Power To The Panel

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Continued wiring my panel.  I was able to bring online my Dynon D6 & my MGL E3. I still have a long way to go. The D6 comes with a remote compass that needs to be mounted somewhere behind the seat. I haven't even begun to wire my engine sensors.  Not having purchased an engine yet might have something to do with it.

Christmas in March

My Dynon D6 arrived today. This is what my panel looks like at this point.

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I had priviously painted my removable panel and installed the other instruments. This was the fun part.  Now I have to wire it all up!

 

 

 

I guess I know what I'll be doing this weekend.  It's suppose to snow anyway.  The NCAA ball games will be on in the background.  Throw in a couple of beers, and it should be a good one!

Making the Mandatory Rudder Cable Changes

Sometimes being a slow builder has it's advantages!!!  Dave Thatcher announced the original CX4 broke a rudder cable, thankfully while taxiing on the ground after 180 hours on the Hobbs.  Thus, he issued a mandatory change to the rudder cable system.  His solution is designed for the now standard floor mounted rudder pedals.  I still have the hanging type pedals.  No problem,  I just adapted what he wanted done to my setup. Fortunately, I still have sufficiant access to the fuselage to do the rework.  I feel for you guys who have painted, flying airplanes who have to take a panel or two off.

First, I bought some 3/16" SS cable with a 6-32 threaded stud swagged to one end (so I could use the original rudder pedal attachments) and nothing on the other, thinking I could leave the wire bound sleeve in place from the original push-pull cable device by cutting the rear end off, pull out the original cable and simply push in a new, longer cable. Well, I pushed the new cable in maybe a third of the way before I could no longer push any more cable through.  So, I decided to get out the calipers and measure the original cable. I discovered that the original cable was 5/64" not 3/16".  This meant the old carcass had to come out.

As a replacement to the wire bound sleeve/carcass for the cable to pass through, I found that the nylon tubing I had for break lines work perfectly for my 3/16" cable and I had some extra hanging in the garage.

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Next I had to find a way to hold the nylon tubing in place so that the cable could move freely back & forth within it.  What I came up with is shown in the picture above.  It is a double sided compression fitting intended to splice two lines together.  In the middle of this fitting was a ridge intended to stop the tubes from passing through it.  I simply took the appropriate drill bit and drilled out the center ridge so that the nylon tube could pass completely through the fitting. Then I slipped the tube through and used only one side as a compression fitting. The other side was used to hold it in place through my F4 bulkhead.  Since original holes through F4 were too large, I made washers out of scrap alum. so the fitting would stay where I wanted it at F4.  You can see my results in the photos below. 

 

 

The tube comes out the same hole at the rear of the fuselage as the original cable. Since the tubing is secure and can not move due to the compression fitting at the F4 bulkhead, it is unclear at this point if I need to secure it near the rear exit.  I'll keep you posted.

Work Continues on the Panel

My panel is starting to take shape. I began by cutting the instrument holes in the removable face panel. I borrowed a high quality 2.25" hole saw and a hole cutter for the 3.125" hole. I then installed the removable face panel to mark their locations on bulkhead F4. I then cut holes in F4 oversized to allow the instrument to be removed with the face panel. I can always cut more of the F4 bulkhead away, but I didn't deem it necessary at this time.  I'm using .032" aluminum for the removable face panel, and it will work fine, but I think if I have to make a new one, I would use at least .040" next time. It just feels sturdier.

 

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Another handy little tool I borrowed was a steel jig to drill the holes for the instrument mounting screws. One side fits into a 2.25" hole and the other side fits into a 3.125" hole.  Pretty sweet little tool.  I'm sure Spruce sells them and I doubt they are very expensive, but well worth the money.  I'm glad my buddy asked me if I wanted to borrow it. I think my answer was "Hell yes!" I should have taken a photo of it to post it here, but I have given it back to him already. Sorry.

I bought an inexpensive fuel pressure gauge from an auto parts store and to my dismay, it didn't come with any way to mount it.  It was really intended to be installed in the fuel line with a "T" fitting.  So, as I often do, I went to Ace Hardware to see what I come come up with.  As luck would have it, even though this is a 1" diameter instrument, it's actual size is slightly larger than 1".  At the hardware store I found a 3" rubber washer with a 1" hole in it.  I had taken my gauge with me and found that you could push it into the washer hole and it would stay snugly in the washer!  I had found my mounting solution. In the photos below you will see that I used rivets to hold it in place on F4 and the removable face panel hides the flush rivet heads. Don't you just love experimental aircraft building? I bet you won't find this on a certified aircraft!  And yes,  I have had a couple of experienced builders look at my solution and they give it a thumbs up.

