This week I’ve continued with various assembly tasks.
Lighting:
I resolved the issue with the strobe lights, finding I had mis-pinned a molex connector on the wingtip. Once I corrected the pins, everything worked just fine. It took longer than I care to admit to troubleshoot and find the problem. I learned that it’s useful to start by validating assumptions around where your wires are going by measuring impedance and verifying there is a good electrical connection. Then start measuring voltage drop, once you know your wires are going where you thought they were going.
Aileron Attach:
With help from a saw horse with adjustable leg height, I was able to quite easily install the ailerons. I used new hardware, except for the bushings, since I’ve had these on and off a few times. I was wondering if the install would be more difficult than when the wings were in the stand, but I found it the same, or maybe slightly easier.
I installed and final torqued the aileron pushrods, verified they were correctly rigged using the templates. The templates allow for the pushrod between the aileron and the bell crank to be correctly sized to establish the correct neutral point. Later in the week I rigged the stick-to-wing root pushrods per chapter 41, and adjusted pushrod length until I had the neutral point on both ailerons aligned with a level stick base. I was then able to test the stick clearance, and found I need to trim more off both sticks to avoid hitting the throttle (pilot side) and mixture (passenger side).
I hung the flaps and connected the pushrods, adjusting them to get both flaps all the way up, then verified they have enough clearance from the fuselage.
I also secured the wiring for the magnetometer. I had installed this a couple of years ago but hadn’t finalized the wiring. I had plenty of length so I created a large service loop and secured it out of the way of the pushrod.
