Planning the wiring and installing the main harness that ran down the co-pilot duct was a big job. I will post my schematics at some point, but they are still a live document that I keep updating. In planing the system, I wanted to make sure that I didn’t hard-wire anything in place that would […]
Build log
Panel complete
Because I didn’t wire my panel into the plane (used connectors), I was able to bench test it. It was nice to see it all light up and function correctly. All the radios, head phones and iPod inputs work properly with the audio panel, and no smoke was seen (always nice) when I flipped the […]
Overhead panel
The overhead panel was pretty straightforward. I covered it in the same vinyl that I used for the rest of the interior. I just put lighting switches in this panel. I have two swiveling lights for the pilot and co-pilot, so I added PWM lighting controls for those. I used the same laser engraving method […]
Panel wiring
I wasn’t really sure where to start wiring the plane. The most obvious place seemed to be the radio stack, as it was the most complex. Many nights pouring over the schematics I’d put together. This is work I really enjoy, though. Once I had the radio stack wired, I began wiring for power. It […]
Breaker panel
I chose to use breakers instead of fuses. Initially I was going to go with fuses. My only issue with fuses was that it is difficult to know when a circuit has failed. I was going to go with fuses, but add LED lights to indicate whether the circuit was active/failed. By the time I […]
Panel construction
The winter project has begun…I hope to get all the panel, avionics and wiring done this winter. I started by getting out Visio and creating wiring schematics for everything. That took a month or so. Many thanks to all those who posted their wiring diagrams online – I pulled a little bit from everywhere. I’ll […]
Back in the shop for the winter
The plane is essentially ready for paint, and I had wanted to get it painted this fall, but it just wasn’t going to happen. The weather was starting to get cool here and the guy I was going to have paint it was busy and couldn’t guarantee a date. So, I decided to move the […]
Just about ready for paint
The exhausting, seemingly never-ending job of sanding is just about over. The entire plane is in primer and ready for a final sanding before paint. The doors are already well aligned, and I’ve had the canard on before, but I’ve never had the wings or cowlings on. So before I send it off for paint, […]
Engine cowling prep for paint
The curvy bits are what take all the time. The little bumps on the lower engine cowling added some time fiddling with the little curved edges. Also, I removed/filled two large bumps the previous builder had put in the top cowling – that took some extra time as well. They’re about ready for paint now, […]
More avionics showing up
I’ve been keeping an eagle-eye out for avionics on ebay. So far, I’ve done pretty good. I’ve got a fancy Narco AT165 transponder, altitude encoder, Garmin SL40 com, vacuum attitude, vacuum regulator, altimeter and airspeed indicator. The only issue I’ve had so far is the airspeed indicator that was advertised as “new” came with a […]