The Final Push – Week 2

We got an immense amount done on my Bede BD-4C airplane this week. Thank you Thank you Thank you to all of the friends who have shown up at the hangar and helped!

April 29

• Connected wiring for the heated pitot tube. The controller was about one foot too far from the pitot tube. Lacking a wire stretcher, I had to cut it’s harness and solder five wires into it, making it longer. I then connected the controller to my own wiring harness which runs through the wings. I had built that harness over a year ago.
• Pulled the pitot and angle-of-attack (AOA) tubing through the wing.
• Removed the landing lights from the wings. The pigtails on the lights are too short for me to attach them to the wiring harness in the wing.
• Drilled holes in the center section of the spar for the pitot and angle-of-attack (AOA) tubing.

April 30

• Completed wiring the navigation/position/strobe lights.
• Completed wiring, and reinstalled, the landing lights.

  

May 1

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  Secured the wires in the wingtips with cushion clamps.

• Installed wings and tested navigation/position lights, strobes, landing lights (with and without wig-wag), and pitot heat. All worked the first time 🙂
• EFIS screen #1 failed. Removed for repair.
• The wires for CHT sensor #2 came loose from the RDAC. Reinstalled those wires and tightened all thermocouple connections to the RDAC.
• Configured the MGL iEFIS for the correct number of EGT and CHT sensors.

May 2

• Removed wings so that I can do the final bits of work where the wings attach to the fuselage.
• Ran 1/4 inch polyurethane pitot and angle-of-attack (AOA) tubing through the center section of the main spar, down the corner of the cabin, to behind the instrument panel. Secured it in place with cushion clamps.
• Continued dressing wires behind the instrument panel.

May 3

• Drilled through the fuselage at the wing root, in front of the spar. Installed a grommet and ran the fuel sender wires through the hold. Installed connectors. I used trailer hitch connectors because they are secure and easily sourced.

  

  Inside the fuselage, I used some Raychem chrimp connectors that I found in the aviation aisle at Home Depot.

  

• Installed the rest of the rivets in the fuselage half of the pilot side door hinge.
• Secured more wires behind the instrument panel.
• Met with Clint, the maintenance manager from St. Charles Flying Service, and discussed my engine.

May 4

• Install the rest of the rivets in the door half of the pilot side door hinge.
• Ran the AOA tube to the MGL iBOX.
• Ran the pitot tube to the MGL iBOX and the MGL ASX-2 backup altimeter/airspeed indicator. Determined that I bought the wrong size T-fitting for the tube.
• Began installing the push-to-talk (PTT) wires. The PTT switches will be on the tops of the control stick grips. The wires run down the inside of the control sticks, across the cabin near the floor to the right side wall, forward and up to the audio panel.
• Finished securing wires behind the instrument panel, mostly using hook & loop straps (generic Velcro ties) and a few cushion clamps.
• Installed the current limiters (60 amp and 40 amp fuses) on firewall for the primary and backup alternators.