New Panel for N818KD

I thought I would take a page from James Redmon's book and put some details of my instrument panel upgrade on the web. I am very lucky to be the caretaker of Steve Drybread's EZrg. Even though this airplane is 11 years old now and has 870 hours on it, it is still beautiful and one of the nicest Long-EZ's around. The panel is nicely done and well laid out, being setup for basic IFR. The gyros are getting old and the airplane only has one com radio so it is time for an upgrade. While we are upgrading the instrument panel, we want to add an autopilot as well.

After considerable research, I settled on the GRT Avionics Horizon 1 EFIS and the TruTrak Digitrak II VSVG autopilot. The airplane already has an IFR legal GPS/Com (Garmin GNS420), so if I add a Garmin SL30, this would give me a second Com and VOR/LOC/GS. This setup will give me a dual screen EFIS with graphical engine monitoring, moving map and coupled approach capability. I plan on carefully weighing everything that I take out and put in. I will also carefully monitor the power requirements. It is my hope that I can actually add this additional capability and reduce the weight at the same time. If you are interested in learning more about my decision making process, you can read, "deciding which efis and autopilot to buy".

January 1, 2007

The first step is to plan out the new panel. Will all of this stuff fit? I made use of Epanelbuilder.com for planning the panel and tried several different layouts. My existing panel is not the same shape as a stock Long EZ panel so my layout looks like it will not fit. It does fit my existing panel as you will see. Debbie sat in the airplane for a long time, making a very accurate paper template of the actual panel. I made paper cutouts of all the components and test fit them to the template. Since this is an upgrade and not a new installation, planning includes utilizing existing wiring and systems as much as possible. To minimize the time and expense, panel layouts had to take into consideration that certain items such as circuit breakers, landing gear controls, trim systems and others are already in place and the new things have to be fitted in along with them.

January 27, 2007

Once the configuration was settled upon, it was time to start dismantling the airplane. The first step is to open up the airplane for access which required removing the canard and the nose access panels. Next, I removed the flight instruments and radios. I also removed the vacuum plumbing and filter from behind the panel. When I disconnected the radios and instruments, I labeled the connectors as I took them off.

Next, I removed the engine instruments, the electrical components and the lighting from the panel. This left the panel completely empty and allowed me to remove the panel from the airplane. As you can see, there is plenty of depth behind the panel and room to mount everything.

March 3, 2007

Now that the old panel is out, it is time to start making the new panel. To do this, I first sheared a piece of .100 aluminum to the approximate size of the panel. I selected the lower left corner of the panel as a base point or datum for measuring out everything. I doubled checked the panel layout by putting my paper templates over the old panel. Here, you can see the old panel overlayed on the new panel blank. I drilled a few of the panel mounting holes through the new panel using the old panel as a template. This allowed me to cleco the old panel to the new blank, holding it steady while transferring the location of the mounting holes and the holes for the components that were going to be in the same places on the new panel (Circuit breakers, some switches and the Hobbs meter).

I began cutting the new panel by drilling out the circuit breaker holes and the switch holes using the old panel as a guide. I used a step drill for this which keeps me from having to change drill bits several times for each hole. When finished, the new panel blank had holes for all the circuit breakers, the landing gear indicator lights and the landing gear switch drilled out. Note that I have left the panel blank rectangular which makes it easier to rotate around and stand on edge when working on it. I will cut the outline of the panel last.

Next, it was time to cut the large rectangular holes for the EFIS display units and the EIS. I layed out the locations of these cutouts and then, using the step drill, I drilled four large holes in the corners of the cutout. Then, using the "LASER GUIDED JIG SAW" with a 32 teeth per inch blade, I proceeded to cut out the opening between the holes. The result is a really nice, fairly straight, cut out. After a little clean-up with the hand file and a deburring tool, the display units dropped right in. Next, I cut the opening for the EIS in the same manner. It turned out OK too. Here is the panel with both DU's and the EIS in place.

