Avionics Testing

February 5, 2023 Georgeairplane, avgeek, aviation, Avionics, Bose, Bose A20, canopy, Dynon, experimental, Firewall Forward, Flying, Garmin, homebuilt, pilot, RV-7, vansaircraft, Vertical Power, wiring harnessesLeave a comment

I’ve been doing some component and subsystem testing of the avionics. I hooked up my laptop to the VPX to configure and test all the switches and devices before powering things on for the first time.

Once I powered up the avionics I was able to work through all the setup and testing of the different components.

Today I spent time wiring up the trim servos. They wire up to the autopilot panel so that they can be controlled using the Dynon auto trim functionality. I also wired up the flap position sensor. The flap sensor is wired to the VPX rather than to the Dynon EMS. The reason for this is so the VPX can monitor and control the deflection of the flaps to certain levels.

I don’t have it in the picture, but I also installed the Garmin G5 and powered and tested as well. I also wired up a micro switch to the canopy latch, it displays a digital “light” on the EFIS if the canopy is open.

I’ve really been enjoying wiring up and testing all the avionics. Next up I’ll be working on the canopy frame in preparation for the canopy bonding.

Switch Wiring

January 28, 2023 Georgeairplane, avgeek, aviation, Avionics, Dynon, homebuilt, RV-7, vansaircraft, Vertical Power, wiring harnessesLeave a comment

Today I spent time disassembling the panel and making the wiring harness for all the switches. Since I’m using the VPX for my power distribution, all of the switches are wired directly to the J2 connector and to ground. It simplifies the wiring and allows for a very clean setup.

Once I had the panel out of the plane, I installed the switches so I could measure the wires and begin the assembly.

Once I had the switches in, I began wiring them and bundling the harness to that the wires could route to the VPX without too much trouble.

The resulting installation is quite clean and organized. I then tested each switch to ensure proper grounding and that the VPX pins match my wiring schematics. Next time I’ll test the functionality of each switch on the VPX using my laptop.

Another angle showing the switches. There’s still some cleanup of the panel to do, and then it will be ready for painting.

Radio

January 20, 2023 Georgeairplane, avgeek, aviation, Avionics, Bose, Bose A20, Dynon, homebuilt, pilot, RV-7, vansaircraft, Vertical Power, wiring harnessesLeave a comment

This evening I received an order with my new Bose 6-pin connector cord. I decided to use the Lemo style plugs on my plane rather than the GA plugs. The ship power for the Bose A20s is just so much more convenient.

I temporarily powered my Efis, radio and intercom to check all the wiring with the headphones.

Successful transmit and receive functionality

I was able to tune the AWOS to verify reception. Crystal clear. I then checked on the local traffic frequency with my handheld radio and everything functioned normally. A helicopter pilot happened to pass through and was able to verify my transmitting capabilities. The antenna is on the underside of the plane, and being inside the hangar I didn’t expect good quality but it seemed work okay, no static or anything.

I’ve been making a lot of progress on all the avionics wiring and power circuitry as well. I plugged my laptop into the VPX and configured it with my specific setup. I also verified the PPS with the master switch on I was detecting 12V on the Main output.

All the major systems have been installed and individually component tested. I’m now beginning to do the subsystem testing and slowly adding additional components. Once I finish manually verifying the power pins on the VPX, I’ll plug all the connectors in and have the VPX supply power directly allowing me to test the switches and full circuits.

I also finished installing the latch fingers on the canopy frame and verified the appropriate clearances around the fuselage and roll bar.

Now that the frame is fully riveted it’s time to prime and paint the interior, and then mask the frame where the canopy will go and paint the dashboard a flat black. Now that we’ve gotten through some of the biggest rain storms California has seen in a while, I’m hoping to get that knocked out soon.

Canopy Frame & Engine Controls

September 25, 2022 Georgeairplane, avgeek, aviation, Avionics, canopy, Dynon, engine, Firewall Forward, Fuselage, Garmin, homebuilt, io-360, pilot, RV-7, vansaircraftLeave a comment

This weekend I spent almost 20 hours working on the plane.

