Wendell Folks RV-8 Project - Page 68.

November 17, 2007:  Finally, a Saturday afternoon session with Wendell with some real milestones to report.  Wendell wanted to double check the clearance of the rudder counter weight from the fiberglass cap on the vertical stabilizer before we glass in the balsa block that will seal the aft side of the cap behind the VOR antenna.

Before the rudder went on, I had pointed out that the tail light B+ wire was caught between the rear spar of the vertical stabilizer and the last bulkhead of the fuselage.  After that little snafu was corrected, the ground wire to the tail light was installed on one of the three bolts that had to be loosened to free the power wire to the light.  A layer of twist wrap plastic was wrapped around the strobe power wire and both wires that go to the tail light bulb which will be mounted in the fiberglass lower rudder cap.

The elevator pushrod is in position again but does not have all the spacer washers installed yet.  I reviewed the blue prints with Wendell to be sure he understood just how many washers were needed, their type and sequence of installation at the center bearing of the horizontal stabilizer and the ends of the elevator control horns seen in this photo.

The altitude hold servo motor is now back in position and connected to the wiring harness from the instrument panel.  Wendell had done this work earlier in the week.  Notice the black RG-58 coaxial cable and the white 12-volt power wire running aft from the servo area.  The coax cable runs from the VOR antenna to the instrument panel.  The tail light strobe cable is inside the corrugated flexible conduit on the left side of the elevator push rod.

Here is a view showing the temporary location of the steel mounting plate and the GPS and XM Satellite weather antennas.  The cables going from them to the instrument panel are seen below the right longeron.  I gave Wendell instructions on how to secure the cables as part of his assignment for the coming week.  His paint shop guy will have to come over again to paint the steel plate and the fuselage skin under the plate before it can be installed permanently.  The GPS antennas are located inside the aft canopy area when it is closed.

Here is the view of the GPS cables running forward.  Since the GPS antenna cable has a BNC connector on its end, the cable will not go through the instrument panel, but just below it.  Speaking of wires, I did not take a relevant photo, but the light wires to the magnetic compass are now secured under the forward top skin above the radio stack area.

We mixed up some epoxy to work on the lower rudder cap preparations for the aft tail light and strobe assembly.  Wendell wanted to add some additional glass layers to the rear joint where the canopy skirts meet behind the bubble canopy.  This photo shows the inside of the canopy skirts at the rear of the canopy frame.  One of the things that will be happening soon is the painting of the inside of the canopy skirt and frame to match the interior cabin wall colors.

This is the aft end of the fiberglass cap for the bottom of the rudder.  A hole to accept the strobe light assembly has been cut into the fiberglass and two screw holes have been drilled to secure the assembly.  This photo shows how gray electrical tape has been put across that large 1-inch-plus-sized hole and the two screw holes.   A slurry of tissue paper mixed with epoxy resin has been placed over the inside of the screw holes to accept the #4 mounting screws that will secure the strobe light assembly.  After curing for a few days the light will be placed into the large hole and the screw holes will be match-drilled and tapped with a 4-40 tap to accept the screws.   This is the same process I used to mount my tail light on my RV-9A.