You might be wondering if the panel doesn't get a little floppy with all of these big holes cut in it. It does and I will stiffen the panel with three pieces of 1/8 inch aluminum angle on the back side. These angles will provide mounting rails for the radio stack and stiffening for the panel to support the weight of the Display Units. I laid out the panel so that the angles providing the rails for the radio rack will also pick up the left side of the DU's. The right side of the DU's will be supported by another piece of angle stock. I may drill and tap these angles for the screws that mount the DU's to the panel. This will save installing blind nuts for this purpose.

March 7, 2007

Even though I was as careful as possible, cutting the large openings by hand is not exact and my cutouts were not exactly square. I took some measurements and then squared up the cutouts and smoothed the edges with some more filing. Then I laid out the locations for the stiffening angles on the reverse side of the panel. The left pair of angles (right side in picture) will serve as mounting rails for the radio trays. Here is another look at the radio tray mounting.

March 19, 2007

Now that we are back from Rome, where we had a wonderful time and got to see Allison (our daughter), it is time to get back to work on the panel. After laying out the big cutouts for the EIS, both EFIS units and the radio stack, I had cut some of them out and used the aluminum stiffening angles as guides for truing up the holes in the panel. I also measured out and marked the location for the radio rack mounting rails and drilled them.

Next, I double checked the layout for the radio stack cutout and setup to cut it using the "laser guided jig saw". With that cutout complete, a quick mock up of the panel gave some personal gratification and inspiration to continue. The last large cutouts are for the four 2 1/4" instruments on the right hand side of the panel. These round cutouts are not any fun to make and they must be aligned carefully so that the holes are inline with each other and the mounting screw holes are level to the horizontal. I spent quite a bit of time, measuring and laying out these holes, trying to make sure everything would fit and they were square to the vertical and horizontal references. Once done, I started with the bottom most hole using my Malco Hole Cutting tool and my cordless drill. Once the center hole was cut I used my steel, instrument hole drilling jig (bottom view)to drill the mounting screw holes. Here is what the 1st hole looked like after cutting and drilling it. I then went on and cutout the remaining three holes and drilled them.

April 6, 2007

When you are cutting big holes and metal chips are flying everywhere, you can tell you are making progress. I have been working on the panel for the last couple of weeks and from a distance, you can't really tell anything has been done. I had a lot to do such as countersinking the holes for the rivets that will hold the stiffening angles on. These will allow the rivets to be flush with panel and not protrude under the DU bezels. I also had to smooth a lot of edges, debur holes and smooth the rough cuts from the jigsaw with a file.

The next step is to drill the radio stack rails and install the blind nuts. I don't have all of my radios yet so I cannot build up the stack. So, I decided to go ahead and cut the outline of the panel using the jig saw. I used wood screws through some existing holes in the panel to secure the panel to the work bench. I started on the right hand side of the panel and began cutting in small sections. It took about an hour and three (cheap) blades to completely cut the outline of the panel. For a rough cut with a power saw, it turned our fairly well. Notice that I cut out the top of the leg opening on the right hand side. Even though this is a crowded panel, I actually managed to enlarge the leg openings 1/2" on both sides.

I clecoed the stiffening angles back on and stood the panel up on the edge of the bench. I rested the panel on the bottom ends of the stiffening angles and let the panel overlap the edge of the bench. I then secured the panel, standing upright to the bench using wood screws through the lower mounting holes.

While all of this work was going on, I was also wheelin' and dealin' on avionics. I had a new, Icom A200 radio and a new VAL COM760 radio to sell. I put these on Ebay with reasonable reserves and they sold. I put my used GTX320, ACK Encoder and a new transponder antenna on Ebay as a package deal. This also sold in about a week. I sold these for enough money to buy a used audio panel and a new GTX327 transponder. I had been looking for a good deal on a Garmin GMA340 audio panel. I contacted an avionics shop that had one advertised for sale at a good price. It was gone but they had a PS Engineering PMA7000B in stock. This is a nicer (more expensive) unit than the GMA340 but they offered me a good price and a 6 month warranty. So I bought it.

