Wing tips finished
The goal today was to finish everything in the wing tips. I connected the right nav light, and the VOR and marker beacon antennas in the right wing tip. I drilled and countersunk the lens. The fit isn’t perfect, but good enough for flight.
I found some aluminum duct repair tape for making a better ground connection between the wing skin and the antenna. I then used Shoe Goo in a few spots to glue the VOR to the wing tip. I think that stuff is just a fast-setting RTV.
I used the Shoe Goo on the MB antenna as well, seen here weighted down to hold it in place.
The right nav light is on in this picture, although it doesn’t look like it. It’s definitely bright when it’s on.
Next task was to attach the fuel tanks to the fuselage. It’s a pretty straight-forward process of bending the bracket a little, drilling the hole, installing a nut plate, bolting everything together, and then safety wiring. However, access in this area is not great. Got both sides done.
Last task for the day was to measure the fuel flow. I disconnected the fuel line at the servo and directed into my calibrated fuel can. On 3 separate trials, it took an average of 3.75 minutes to fill to the 3 gallon mark. That calculates to 48 gallons per hour, which is about what I expected–way more than the engine consumes. The strange thing is that the engine monitor was reporting a flow of 24.1 gph. The sensor is supposed to handle up to 70 gpm, so not sure what’s going on there. I’ll ask AFS about it. I used this opportunity to balance the fuel as well. There’s now 12 gallons on the left and 9 on the right. Should be good enough for first flight, although I’ll ask my test pilot what he prefers. Probably best not to fill them up completely.
At some point during the day, I decided to take a couple side pictures of the firewall forward. I’m not exactly sure I have the wires secured well enough, and was going to ask around about it.
Long, but productive day.