Dec 31, 2013. Hours 30. (Worked this over multiple days)
Over the past Holiday I have been non-stop working on wiring the systems under the dash and throughout the fuselage. I will say that I am not as young and flexible as I used to be and my body lets me know every time I decide to make it do something I think it still can do. Regardless the wiring is moving along despite the long hours of work.
The VPX Pro is 95% wired with the exception of ALT1 and ALT2 connected at the box. All toggle switches are wired except for the IGN Batt 1 and IGN Batt 2 source switch. The three fuses associated with the IGN system are not terminated yet but I do have wires routed for the 5 AMP ECU breakers. I installed a 20 AMP c/b for the external power ports I will be installing throughout the fuselage. The mounting hole for this c/b was not originally planned for in the right side panel.
The two control sticks have been wired in but I still need to locate 9 pin back shells for the d-sub connectors. I shortened the vertical portion of the control stick so the base of the Infinity grip was at the lowest point on the control stick. I did not shorten the horizontal portion of the control stick where is inserts into the control receiver. I will wait to modify this once I receive the seats. With my height only being 5’4″ i am afraid I will encounter issues with having the stick to far back when I have the seat ll the way forward. I plan on creating on more notch to further move the seat forward to help me reach the peddles. If I run into issues I might need to shorten the rudder control cables so I can pull the rudder peddles further aft.
I worked with the GTS-800 coax cables for the upper and lower antennas. I cut off the EXTREMELY expensive QMA connectors that Garmin supplies. I had to cut 4 of them off since I could not properly route them throughout the fuselage to the overhead with the 90 degree connectors. This cost me and extra $145 dollars. Had I understood the price of these I would HAVE NEVER ALLOWED Stein’s guys to terminate the cables for me and “test” the GTS-800. Overall the routing went well and the cables are installed top and bottom.
Everyday I go out to the fuselage and work on the wiring. It seems that nothing ever changes. I know work is getting done, but this has been rather challenging to keep an upbeat attitude. I hope to work the wing root connectors and the two push pull cables for the heater controls. I also hope to install the switch for disconnecting the ground to the copilot stick so that a nonflying passenger will not affect the electrical controls on the stick.
I also worked with the ELT and extended the 4 wire “telephone” cable to reach the dash. I also mounted the ELT orange noise box with velcro to the right side under the dash. This box contains a battery and so does the dash mounted control.. These two items will need to have a battery installed and have the dates tracked for battery replacement.
RV10 Building Adventure