The PMA7000B arrived the same day I finished cutting the outline of the panel. The unit looks like new and I will get it bench checked soon. So now, all I am missing is the transponder which has been ordered. I decided to mock up the panel and get an idea of how it was shaping up. I stacked up the radios, put a spacer under the stack to simulate the transponder and mounted the DU's in the panel. I also mounted the EIS and the autopilot controller. I think the panel looks pretty good.

It's amazing how much space is left over behind the panel on the EFIS side. Here's a top view showing the small space taken up by the DU's. Here's a picture from the side, showing the depth of the old instruments that used to be in the panel.

Now that the audio panel is here, I can get started fitting the radio racks to the panel. I will start with the topmost unit and work my way to the bottom.

April 16, 2007

Just before I started disassembling my mocked-up panel, the transponder arrived. I put it in the stack to get an idea of what the finished panel will look like. I began by measuring up from the bottom of the panel (my datum line) and locating the bottom of the audio panel tray. I did this on both rails so that the tray would be level. I marked the location of the screw holes on the rails. Then, I drilled the screw holes with a #36 drill. Next, I tapped the screw holes with a 6-32 tap. It is hard to hold the tap steady when doing it by hand, especially in the thin metal of the rails. So, I chucked the tap in my drill press and rotated the chuck by hand to tap the holes. I re-installed the rails to the panel and mounted the audio panel tray with 6-32 screws. Once the audio panel was mounted in the panel, I could then align the other radio trays to it. I put the SL30 tray in next, aligning it with the front edge of the panel and taping it to the audio panel tray with masking tape. Next, I put the GNS420 tray in, securing it to the first two trays. Finally, I put in the transponder tray and taped it to the stack. After checking that everything was in alignment, I marked the mounting screw holes for the trays in the rails. I removed the rails from the panel and drilled all of the mounting holes. Next, I tapped all of the mounting holes using the tap chucked in the drill press and rotating it by hand. When finished, I assembled all of the trays to the rails with 6-32 screws. With this assembly complete, I went ahead and pop riveted the rails to the panel. Next, I used my countersink tool to countersink the screw holes that mount the panel to the airplane. With that, the panel is structurally complete and ready to mount in the airplane. Of course, there is a lot of wiring to do and the panel will be painted before installation. At least the building part is done and I can clean up all the metal chips. I will clean off my bench, mount the panel on the end so that I can get to both the front and back of the panel. I will mount everything in the panel and begin wiring the various components to each other.

July 4, 2007

Well, a lot has happened in the month and a half since I posted last. Not much of it was photogenic though. I have spent the time systematically wiring everything up and testing it. I started out by mounting the panel to my workbench and installing the two MFD's and the EIS in the panel. I also setup the AHRS and magnetometer on the bench and connected all of these units together using the supplied cabling. Next, I connected these units to my regulated 12V power supplied and tested them. Once that was done, I began installing the avionics in the rack, connecting and testing them one at a time. The first unit to go in the panel was the bottommost one in the stack, the GTX327 transponder. We will be using Air/Fuel data from the AHRS/EFIS instead of an altitude encoder. A connection between a serial port on the EFIS and the transponder enables this. We are going to be using a Garmin GPS18 as our backup GPS receiver (GPS2). This unit is a small disk with receiver and antenna all in one. This unit will be remote mounted in the nose of the airplane. Here's a picture of the panel with the position being derived from the GPS18 and the transponder receiving altitude data from the EFIS. Note that the EFIS has a position, the map is displaying the location of my house, ESE of KNQA and the altitude on the EFIS and the GTX327 agree (EFIS set to 29.92).

The next step was to install the next unit in the avionics stack, the Garmin GNC420 GPS/COM. This unit gets a lot of connections. It feeds GPS data to the EFIS (GPS1). Air/Fuel data from the EFIS gets sent to the GNC420. Flight plan data gets sent to the moving map. This picture shows the unit powered up and operating. Note that the GNC420 has a position solution, the direct-to function has been used to select KNQA. The moving map shows our present position and the flight plan leg (magenta line) direct to KNQA. The EFIS status display shows "GPS2" in green and the PFD shows the CDI at the bottom for steering guidance.

