Monthly Archives: May 2023

ELT Testing & Data Plate Installation

This entry was posted in Final Testing on by

Accomplished a few things tonight. First I had my data plate engraved locally, and needed to install that. I primed the area first. I used simple pop rivets to hold the data plate in place. I’m using the standard EAA data plate. It is the smallest and most discrete of the ones I could find. Here you can see where I positioned it under the horizontal stab – which seems to be the favorite location of most builders.

I had never done an ELT test yet, so I wanted to make sure that was working. At the top of the hour I ran the self test and used a hand held radio to confirm transmission. It all checked out ok. There is one gripe – currently it is not receiving GPS data via RS-232. You have to connect a diode and a resister to the test lead on the ELT in order to check this functionality. A quick review of my wiring diagram made me realize where I think my boneheaded mistake is… I believe I tied the RS-232 in at the G5… or I may have not tied it in at all. I’ll need to open that bundle up to see exactly where I placed that lead. Either way, I’m quite sure I have an extra RS-232 output on the GDU… which would be the easiest place. Regardless, I do not need GPS connection via RS-232 to be in compliance within the USA at the current time. So this project was added to my “After flying” to do list!!!

Seat belts and wing fairings

This entry was posted in Finishing on by

Worked on several small projects today. First, I installed my Crow 5 point harnesses. Super easy. AN-5 bolts, castle nuts, and cotter pins. I did a little fitment to get them close to the appropriate fit, but I didn’t trim any excess. I will do that later. I also connected the rear seat push to talk to the stick and made a molex connector for removal. I have stick boots on order from Classic Aero.

I also installed the rubber on the wing fairings. The fairings needed just a little bit of trimming. A little water based lubricant on the fuselage helped get the rubber in place. I also used a little heat to make the rubber more pliable. I’m very happy with the results. I’m going to leave the fairings on until the day before the DAR inspection so that rubber will hold its shape as much as possible. Hopefully that will make reinstallation a bit easier the second time around.

Finally, I removed all of the remaining blue plastic from the aircraft. In the process I had to remove the flaps, which identified I had missing lock washers!! After removing all the blue plastic I used acetone to remove the red writing on the original aluminum. I used some goo-off to get some tape adhesive from various spots. I want to do some more cleaning up… a little buffing some areas where a little corrosion has built up. Just general cleanup.