I started by rigging the mixture, throttle, and prop cables to the engine.

Here’s the mixture bell crank. The mixture cable is attached to the right side. I got it all adjusted so that the knob reaches the stops as the servo side hits the mixture stops.

I then spent a couple hours test fitting and adjusting the prop cable. Similarly, I needed to adjust it several times so that the stops were reached without any issues.

Here is a top down view looking at the cable attached to the prop arm. The bolt will need to be adjusted, it fully clears the mechanism, but it’s still too close for comfort. I’ll add another washer under the bolt head to increase the clearance.

The throttle cable was a lot easier, the alignment was almost spot on. I’ll need to do some slight adjustments on the servo arm.

Final adjustments to all this will be after the first engine start. But for now, everything is set from the factory.

Here’s the panel test fit and the cable bracket clamped to the panel temporary.

I then spent about 5 hours riveting the canopy frame and skin together.

Here’s the top of the canopy skin. The missing rivets are for the frame bracing. I will rivet the sub panel and lock-in the forward section of the fuselage before final riveting the braces, just to make sure it’s all perfectly aligned.

Here’s the bracing from the inside, the bottom rivets are riveted, but the top ones will be later.

Here’s the panel installed so that I can test fit the frame. I might need to make a slight adjustment where the G5 is installed on the far left. It might slightly interfere with the craniotomy frame tube that runs the length from left to right along the top of the panel.

Garmin G5 Pitot/Static Tubes

September 5, 2022 Georgeairplane, avgeek, aviation, Avionics, Dynon, Fuselage, Garmin, homebuilt, pilot, RV-7, vansaircraft, Vertical PowerLeave a comment

Today I spent a few hours working on getting the pitot and static lines up to the panel for the Garmin G5. The G5 will act as a backup EFIS to the Dynon.

I had to route the static line from the aft static ports to the front of the plane.

The tube here runs parallel to the rudder cable along the side of the fuselage.

It’s secured with a zip tie and this will be behind a panel that also covers the flap actuator tube.

I had to drill two holes through the bulkheads. This is blind riveted and I didn’t want to drill it off. The alignment took some trial and error.

Here is the routing just next to the pilots seat, this will be behind the side panel.

The final two holes put through the center channel bulkheads. From here, the static tube is routed up and to the panel and to the G5. Also on the panel will be a toggle switch an alternate static source in case of a static port failure.

More panel work

September 3, 2022 Georgeairplane, avgeek, aviation, Avionics, Dynon, Firewall Forward, Flying, Garmin, homebuilt, pilot, RV-7, vansaircraft, Vertical PowerLeave a comment

Today I spent most of the day working on different parts of the panel.

I cut the slot for the hour meter, and a double USB panel mount. These will be for updating both Dynon EFIS displays. Below the USBs will be the cabin heat control knob.

I also received my Garmin G5 that will act as my backup attitude indicator. I also added color caps to all the switches.

I also installed the headphones and microphone jacks. Here are the pilots side.

And co pilots side.

The panel is coming together. A more items to place and cut, and then the panel will be complete!

Cut Panel

August 7, 2022 Georgeairplane, avgeek, aviation, Avionics, Dynon, Flying, Garmin, homebuilt, pilot, RV-7, vansaircraft, Vertical PowerLeave a comment

Today I cut the panel for the main EFIS screens and the sub modules. I measured and compared to the CAD probably a dozen times, and luckily it all came out straight and even.

The first thing I did was look up how much the blank RV-7 panel costs on vansaircraft.com -$40. With that knowledge, I began to cut the first sub module hole, the knob panel.

After the knob panel went smoothly I began on the second one, the AP panel. All the modules are the same dimensions, but with the variability in my hand cuts I checked and lined up each element after test fitting.

The process begins by drilling a 1/8” hole in the corners (1/16” radius). Then using a cutoff wheel I cut just inside the lines for the hole. Then I filed the edges to the final size so that each item fit perfectly, but with no catches or tight spots. Then using some scotchbright, I smoothed the edges out so they are soft to the touch.

Here are the four modules sitting in the panel. I need to buy some mk2000-6 nut plates so that I can screw these to the panel.