I installed the SL30 NAV/COM and the PS7000B audio panel next. The SL30 has a lot of connections as well. This unit has to be connected to the EFIS for VOR/LOC/GS information and the EFIS feeds frequency lists from its database to the memory in the SL30. The audio panel gets connections from the NAV side of the SL30, the COM side of the SL30 and the COM portion of the GNC420. The headset jacks also get connected to this unit. Connecting the audio panel was a big job and took a lot of time.

Lastly, I mounted the TruTrak autopilot controller in the panel. I connected the wiring harness to the servos and I wired the autopilot to a "source switch" that allows the pilot to feed data to the autopilot from two different sources. Normally, the PFD will supply GPS data and ARINC429 steering commands to the autopilot. If the PFD should fail, I can flip a switch and feed GPS and ARINC429 data to the autopilot directly from the GNC420.

Once all of this was tested, I then disassembled the entire thing and bundled up the wiring harnesses. I cut the holes for the USB ports used to update the EFIS units in the panel (I couldn't decide where to put them until I got all of this in the panel and working). I then smoothed all the edges of the panel, bondoed the rivet heads that mount the stiffening angles and primed the panel. I then took the panel out to the airplane for a test fit. It fits great and the we are now ready to proceed with installation of all of this stuff in the airplane.

July 7, 2007

I spent the day on Saturday beginning "Phase 2" of the project, installation of the system into the aircraft. The first step is to get the EIS Engine Monitor working with the existing sensors in the airplane if at all possible. This will save a lot of work. I began by simply placing the EIS in the front seat of the airplane and connecting the power and ground wires. I wanted to do this testing before installing the panel in the airplane as it would be a lot easier to gain access to the wiring with the panel out. I traced the wiring from the oil pressure sender from the engine to the cockpit. I connected the appropriate wire from the EIS to the sender wires. Making sure the ignition is off and the mixture is set to idle cutoff, I motored the engine with the starter. The oil pressure reading responded and the value looked reasonable. Next, I fabricated a wire to connect the tachometer input of the EIS to the P-lead of the magneto. Again, I motored the engine with the starter and the RPM value looked reasonable. So, I proceeded to crank the engine (first time in 5 months) and let it idle. Oil pressure stabilized at 65psi (normal) but the rpms looked wrong. It was showing about 650 RPMs. My experience tells me that the RPMS should be about 850 for smooth idle. I tried reducing the throttle slightly and the RPMs read 500. I know that is not correct! So, I checked in the EIS manual and found the Tach calibration factor. I thought I had already set this but when I checked it, it was set to zero. The manual says that for a 4 cylinder, 4 stroke engine, it should be set to "1". So, I changed it and ran the engine a second time. It worked! 800 RPMs at idle and good response when I move the throttle.

Next comes the Oil Temperature. Upon closer examination, this one will not work. I connected the oil temp sender that is on the airplane to the EIS and the reading was way off! The oil temp should have been close to ambient but it was reading 450! I connected the oil temp sender that came with the EIS to the instrument (not installed on the engine) and it did read correctly. I will have to change the oil temp sender. Wanting to get as much done as possible before it got too hot, I moved on to the fuel flow transducer. The transducer on the airplane is the same brand as the one that came with the instrument but it is a different model. Will it work? I traced the wires down and connected it to the EIS. Cranking the engine, the fuel flow read 12.5 gallons per hour at idle! I am fairly sure this is high as the airplane usually shows about 10gph at cruise. I went into the fuel flow calibration page and arbitrarily changed the calibration value from the default of 200 to 160. I ran the engine and the fuel flow showed between 4 and 4.5 gph. This seems about right and I will leave it until I fly for additional calibration.

So, in addition to the Oil Temp sender install, all that is left to connect for the EIS is the manifold pressure and fuel pressure. I also have to connect the EGT probes and the CHT probes. These are no problem as I have already identified those wires and I know the probes are compatible. I will also have to connect the OAT probe.

