More Cold WX! Drilled Hole for Control Cables

Mike came out to the factory and didn't get much done....too cold.  

Drilled the holes in left gear tower for the control cables to pass through.  Didn't have the right size snap grommets so they'll need to be ordered.

Cold Day in the Factory! ... More Wiring

Starting to get really cold in the factory.  Did some cleanup and dragged Mikes blast heater over from his hangar.  

Mike pulled apart all the wiring run attachments behind the panel.  With the new GRT Mini AP taking the place of the originally planned TruTrak Gemini some rewiring will need to happen.  Arjan Plomp agreed to help out going through John Stark's disastrous wiring job to re-do a lot of the rewiring.

Running Wires

Mike Regen routed all the wires from the firewall to their respective attach points.  Attached a bunch of cushion clamps for the wire runs.  Started on the connections for the CHT and EGT wires.  

Inside the cockpit, I installed the GRT autopilot servos that have replaced the TruTrak servos.

Tail Wheel Mount & Engine Sensors

Started working on installation of the beautifully chromed tail wheel mount.  Space Coast Plating did a great job of chroming the mount.  

The rear bulkhead was removed to get it installed and mounted correctly.  

Mike Regen started attaching the engine sensors.  All the EGT and CHT sensors were attached along with the oil temperature sensor.  The starter will need to be replaced with a shorter SkyTec....bummer.  The B&C starter is a much better unit.  

METAR KGAI 240155Z AUTO 31012G18KT 290V350 4SM SCT018 BKN026 OVC037 00/M04 A3017 RMK AO1=

ENGINE MOUNTING DAY!

ENGINE MOUNTING DAY!  Bill Hughes (A&P/IA) was kind enough to come over and lend a hand mounting the engine.  We had some trouble getting it maneuvered into the mount then getting the alignment correct to get the mounting bolts in properly.  After some choice words of encouragement (aimed at the engine) we had it mounted in about an hour.

Engine and Mounts Ready

Engine Accessory Installation

• Attempted to mount the starter but the B&C starter will not fit with the fuel injection servo.  Need to do some research on fitment.  
• Mounted fuel hose between fuel pump and fuel servo.  
• Mounted oil in and out lines for oil cooler.  
• Removed magneto studs and attached new shorter studs for the P-Mags.  
• Mounted P-Mags.  
•  Mounted the fuel injection servo. 

Fuel Injection Servo Linkage 

Prep for Engine Mounting

Started prepping engine for mounting.  Mounted primary and back-up alternators.  Mounted propeller governor and re-clocked control cable arm.  P-Mags will require shorter studs than the original impulse magnetos so determined correct size and will order them.  Mounted control cable mounts and mixture arm to engine.

Firewall Mounts

Mounted heater valve on firewall.  Attached fuel sensor hose to FW.   Fabricated and mounted mount for fuel flow transducer and mounted with hoses.  Attached engine mount to FW.

Firewall Pass-Throughs

Finished drilling holes in firewall for pass-throughs.  Mounted control cable eyeballs and drilled out inserts to match control cable diameter.  Mounted alternator regulator and starter relay.

Mounted Landing Gear Posts

Spent 2.0 hours mounting landing gear to the fuselage.

Rotated fuselage inverted so that the forward portion of floor panel was level laterally and longitudinally

Filed a radius on the corners of the gear legs so that they nested flush into the inboard main gear attach brackets.

Three outboard main bolts were inserted from inside fuselage vertical tunnel to facilitate ease of access during bold torque inspections.  Attached brake line from the fuselage to the landing gear.

Pilot/PAX Headphones & AOA CPU Bracket

• Wired up mic and headphone jacks for pilot and rear pax.
• Connected wires to roll servo.
• Installed brackets on front storage door for mounting AOA CPU.

AOA CPU Brackets

NACA Vents, Antennas, Roll Servo, and Strobe Power Pack

Last few days of work included installing NACA vents, mounting both comm antennas and transponder antenna, installing strobe power pack, and roll servo.  Also drilled holes for headsets and ran headset wires.

NACA Vent - Cockpit View

NACA Vent - Exterior View

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Strobe Power Pack

Roll Servo

Installed VHF comm antennas and bracket for pilot headset jack mount.

VHF Antenna

Headset Jack Mount

Mike remounted transponder tray and drilled VHF antenna mounting holes.  Transponder was previously mounted under the floor panels which would have made access difficult once the floor panels were installed.  (2hrs)

Spent about two hours cleaning up the wiring in the tower so now it looks pretty.  Next step is figuring out where the headset jacks will go and get those in. 

Next steps – mounting the comm antennas, remounting the GTX33 higher so it slides out of the tray above the comm antenna, making a mounting bracket and mounting the Navworx behind the panel, then adding the grounding block/forest of tabs to the structure.