

Mostly I've been working on avionics - mounting the posts for the ground block, terminating all the grounds for the block, adding wires to the harness for items like my baggage area lighting, ground and "sense" (data) wire for the heated pitot, the molex connector that will connect to the canopy wiring harness, terminating coax cable for various antennas, etc.  Also spent quite a bit of time tidying up wire in the airplane to make room for the circuit breaker panel and make sure wires and hoses stay clear of controls, are protected from chafing etc.   Routed hoses for AOA and pitot through fuselage.

I also had to drill holes in the panel for a couple of items that were added late: indicator light for the standby alternator, hole for a switch to change the under-glareshield lighting from red to white, and enlarge the hole for the canopy ejection handle to make it large enough for the handle to fit.  I made some harnesses for items like the standby alternator regulator, indicator light for standby alternator, and the molex connector mentioned before - each of these integrated where possible into the main harness by threading wires into the harness lacing, and using strategically placed cable ties.

I also had to cut the outside air temp probe wire to route it out through the fuselage, and I made a connector using DTM type connector to connect it back in the panel area. 
After getting the harness to a point of readiness where it was time to put in the airplane, and because my wife wants her dining room table back, tonight I installed the panel. Went perfectly and I'm well down the road of getting all the boxes plugged in.  Back shells for GTN650 and audio panel are in and test fit looks good.

It's starting to feel like I'll be flying this thing soon.....


Grounding block with terminated ground wires - some spares too for future use.

Fuel flow transducer:

Fuselage wiring tidy-up:

Panel installed:

Fuse block for a few items that weren't covered by the circuit breaker panel (Baggage area lighting, standby alternator wire for indicator light, canopy lighting, etc.

Wiring harness behind panel still a mess but will be easy to tidy up:

Test fit of center stack, looks great if I do say so myself...

Engine accessories, antennas

I've gotten into a mode of back and forth with various tasks.  Since hanging the engine I've attached a number of accessories like prop governor, alternator and associated adel clamps for wiring to starter, alternator.   Also various hoses for oil and fuel, and the fuel flow transducer.

Also bit the bullet and drilled holes in the top of the airplane for the Garmin GA-35 antenna that will connect to the GTN-650 IFR navigator.  I first made a doubler / backplate with nutplates to anchor the screws that go through the antenna, then used the same measurements to drill the holes in top of airplane, on the right side, aft of baggage bulkhead.   No big deal really.   I had to wait until this week to get the right connectors for both ends of the cables for GA-35: it's a different type of connector than other antennas.

Also installed the two com antennas on the belly, and cleaned up wiring in the tunnel in preparation for installing my main panel and harness.

Big day today, progress continues on all fronts...

Today my EAA tech counselor (and RV expert) Vic Syracuse visited for engine hanging.  I'd like to say I did the work, but mostly I just assisted and held tools.   We got all the various ports installed on the back of the engine, and safety mounted engine on the airplane.

Since last post I've also: 

• placed various wiring for avionics and routed wires for GTN 650 antenna and baggage light
• started process of fitting nosewheel fairing
• mounted items on firewall in preparation for engine hanging
• finalized safety wiring of main wheel fairing brackets
• prepped parts for installation of various engine accessories.

Various fittings ready to install:

Alignment aids for nose wheel fairing

Firewall mounted items: master/starter relays, manifold for oil/fuel pressure, manifold pressure sensor, etc:

Engine installation in process (Vic Syracuse in blue shirt):

FINISHED!!!

Work continues on avionics trays, service bulletin SB 18-09-17 done

I've been working on avionics placement: this is challenging in many ways.  I've had to re-configure both drop-down trays as I test fit everything.  Part of the challenge is that the panel delivered from Steinair has the entire wiring harness attached to it - since the panel is not that strong until all the avionics are mounted and it's mounted to the panel frame, it's not practical to move it back and forth to the airplane for fitting.   So I continually test fit everything "remotely" and carefully measure (and use templates of various types) to get to the point where I'm ready to move the panel and harness "en bloc" to the airplane.

My friend Chris came over yesterday to help me with mounting com radio and also to help me complete the service bulletin (link: http://vansaircraft.com/pdf/service_bulletins/sb18-09-17.pdf ).  This required removal of a number of rivets on the bottom of the aft fuselage, crawling inside the airplane to match drill two clips on either side that attach to stiffeners on the bottom skin, deburr these, then rivet them onto the aft ends of stiffeners and the bulkhead.  On the middle stiffener, a doubler is attached on the outside with internal doublers that "sandwich" the aft end of the stiffener with the bulkhead structure and the external doubler.  No photos of this yet.



Fitting tray for standby battery and backup alternator regulator - this fits inside the glovebox opening and attaches the lip of the doubler in this opening and a horizontal brace on the firewall.  I also made a plate to fit inside the glovebox opening above this shelf.  I will mount the bracket that holds the avionics relay and all the power distribution to electronics/avionics on this plate:

Installed:

Drop down tray on co-pilot side for transponder (in tray on bottom) and engine interface - GEA 24 -  (installed the d-sub connectors will face inboard).  I also will mount the CO detector on the top tray outboard of the GEA 24:

Test fitting the pilot-side drop-down tray:  I had to modify this to clear wiring but basic configuration is the same.   Garmin GAD 27 fits on bottom part of tray and GAD 29 on top: I had to purchase 90-degree adapters for the d-sub connectors on GAD 29 to get the connectors to fit here.

Remote Com 2 (GTR20) test fit on pilot side subpanel (now permanently mounted):

Working on avionics

Progress is slow right now thanks to work travel interrupting my airplane building.   I've been working on avionics.  Finished the center stack trays and built a couple of drop-down panels to mount avionics on.  The transponder will go on copilot side, but will probably re-do the setup as shown to mount the engine analyzer.   Likewise, may end up changing the arrangement of the panel on pilot side as the wires to various boxes and routing thereof is very tricky. I will probably end up removing the doubler behind the glove box opening and putting a solid panel in place to allow more mounting space for avionics.