July 11, 2007

I spent the afternoon installing the GRT manifold pressure sender. I took the easy road here, mounting the sender next to the LightSpeed Engineering Electronic Ignition unit. This unit already has power running to it and a tube going to the intake manifold for manifold pressure. I put a "T" in the manifold pressure line and plumbed in the new manifold pressure sender. I routed the wires from the sender through the existing grommet in the firewall where the ignition module wires pass through. I disconnected the wires from the existing manifold pressure sender and spliced the wires from the new sender into them. I attached the cockpit end of these wires to the EIS. I will remove the old manifold pressure sender and cap the fitting later. A test run shows that the manifold pressure is working perfectly!

July 30, 2007

The day before we left to go to AirVenture 2007, my wife surprised me with a wonderful gift. The model has about a 14" wingspan and it is fantastic. Debbie, Allison and I went to Airventure for the entire week. We had a great time, including the CSA cookout on Wednesday night. I finally got to meet Terry Shubert and I told him I plan to write an article about all of this when it is finished. Allison got all fired up at the show and the day we got back, she signed up and started taking flying lessons. She did 8 hours in two weeks! Her instructor says she is doing great.

I had a chance to see the guys from GRT and Trutrak while I was at the show. They were very busy at the show and I am very happy with the choices that I have made.

Now that we are back, I have to get to work and finish up this project.

August 4, 2007

One of the last things that require imagineering (tm) is the AHRS mount. I abandoned my plan to mount it directly in front of the panel (underneath the canard). I thought I might not have enough room and I want to preserve the space for the autopilot pitch servo. The next logical place to mount the AHRS is in the extended nose area. The right side of the airplane is out since the ELT is mounted there so on the left side of the nose is all that is left. I began by measuring and installing two aluminum angles, the first on the inside of the left fuselage side and the second one on the left side of the nose gear cover. I mounted the second angle with screws as it will have to be removable should the need arise to remove the nose gear cover. I used a level to level the airplane fore and aft and also side to side. Then, I used a small, bubble level to make sure that the angles were mounted level in the nose. I also used a small square across the angles to make sure that they were mounted level with each other. There are no straight places in the nose of the airplane to take any measurements from. This was a very time consuming effort. I had already fabricated a flat aluminum plate with nutplates installed for mounting the AHRS. I sat this plate on the angles and marked them for drilling. I removed the angles from the airplane, drilled and pop riveted the mounting plate to them. Here's a top and bottom view of the finished part. After installing the mount in the airplane, I sat the AHRS onto the mount and attached it with screws into the nutplates. I made sure that the screws in the front and back are accessible when I mounted the unit. I also made sure that the left rudder pedal has plenty of clearance. If it turns out that the AHRS is not exactly level after flight testing, it can be shimmed by putting washers between the AHRS and the mounting plate. That's the last of the fabrication that has to be done. Everything from here on out is just installation work.

August 11, 2007

I want to get everything in the engine area done so that I can concentrate on the cockpit. It seemed very warm at the hangar for a winter project. I removed the vacuum pump from the engine and installed a cover plate where it had been. I also removed all of the vacuum plumbing and the vacuum regulator. I decided to leave the vacuum hose that runs from the hell hole up to the instrument panel in the plane as it would make an excellent conduit for wiring (if required) and it would be a big job to take out. I removed the old oil temperature probe and installed the new one in its place. The old manifold pressure sender was mounted on a tee at the intake manifold so that the electronic ignition could be connected as well. Now that the new manifold sender is mounted near the ignition unit and tee'd into the line there, I could remove the old sender and tee at the manifold and simplify that connection. Here's all the old stuff that came out of the back end of the airplane and won't be going back in. I finished up the connections for the CHT probes and the EGT probes. I tested them and they are all working correctly. To summarize, we have installed a new oil temp probe, manifold pressure sender, and OAT sender. We have connected these up to the EIS and tested them. We have also connected the existing fuel pressure sender, fuel flow transducer, oil pressure sender and tachometer sender. These have been tested as well. So, with the exception of a few ty-wraps and some safety wire, the engine related work is finished!