The only hole I didn't cut was for a transponder.  As slow as I'm building, they may be a thing of the past with ADS-B coming into the picture.

Next, it was time to wire up my headset jacks. I actually had to make a new panel as my first attempt at placing the recessed fixture where I wanted it interfered with my rudder cables. It was actually a blessing in disguise, as my original panel was incorrectly cut so that the factory aluminum type ink markings were facing in towards the cockpit and I thought I would have to paint them because I was having no luck removing the ink.

 

 

I the photo above, you can see I cut the new panel so that the ink markings faced away from the cockpit and that the recessed jack fixture does not interfere with the rudder cable.

In the picture below, you can see the battery and switch board I rigged up, complete with in line breaker, to test my wiring.

 

 

I found that my fuel pumps work.  You can also see below, that my LED lighted switches work as well. Four are in the "on" position and one is in the "off" position. Fun stuff.

 

I need to find an antenna before I test my radio. I'll paint the removable face panel before I install the rest of my instruments. Then I will test them. I won't be able to test everything or every functionality, but it's a start.

Making Spaghetti

Wiring up the switches & breakers.

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Fuel Lines, Gascolator & other stuff

It's been a while since my last post, but I have been working on my project. I installed my fuel lines, tank drain and mounted the gascolator to the firewall. I'm using poly fuel lines on the back side of the firewall as they are flexible, inexpensive and easy to work with. I didn't want to go through the firewall with my tank drain because I thought it added complexity, so I found a suitable spot on the floor behind the firewall and mounted it there. I did use a piece of .032 aluminum for reinforcing the floor as I will use this drain to check for water in the fuel during preflight. The photos below show the results of my labor.

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On the front side of the firewall I had a 12" braided fuel line I had left over from a previous project and I found a exact match of it at Auto Zone On-line. This is way cheaper than to have them custom made. I also had some left over fire sleeve that I used to wrap them. I use stainless tie wraps that I found at the auto parts store to secure the ends of the firewrap.

 



I have been doing other work as well.  I have been rewiring my iCom A200 radio tray with new aviation wires. I find this to be necessary, but tedious work.

Santa came through this year with an Aircraft Spruce gift card for which I used to purchase an MGL E3 engine monitor. I guess I was a good boy in 2012!

Brake Lines & Fuel Pumps

I have been working on my project, but sometimes you get caught up in the details and it doesn't seem like you're making any progress. In fact, you are, because attention to the details makes a better aircraft.

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I needed to run my brake lines though the lightening holes in the F2 bulkhead and they were rubbing against the edge.  Later I will be running wiring through this bulkhead also. So, I went looking for an edge trim material and finally saw a nice solution on another builders CX4. I can't remember who it was, but thank you! You can see it in the photo above. It is called Grommet Strip and I purchased it from Terminaltown.com as suggested by the other builder (Item #GSNC-1).  It comes in two sizes and this one works on material up to a thickness of .036". I ordered 4 feet and was hoping it came in one piece so I could cut it to length. Unfortunately, it came as four, one foot pieces. It is designed for circular holes for which the F2 bulkhead holes are not. They are made of a hard plastic and rely on the memory of the material to stay in place within a circle hole.  This might work for our oblong F2 bulkhead holes if it came as one piece, but it takes two pieces of the 12" strips to fill the circumference. To help keep it in place, I used some of the high temp clear caulking I was using to fill the holes around my firewall edge.  The caulking keeps the trim in place quite nicely.

This next photo shows the F2 bulkhead from the rear.  You can see that I used a larger tube to protect the brake line where it comes through the F2 bulkhead and 3 layers of heat shrink to protect it from the upper longeron hole it goes through. There is little to no movement at the point it goes through the longeron, but I wanted some protection from rubbing anyway.

I have been working on my fuel system also and decided on installing two pumps in series.  To minimize vapor lock situations, I also decided to install them on the back side of the firewall where they will remain cooler.   Instead of mounting them directly on the firewall, I created a mounting bracket from some scrap .062 aluminum I had laying around. I just bent a 90 degree flange as a mounting point. I drilled 3 holes in the lower engine mount cross angle for AN3 bolts and installed nut plates on the underside of the bracket flange so that it could be removed to work on or replace a pump.  The photos below show this installation.

Up next is the gascolator installation and running the fuel lines through the firewall.