Next I cut the large hole for the main Dynon HDX displays. It was very satisfying when the display was installed. Many years to get to this point!

Finally I cut the second hole, making sure everything lined up and was square, and then test fit the second display.

One thing I was (and still am) a little concerned about, is the angled ledge on the displays. With the gap below being just less than 2”, I planned to install my toggle switches centered between the display and the bottom of the panel. But with the ledge of the display sticking out a bit, I might bias the switches lower to give myself a little extra room to be comfortable flipping the switches.

Once I finalize the position of the Garmin G5 I’m going to install just to the left of the pilots display, I’ll start drilling the holes for the toggle switches. I placed one just below the screen in order to see how far up and down the switch is when toggled. It should have plenty of clearance from the display.

Panel

July 31, 2022 Georgeairplane, avgeek, aviation, Avionics, Dynon, homebuilt, pilot, RV-7, vansaircraft, Vertical PowerLeave a comment

I’ve been working over the last several months on the panel layout and design. I’ve gone through a few iterations and I’ve finally settled on a design.

I have a full size rendering of the panel so that I can visualize it as I do the detailed measurements. I have the entire thing measured out in CAD as well for the cutouts. The actual panel currently has a few reference lines marked on it for pilot/copilot centerlines, panel centerline, 1.5” ref line from the top, and finally 1” & 2” ref lines from the bottom.

Next update in a few days will have the complete panel marked and ready for cutting!

More Avionics Wiring

February 21, 2022 Georgeairplane, avgeek, aviation, Avionics, Dynon, engine, Firewall Forward, Flying, homebuilt, io-360, pilot, RV-7, vansaircraft, Vertical Power, wiring harnessesLeave a comment

Today I spent a solid chunk of time routing wires. Making wiring harnesses has been one of my the more satisfying parts of the project so far.

I started by organizing the firewall forward sensor wires. This bundle contains everything from engine temps, to oil and fuel pressure and the ignition harnesses. These are now secured to the engine mount and won’t be able to move.

On the other side of the firewall I’ve secured everything and routed a portion of the harness down the left side of the fuselage in order to route the wires to proper area.

This is the center section between the pilot and passenger seats. The main harness here is routed up to the vertical power above for all the power distribution. Other parts of this include all the serial connections, and the electric pitch and roll trim motors.

Here’s another look at all the wires and how they’re routed (Ignore the tie wraps and scraps). The harness splits to allow for the left and right lighting wires to route to the correct wing. I’ve isolated all power wires from my radio wires so that there will be no interference.

This is my serial hub, it had ports for the primary and multifunction flight displays (empty slots) and the five serial avionics. The ADSB, transponder, Vertical Power, GPS and ELT (black box) all communicate via serial. This hub allows all the components to connect to the two main flight displays in parallel for each of the five serial ports. Once I’m down with all the routing of the wires this will be mounted to the sub-panel permanently.

Once I finished with the wiring I wanted to test fit my fuel pump and selector valve. I have custom fuel hoses from TS Flightlines, so I had to modify the brackets to allow the hoses to fit (you can see the cut bracket on the left below the wires). Once I mount the wings, the two fuel hoses will attach to the fuel tanks.

Ignition Harnesses

February 15, 2022 Georgeairplane, avgeek, aviation, Dynon, engine, Firewall Forward, homebuilt, io-360, pilot, RV-7, vansaircraft, Vertical PowerLeave a comment

Tonight I spent a few hours making my ignition harnesses. My engine uses twin P-Mag ignitions, so I had to make two identical harness.

I started by removing the connectors on the ignitions so I can attach the wires. The connectors use a screw-clamp style connection.

Here you can see the connector attached to the ignition with the wires attached. This is a six pin connector with Ground, ignition kill, power, and RPM out. There are two additional pins that can be shorted in order to change the default timing of the ignition.

The left ignition connector is on the bottom of the ignition and is a bit more challenging to get to, but I managed.

Here are the bundles completed. Looking forward to the day I get to start it up!

RV-7 N890GF

Build Log for George's RV-7 Project

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Avionics