August 19, 2007

I began the weekend by finishing up the engine area. I tied up a lot of wires, safetied a few things and that is when I found the mistake. I left the gasket off of the oil temperature probe. So, I spent a lot of time, disconnecting the wires, removing the probe and reinstalling it with the gasket. At least I found it before I ran the engine and got oil all over everything. I mounted the new panel in the airplane for (hopefully) the last time. I installed the EIS in the panel along with a few of the breakers. I wanted to have these items in the actual, final locations so that I could dress the wires behind the panel as I went along. With the large cutouts where the radios and display units go, there is almost as much room to reach in and work as when the panel is not there. I began this phase by taking the EIS circuits, one at a time, shortening the wires to their final lengths and dressing them. I also removed any unused wires from the pre-built wiring harness. The EIS has a total of 37 wires to connect! This seems to take forever. I have the 8 CHT wires and the 8 EGT wires done. I also have the power, ground, tach, and OAT wires completed. I have decided that I need to go ahead and mount the Hobbs meter and the USB cables in the panel before I finish up the wiring as all of it is on the left side of the panel and needs to be tied up together.

August 26, 2007

Frustrating times. As I mentioned before, I need to connect all of the wiring, lights, switches, hobbs meter, etc on the left side of the panel before putting the radio stack in. I had left the main landing gear switch wired up and just pushed it out of the hole in the old panel. Anything that I disconnected, I tried to make sure that I had photo documentation or notes on. Well, I got to putting in the main gear switch and the warning lights and it doesn't work. The gear warning horn also doesn't work. I spent 3 weekday afternoons and all day on Saturday trying to figure it out. In the process, I jacked the airplane up and cycled the main gear which was required for the annual condition inspection anyway. The main gear wiring works just fine. The gear goes up and down with the flick of a switch. No main gear down, green light though. Also, the gear unsafe light remains on all the time. The gear warning horn does not sound when it should. The speed brake down light is not working as well. It seems to me that there is a problem in the warning light / horn circuitry. The circuitry that operates the main gear and the speed brake work fine. I did not disconnect any of the wiring for those to systems. I did disconnect and remove the warning lights as they were installed in the panel. I will just have to keep plugging and try to figure it out. I have to go to San Diego on business for a week so this has cost me a lot of time.

September 2, 2007

I managed to find and solve the problem with the gear lights and warning system. I have to take a time out and mention that I got some great help and encouragement from Scott Swing and Scott Baker at Velocity Aircraft. Out of frustration, I wrote to them knowing that they had worked with Steve on the gear system originally. Even though they are very busy taking care of their own business and customers, they helped me a great deal. Scott Swing even offered to draw out a new wiring scheme for me. All I can say is that they must have some very satisfied customers if they take care of them they way they paid attention to me. I will add Velocity Aircraft to my list of preferred businesses to work with along with GRT Avionics. Thanks so much!

With the warning system and indicator light problem solved, I can now proceed to finalize the engine monitor wiring, install everything on the left side of the panel and tie up the wires.

September 9, 2007

Good progress made this week! As I wired up and tested each function of the EIS, I had left the wires longer than necessary for convenience. I began by shortening the wires to their final lengths and bundling them together. I removed the unused wires from the harness with the exception of AUX4 which I may use in the future. I also installed the strain relief's on the cables and the covers for the connectors. I installed the main gear switch, the warning lights, the Hobbs meter, and the USB cables for the DU's into the panel for the last time. I also installed the master caution light for the EIS and finalized the wiring for it. I tied up all the wire bundles and tested everything one more time. All systems are working fine. The EIS is really the most difficult part of this project as it has a lot of connections that run all over the airplane. I could not build it up on the bench. Now, I am ready to install the radio trays and finalize that wiring. This will also allow me to finish up the circuit breaker panel on the right side.

