Wired all the switches and the PFD-1

It’s been another busy week at work but managed to get in a few hours during the evenings and a bunch of time today.

Wired all the switches and routed all of the required power and ground wires as well as all the wires through the firewall for alternator, battery and starter relays, and magnetos.

Reinstalled the PFD-1 GDU 460 and G5 backup instrument. I plumbed in the pitot, static, and AOA lines.

Wired up the GDU 360. I was a real rats nest behind the panel so i used some temporary wire ties to keep things organized while I finish wiring the GSU 25 and the G5. Then I’ll secure everything properly and lace up the wire bundles.

I also realized that despite all of my wiring planning, I had accidentally omitted the GTP 59 temperature probe form the plan. I ran a shielded three-conductor cable from the left wing root to the panel.

Today’s Time (hours):	12.0
Finish kit (hours):	150.0
Total Time (hours):	884.0

Finished wiring the GEA 24, GAD 29, and GAD 25

Made up harnesses for the TO/GA button and panel light dimmer switches. I mounted them back in the center panel and wired the corresponding connectors under the panel. I used micro molex connectors to make the connections.

I received the stranded thermocouple wire I ordered from McMaster Carr. SO I was able to finish wiring up the GEA 24.

I wired up the GAD 29.

I wired up the GAD 27.

Making progress. Glad I made this wiring list. It’s been super helpful as a reference and to keep track of my progress. The terminations highlighted in green are complete.

Today’s Time (hours):	10.0
Finish Kit (hours):	138.0
Total Time (hours):	868.0

Wiring Continues

Haven’t posted in a while but making steady progress.

Made a wiring harness for the TO/GA switch.

Wired up the canopy harness.

Relocated the GAD 27, GAD 29, and GEA 24.

Made up two of the four connectors for the GEA 24. Had to re-order the thermocouple wire for the EGT and CHT connections. I accidentally ordered solid wire instead of stranded. Connecting the engine to the airframe, there’s enough motion in those wires that I wasn’t comfortable using the solid wire. It probably would take long for it to work harden and break.

SO. MANY. WIRES!!!

So glad i borrowed Jared’s engine stand rotisserie. I can’t imagine doing this with the airframe upright.

Today’s Time (hours):	8.0
Finish Kit (hours):	128.0
Total Time (hours):	858.0

Wired the radio stack

Made my first CAN Bus daisy chain termination for the GTR 200B com radio.

Finished wiring the COM radio connector.

Terminated the antenna cables with BNC connectors for the transponder and com radio and a TNC connector for the GPS.

Made up the connector for the GMC 507 autopilot control. Pretty simple… Power, Ground and CAN bus.

Installed the com radio tray and the transponder and GPS trays that I had pre-wired. I routed and tied all the wires.

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Today’s Time (hours):	8.0
Finish Kit (hours):	120.0
Total Time (hours):	850.0

Canopy work goes on

Cleaned the shop today. The dust from the fiberglass and body work was out of control.

Installed the canopy latch switch and defrost fans.

Installed the forward, aft, and side seals.

Today’s Time (hours):	5.0
Finish Kit (hours):	98.0
Total Time (hours):	828.0

Completed the canopy fairing

More filling and sanding to eliminate low spots and pinholes.

More filler/primer and sanding and a final coat of filler/primer and we’re done with the fairing. Finally!

This took forever but I’m happy with the result. Learned a lot about body work the hard way. 🙂

Onward!

Today’s Time (hours):	4.0
Finish Kit (hours):	93.0
Total Time (hours):	823.0

Filled and sanded the fairing

Removed the peel ply. Sanded everything to the proper shape and feathered the forward edges. Filled a few small voids with body filler and sanded everything smooth. Sprayed the skin and fairing with filler primer. The primer showed a bunch of imperfections. Sanded them out and shot another cost of primer. Looks like there are still a number of tiny voids and pin holes. I’ll sand the primer back and decide whether I need some more body filler at that point and then shoot another coat of filler primer. Overall I’m happy with the way it’s turning out considering I’ve never done body work before. Things I learned today… Body people earn their money!

Today’s Time (hours):	5.0
Finish Kit (hours):	89.0
Total Time (hours):	819.0

Work on canopy fairing continues

Sanded the rest of fairing to the proper shape and feathered the forward edge. I used 80 grit sandpaper and then a pass with 220. The shape looked really good.

I was going to shoot the fairing with some filler primer. I masked everything off and then wiped the surfaces down with some alcohol. After wiping everything down, I noticed that I had a few small voids and a couple of areas where I had sanded through to the canopy. So rather than filler primer, I decided to go with an additional layer of fiberglass. I used the “A” ply template to cut out some fiberglass cloth. I mixed up some epoxy with black pigment. I wet down the areas to be covered, applied the cloth, stippled it down, and positioned it. I also mixed up some epoxy and micro balloons and used it to fill the voids. I let it all set up for a bit then applied a top coat of epoxy and covered with peel ply.

Up next… More sanding. Yay.

Today’s Time (hours):	5.0
Finish Kit (hours):	84.0
Total Time (hours):	814.0

Started sanding the canopy fairing

This is the first substantial project I’ve done that involved laying up fiberglass. I will be more judicious in the application of epoxy in the future. I figured I’d just hit it with some 60 grit and bing, bang, boom. We’ll not so much. Sanding fiberglass is a slow messy process. Three hours in and I’ve got the basic shape on three quarters of the fairing. Still not down to the tape on the forward line. This is going to take a while.

On a brighter note. I had an awesome flight today with Jared in his RV-14A. We had lunch at KGMU and then stopped by KVPC and hung out with Wes and I went for a ride in his RV-7A. Very similar in a lot of ways to the RV-14. A bit tighter in the cockpit but by no means uncomfortable. All in all a great day!

Today’s Time (hours):	3.0
Finish Kit (hours):	79.0
Total Time (hours):	809.0

Laid up the fiberglass canopy fairing

Sanded the filler down and replaced the aft line of doubled electrical tape. It got pretty scuffed up. Then I added the layer of sacrificial masking tape over the electrical tape

Laid out the fiberglass cloth and cut the strips according to the cut list in the plans. Then cut out the sides using the provided patterns. Cut the peel ply.

Used plastic wrap as a backing for the bottom layer which is applied wet. Wet the A and D plies with epoxy that I dyed black so it would look right from the inside of the canopy. I wet the masked of canopy and skin with the dyed epoxy. I removed the inside plastic wrap carrier from the A and D plies, applied them, then removed the outer plastic wrap. I stippled the fiberglass down with a chip brush.

I let the inner plies set up until tacky then applied the B and C plies along with the first of the narrow strips. I continued to build up the forward part of the canopy with successively wider strips until I got to a 4″ radius curve. I used the gauge I had fabricated earlier to measure the curve.