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.

With the fuselage now initially primed, the installation of the instrument panel could begin.  As many connections as possible were first completed before insertion of the panel.

PREPARATIONS

Here the GTX45R remote transponder / ELT brackets were installed behind the baggage bulkhead.  Termination of the major NAV/COM antennas with BNC or TNC connections behind the front sub-panel was also done.

ANL fuse and ammeter shunts were installed on the firewall side by Rich. The remote Airwolf oil filter bracket was bolted into place.  Inside, the forward cabin heating tube was attached in the center tunnel.  Many other items were added to the cockpit-side of the firewall – cross-tie contactor, ground blocks, GAD29 ARINC adapter, GEA24 engine monitor…

Initial wiring for B+C LR3C voltage regulators, VPX-PRO electronic circuit breakers, Guardian CO detector, floor lights, panel fans, etc. all were set to final configuration where possible.  The instrument panel was repacked in the original shipping crate for migration from my basement to the workshop for installation.

INSTALL

Rich and Tal unbox the instrument panel from the shipping crate, then hand to me for positioning under the dashboard.  Notice the PFD and MFD were removed to save weigh and allow easier access during installation.

Job done on the basic installation.  I had expected a tougher battle getting everything aligned, but was pleasantly surprised how well the panel fit on the first try.  In retrospect this was probably due to the time/effort/diligence applied to the mock-up and bench testing previous done in the basement workshop.

FURTHER CONFIGURATION AND INITIAL TESTING

With the panel now fastened in place, final attachment of wire bundles to VPX-Pro, voltage regulators, avionic stack, ground blocks, fuse holder… could occur.

Here was the first power-on testing performed with the panel inside the fuselage. Checks on basic functions were good, but a few tweeks were needed for control stick inputs, autopilot servos and trim motors.  All of these turned out to be simple repositioning of DSUB connector pins.

The G3X configuration pages show most of the main equipment details in their responses to CANBUS signals.  A few items have not yet been connected, so further testing will be performed as these devices are brought online.

Thumbs up on the radio COM1 and COM2 checks!  Now on to pulling and terminating more wire through the side cable chases.