September 16, 2007

This week went very quickly with me working at the airport 3 of the 5 weeknights and all day on Saturday. Sunday, I got in about a half day with Debbie helping me. We got a lot done. As I suspected, things are coming together fairly quickly now. I began by installing the radio trays. These were previously wired on the bench and there was a lot of wire bundles to manage as the trays went into the panel. Once the trays were all bolted in, I began to straighten out the wire bundles and lay them out in the general area where they would run. I also ran the EFIS wiring to the AHRS. While I was working in the nose, I plumbed the pitot/static ports on the AHRS into the aircraft's system. One of the things that I wanted to avoid is the "forest of ring terminals" for ground connections. There were two of these "towers of terminals" behind the panel. I decided that I would use a DB25 connector instead. So, I took a female DB25 (solder type) and bridge-soldered two strands of #18 wire across the terminals on the back of the connector. I installed the strain relief and cover on the connector and ran the two wires to the airframe ground connection. I am running all of my ground wires to pins on a crimp-type male DB25. The pins are inserted into the shell and the male connector (shown without cover) will be connected to the female ground connection. This will be much better looking and allow for expansion if needed later.

Next, I mounted the audio panel in the rack. I connected up the power and got the unit online. Next, I put in the GNC-420. This is actually COM2 but it is GPS1 and I wanted to get it working with the EFIS before I put in anything else. So, I temporarily installed the DU's in the panel, connected the power to them and the AHRS, and connected the GNC420 into the EFIS system. With these components powered up, we can get a sense of things to come. I have to tie up some wiring going to the audio panel, test my PTT wiring from the joystick and wire up the power to the remaining devices (GPS2, SL30, GTX327). Light at the end of the tunnel?

September 19, 2007

Who would have thought that it would take this long? I came to the realization that I won't have the airplane put back together in time to meet my obligation at the Mid South Airshow as a static display. They have 35 other airplanes for static display from vintage to jets so I won't be missed. I put the rest of the radios in the panel. The GTX327 needed a connection to power and the transponder antenna. The SL30 needed two power and ground connections (really two radios in one box, COM and NAV). I traced down the PTT wiring and connected it into the audio panel. I also connected the headset wiring into the audio panel. So, I was finally able to power up the whole system in the airplane. I put on my headset and I could hear audio from both COM radios and the NAV on the SL30. I spoke through the headset to test the intercom and I heard, nothing. No mic audio coming through to the intercom or the radios for transmit. At least the PTT works, keying which ever COM radio is selected on the audio panel. I spent a day troubleshooting the mic problem. I started at the headset jacks in the arm rests and worked my way to the audio panel, checking for shorts or continuity at each junction in the wiring. Here's the frustrating part of these kind of problems: Take the audio panel out of the panel and lay it on the nose of the airplane with everything hooked up. It works perfectly. Good clear voice on the intercom and over the radio at transmit. Put it back in the panel and it doesn't work. Finally, I found it. The wire that carries the pilot's mic audio is broken right at the connector on the back of the audio panel. This probably happend in all of the handling required to bundle up these wires, transport the pre-wired trays to the airplane and install the whole mess in the panel. I repaired this and it works fine now. Now, it is a downhill slide as we have two GPS's, a two-screen EFIS with AHRS and magnetometer, two COM radios, a NAV radio, and an audio panel with intercom installed in the airplane and working. Can I make it to the big canard fly-in at Rough River on the 29th? Probably not but I will keep trying.

Still to go, permanent mounting of the magnetometer, more wire bundling, clean up of the airplane's interior (there are about 10,000 ty wrap cut-offs in the bottom of the airplane), install the mechanical backup gages, plumb the pitot/static system to them, post lights and light dimmer control, put the cowlings on and more. I don't want to even think about the autopilot at this point. It will have to wait until next winter (not that far away now). I have some other things to put in as well such as a new Infinity stick grip and a couple of "top secret" things that I will tell you about later but have been planned for this installation since the beginning.

