I have been steadily working on the tailcone, and just finished the riveting of the side skins, installed the snap bushings in the bulkheads, and last night ran the rudder cables through the tail.
Horizontal Stab attach angle - Ended up reordering because I removed too much on the edges and the edge distance was insufficient
Side skin attach - Wires run as well
You really need to work on the overlap to ensure that there are not large gaps, had to take this apart a few times and use a seamer to bend a bit and "encourage" the edges to fit correctly.
In position to rivet (now complete).
Wiring/Avionics
Last week I had a conversation about wiring with a fellow builder, who just had his panel work done through Aerotronics . I contacted them to discuss wiring, and they gave me a great education on what needed to happen once we get to the panel stage. My plan currently is that I will not buy the Vans wiring harness, but instead either take advantage of the wire runs that Aerotronics provides when the time comes, OR I may actually run my own wiring. I had originally put $35K into my budget for the panel, but when I heard that his IFR panel similar to what I want was $50K I was shocked.
When it comes to using a vendor vs DIY there are two camps, and I totally understand both positions (I am grouping in similar schools of thought and reasoning into each grouping).
Do it yourself:
You built the rest of the plane, you are going to install the engine yourself which arguably is a larger safety concern than the panel so why not do the wiring as well? Besides you will save $8-10K on the labor costs that are charged when you have someone else do it. It is a new skill to learn, and if you already have some interest and knowledge (I do) then why not invest the extra time?
Leave it to the professionals:
Let's face it, this is a LOT of wiring, and even if you knew what you were doing it will look much better if a professional does the wiring. All of the thinking is done for you, you will get a nice wiring diagram out of it, and lots of after sales support.
In addition, there is a lot of room for error when not only running the wiring, but getting the connections correct, and having everything function correctly (CANBUS for example with Garmin). It is worth the extra cost for the acceleration of the build.
Another variant of this line of thinking is: Wiring is scary, left to professionals, and is just a skill I don't have. (I don't subscribe to this however I get it).
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I haven't decided which path I will take - certainly buying some wiring and doing the runs through the fuselage while I consider what to do is a middle ground and I have plenty of time. I am just about 100% certain it will be a Garmin panel when the time comes, assuming the market is not disrupted with new models/players.
I also decided I am going to go with FlyLeds when the time comes as well assuming they are still on the market in the future. I am deferring all lighting and avionics decisions as long as possible as things do change in the marketplace.
Ordered the Fuselage kit!
I pulled the trigger on the fuselage kit. It should be shipping at the end of September so that gives me plenty of time to finish up the tailcone, perhaps work on some fiberglass although I may wait until the end of the build for that, and certainly contemplate what paint for the interior I will use. If I really have lots of extra time I will think about the panel as well.
One thing is for sure, I am going to really clean the garage before it gets here!
