Installation of the cockpit and firewall sides of the control cables has begun.
These were the initial penetration of the center firewall box prior to applying Lavashield to the surface. Silicone grommets primarily protect the cables from vibrations and chaffing. The stainless grommet covers are intended to reduce heat/fire to the grommets. They will later be filled with RTV (room temperature vulcanizing) material on the inside to seal out gases.
More details in subsequent posts.
Further development of the interior included shaping the headliner backing and configuring the center console/armrest.
A tracing of the side window outline was laid against the fiberglass headliner template from Areosport Products. The fiberglass was rough shaped to the window contours, then finalized when test fitted into the canopy. Further actions include additional shape refinements and covering the fiberglass backer with grey headliner material. The lower side panels may also need relief to accommodate the thickness of the headliner at the longeron edge.
On the left are #8 ClickBond nutplates being glued into place. Regular riveted nutplates could have been used here, but I wanted to avoid additional hole penetrations on structural elements whenever possible. On the right are holes cut into the forward center tunnel covers for heater cables and the AUX COMM connection.
A .060″ stainless backing plate was made for the heater push-pull cables. They require a D-shaped hole to keep the cable from rotating. Since I was not confident the carbon fiber side panels could withstand the stress without cracking, the approach to spread the forces across a larger area was taken.
Here the Aerosport center console cover was rough fitted to the SteinAir control quadrant plate to the top and to the armrest base on the bottom. Particular attention was paid to where the fuel selector valve would be located. Notice the small lower seam between the center cover and the armrest base. This was achieved with a very slight tilt of the cover against the quadrant plate.
Once the test fit of the quadrant plate was complete, the 3/4″ holes for the control cables were made with a Unibit in the drill press.
The throttle cable was checked in the quadrant plate before completing the remaining holes. The photo at right shows the mounting plate for the center console provisionally attached to the now permanently installed quadrant plate.
The mounting plate viewed from the front and with the center cover in place.
Next was drilling and fitting the Andair fuel valve selector in the lower armrest base. This was done very carefully and required about 6 hours to complete. The #10 screws shown in these photos are too high, interfering with the rotation of the selector. They must later be replaced with others with a lower head to allow freedom of movement.
Here are interim view of the armrest, center console, side covers, and lower instrument panel. Up next are fitting the control cables, layout and installation of headphone/microphone jacks in the center console, armrest adjustments and other final configurations above the tunnel.
Interior panels from Aerosport Products were fitted throughout the main cabin.
The rear panels were taped into place for initial fitting.
After sanding to fit the cabin dimensions, mounting holes were drilled to secure the panels in place. Due to there structural rigidity, only a few screws were needed for each panel.
Once the panels were complete, fitting the rear air vent deflectors was undertaken. A test fit of the 3D-printed deflector highlights the relative position to the default Vans hole. A tracing from outside shows the indicated Aerosport cut line not aligned with actual location.
To correct for the actual location of the opening, a probe hole was first opened in the panel. This was hopefully near the middle of the vent hole. A file was then used to manually relieve the panel material until just the deflector opening was exposed.
The vent grate is clipped into position with small tabs around the inner edge. As a result the tolerances for the hole opening are fairly tight. While it took some time to hand file the holes, the alignments and fit are quite good. Minor adjustments are still needed for the vent lever position, but the main rear panel work before painting was done. Next up is the cabin headliner.
Electrical testing with the G3X system continued after installation of the Series 2, 24-pin CPC wing root connectors and other interior devices.
The position of the wing root connectors needed to have enough clearance to be under the wing root fairing, but high enough for easy accessibility in the side panel cavity. Careful measurements were taken before the side penetration was done.
Additional holes in the left side were needed for the pitot and angle-of-attack (AOA) pneumatic tubes. The left photo shows a trial installation of the brass, right angle push-to-connect bulkhead fittings. The right photo shows the initially pulled configuration of the side wire bundles. In retrospect, I would probably rearrange how some of these wires are run.
A custom nut plate backer was fabricated for each CPC connector. This accessory will help fasten the connectors in the fuselage mid-shin. The right photo shows a right angle strain relief shell and the nut plate backer with the wing root wire bundled pulled through them ready for CPC male pin termination.
The final CPC configuration – inside the mid-skin cavity and from outside the fuselage. The outcome was very good (more on the testing later).
Custom ground block terminators were described in an earlier post. One of them was installed in the rear seat area for access from the wing roots and the aircraft rear conduits, which feed wires from the rear section under the baggage/seat floors to the forward compartment. The right photo shows a series of prototype brackets for the forward air vents.
The Park Brake push-pull cable will be located in the left side air vent bracket. Here a mock-up of the intended configuration is shown. While the vent is close to the brake lever, it does have a free range of motion and should have air flow impacted very much. The final painted and installed bracket is on the right.
The previously free hanging Garmin GMU22 magnetometer cable was replaced with a custom rubber washer in 5/8″ hole drilled into the mounting bracket. This new setup now provides secure fastening of the connector to the transmission wiring.
Custom brackets were fabricated to mount the two Garmin GA26C and one GA35 antennas under the fiberglass canopy above the overhead console tunnel. The cover plate will be painted the same interior colors after the shoulder strap and headphone mounts have been attached. Note the GA26C antennas drive the Garmin G5 and PFD devices, while the GA35 provides WAAS-enabled signal for IFR flight with the certified GNC355 GPS/COM navigator.
Mounting the Garmin GSA28 autopilot servos to the rear bellcrank mounts required configuration of the movement arms. The parts for the pitch servo are on the right. A diagram of the yaw servo parts are on the left.
The yaw servo attaches to the rudder cables via a special yoke. This kit replaces the standard movement arm for the GSA28 servos.
In general throughout the whole build every wire was labelled with the same indications as shown on the AS-BUILT drawing. The rear AeroLED Suntail wires were no exception. These were pulled along with NAV2, AUX/COM, and ELT antennas, and pitch trim wire through the rear conduits to the tail. The #2 Tefzel power and ground wires were then terminated with a 10 ton hydraulic crimper.
The terminated power wires connected to the PRI BATT and SEC BATT contactors. The final wires were cable laced with a rubber fuel line as protection against chaffing on the floor and J-channel stringers.
With internal wiring completed a complete range of power on tests were again performed. The CPC wiring, pitch/yaw servos and trims, battery contactors, flap motor, fuel pump, air vent, transponder, magnetometer, overhead lighting, GPS antennas and other components located within the core fuselage all passed initial functional testing. While the majority of electrical connectivity has been successfully tested, the remote wing devices and engine monitoring sensors remain.
MISCELLANEOUS
Using leather punches I have started making custom washers from rubber or neoprene sheets of various thickness. Here are two 1/4″ thick rubber washers for the floor light mounts.