October 19, 2007

Happy Birthday to me! One of the best presents that I could have gotten, my daughter, Allison, soloed on October 6th! Very exciting! Now, back to work. I installed the back shells on all of the D-sub connectors. Mounted the magnetometer to the top of the AHRS (this is a NO-NO I have been told but I am going to try it). Installed the backup, analog instruments and connected them into pitot/static system. I also installed the post lights on them. I just have one empty hole in the panel now and that is reserved for the autopilot controller. I reinstalled the cowlings on the engine and pushed the airplane outside for the first time since March. I should mention that my good friend, Stephen Smithson, came over and helped me inspect everything and sign off the annual condition inspection before I started closing everything up. I ran the engine and verified that everything was working. I did some radio checks. I taxied the airplane out to the ramp and performed the magnetometer calibration. With everything looking good, I took the airplane to the runway and performed a high-speed taxi, verifying that the EFIS and analog airspeeds responded and were a close match. the engine monitor was functioning well so I WENT FLYING! Flew about 15 minutes and brought the airplane back. Everything seemed to function well, the airspeeds matched and the heading seemed about right. Special thanks to my wingman, Jeff Linebaugh. I cannot think of anyone I would rather have on my wing.

The next day, I flew 3 sorties, for a total of 2.5 hours. I did some airwork to make sure that the airspeed indications, engine instruments and other functions indicated values that were valid base on my experience with the airplane. I flew around some, fiddling with all the various functions, checking the gps's and so forth. I even managed to get in some formation flying. Here's a before and after picture:

October 27, 2007

Flew the airplane in the Memphis 100 Air Race. I had the race course in the GNC-420 and in the EFIS internal flight plan. Both agreed throughout the flight. The engine monitor worked flawlessly. I have now declared the system operational. I will make my first, long-distance flight in a couple of weeks as I go to Taylor, TX for the last SARL race of the year.

June 15, 2008

I have flown the system for about 25 hours now. The only problem that I have had with it has been inaccurate compass headings. This was attributed to my choice of location for the magnetometer. I decided to relocate the magnetometer to a location that has less interference. I purchased a male-to-female shielded DB9 cable that was 10 feet long. I plugged one end of it into the connector that terminated at the present magnetometer location and plugged the magnetometer into the other end of the cable. I brought up the magnetometer raw data on the EFIS and moved the magnetometer around the airplane until I found a location that seemed to be fairly close to correct prior to calibration. I settled on the left baggage strake area. I mounted the magnetometer with some 3M double sided foam tape for testing. I took the airplane out to the ramp and performed the calibration procedure. The system showed virtually no correction required! I ran the calibration twice just to make sure. When I flew the airplane, the heading was dead on and very stable even after manuevering. My wind arrow and my flight path symbol appeared to be accurate for the first time.

July 17, 2008

Paul Dye was one of the first people to upgrade his Horizon 1 to the HS or hi-resolution screen versions. He made a video of it in flight which I hosted on this website. After seeing it, I realized that I had to upgrade my WS version to the HS version. GRT has a very reasonable upgrade policy and a quick turnaround time. The HS unit is taller so the question is, "will it fit"? I printed out the templates for the HS and did a lot of figuring and head scratching. I figured out that I could fit one HS screen in my panel but not two. Two units would be too tall to fit. In order to even get one in the panel, I would have to lower my bottom screen as far as it would go and open up the cutout at the top of the panel as well. I pulled my top unit out and sent it off to GRT on a Monday. I got it back on Friday. I spent the day on Saturday enlarging the cutouts in the panel and lowering the #2 MFD. I put the upgraded unit in the panel and fired it up. Wow! The new screen if fantastic. The pictures do not do it justice. You have to see it in person. By the time I got it done, I was too hot and tired to fly. I had to wait until Wednesday to get another chance to fly. I flew it for about 45 minutes. As you can see in Paul's video, the symbology is very easy to interpret and the split screen with the engine guages at the bottom is great. When I got down, I started trying to figure out a way to make the second screen fit after upgrade again. I don't see how I can do it but I haven't given up yet. Here's a before and after:

To be continued....