Wendell Folks RV-8 Project - Page 43.

February 19, 2007:  The wires coming from inside the fuselage to the LEFT wing are being terminated with plugs to connect the landing, taxi, and marker lights.  The wing leveler servo and the Dynon remote magnetic sensor are also being connected through the largest connector.

Two new circuit breakers are mounted near the battery.  The first one was the 35-ampere breaker for the avionics master.  There is also a 10-amp breaker for the rear seat 12-volt accessory outlet, and a 5-amp breaker for rear seat and baggage area lights.

Both DBM-25 connectors are completed and ready to provide power and audio connections to and from the removable instrument panel.  There is still some clean-up work to be done here with tie wraps.

The remaining harnesses are wired to the power sources and serial data lines.   All these connectors go to the engine monitor, Dynon D10-A, Trio wing leveler/autopilot, and Trio altitude hold.

February 24, 2007:  Our Saturday session on Wendell's RV-8 has him doing clean up of the wiring and routing of the static air lines to the Trio alititude hold control module and the altitude encoder.   The DBM-25 connector to the altitude hold unit has limited clearance requiring Wendell to come up with a good way to secure the module and be sure the wiring would fit in the cramped space between the baggage area and the removable instrument panel.

On the other side of the shop, I have been putting plugs on the wires in the wing for lights and the wing leveler servo.

At the wing-tip end, the wires for the strobes are now cut to length and terminated with the plugs that match the strobe light assemblies.  The serial data wires for the Dynon remote magnetic sensor and the Trio wing leveler servo have yet to be prepared.

February 26, 2007:   Wendell reached a milestone with the installation of the instrument panel and powering it up for the first time tonight.  There are still a few wires to be added before everything is ready to operate.  The fuel gauges and float sensors were also tested.  More about that later...

February 27, 2007:  The evening session at Wendell's shop was short and to the point.  With the instrument panel sitting on the work table again, I confirmed the wiring of the dimmer circuit and power to the GI-106 OBS/ILS/VOR indicator.  I also made sure the connections to the DBM-25 connector from the fuselage wiring was correct.  Everything checked out just fine.  When we plugged the panel back into the fuselage wiring and turned off the shop lights, the dimmer was indeed lighting up the GI-106.  The needles did move slightly when the NAV radio was powered up.

After that test was completed, I explained to Wendell how silicon diodes allow the flow of electric current in one direction only.  I then showed him how they would be installed on a barrier strip behind the panel.  The goal here was to provide 12 volts DC to the Hobbs meter and the LOW OIL PRESSURE warning light - - no matter which master switch is turned on.  The avionics master is powered from a separate breaker directly from the battery.  The lights, autopilot, and altitude hold system run from the main master relay via individual circuit breakers. 

I also decided that the RED LED lights for the "push-to-talk" radio indicator and the main MASTER ON indicator should be changed to a different type device after the leads on one of the lights was broken too easily.  I took Wendell into the hangar to show him the type of LED that I used on my PTT indicator light, and how it fits in a 1/4" hole that already exists at both places in his instrument panel.  When those two lights are replaced, the panel wiring should be complete.

We discussed the mounting positions of the baggage compartment night light, and the two lights in the back seat area for the rear seat passenger.  After that, we talked about the upcoming milestones.  The big one is all about the installation of the forward top skin and the things that will follow that event -- mounting the propeller, engine cowl, sliding canopy, windshield, etc.

John Myers came by to visit Wendell this morning.   He flew into Wendell's grass strip in an RV-4 he purchased.  He wanted to check on the progress on the RV-8 Wendell is building.  When he saw how far along Wendell's project was, he realized he needs to get going on his RV-8 again.  It has been neglected since John acquired the completed RV-4.