Overhead Cable Install

It takes a lot longer to run cables then I imagined in my head. But in this particular case I had to run a lot of cables in a hard to reach place and through the center support tube which was VERY tight. I have two GPS RG-400 cables, the magnetomer wire bundle and all kinds of power and lighting wires running through the overhead.

All of the cables are tie wrapped and Adel clamped in place.

Here you can see the nylon wire wrap that protects the bundle of wires and cables that run down the center tube. I wound up having to slide the wires and cable through the tube and then install it for this to work which is why this took longer than I thought.

Cabin Top is Installed!

Sooooo behind on posts.

I finally got my overhead to a state that is acceptable to permanently mount to the rest of the fuselage. I think the paint turned out great and I finally got to see what the overhead looked like with the reading lights and the cabin lights installed....I am really happy with the results. The cabin top went in without much complaining or skewing from the plans.

Dates and Times
February
Mon 24 -1.25 hrs- Touched up paint on overhead.
Tues 25 -1.25 hrs- Sanded touch ups and installed one side of LED lights.
Wed 26 -1.0 hr- Installed other side of lights and glued some pieces in place.

March
Sat 1 -1.0 hr- Deburred and dimpled cabin top rivet strips
Sun 2 -6.25 hrs- Installed Cabin Top!


This is a picture of the front of the overhead with the eyeball reading lights installed. The massive cut out in the center is for the support post and will have a closeout panel covering everything. Also the unpainted parts in the middle of the top are the nutplates where the closeout panels go.

Here is a picture showing the cabin lighting. It gives a nice even glow over the entire cabin. Just imagine the headliner and closeout panels in!

Lights out to see how it'll look at night. Nice!

Ayla joining me out in the shop. It's great that she can walk now as she enjoys strolling around the shop.

Overhead Primer

After more sanding I decided it's finally time to prime the overhead console. I used SEM High Build Primer sprayed from a rattle can. A single can was just enough cover everything. Of course after spraying the primer more pinholes showed up. After the primer dried I filled the pinholes with resin and filler and then sanded everything one more time....hopefully the last time. I then (with help from a friend of mine) drilled and attached all of the nutplates to hold the close out panels in place. I also made a small close out panel that will go on the front edge of the overhead and straddles the center post. The panel will help finish out the hole on the forward edge.

I jumped around on parts to work on. Sometimes, multiple parts on the same day. Therefore my times will be a little scattered on this post.
Dates and Times
Sat 11th -4.5 hrs- Sanded overhead, final fit for close out panels, sprayed high build primer on overhead, a few other odds and ends
Sun 12th -5.5 hrs- Finished fuel lines (details in another post)
Mon 13th -1.25 hrs- Countersunk holes in canopy, installed bushing in canopy top (all per plans)
Tues 14th  -1.0 hr- Filled pinholes in overhead console
Wed 15th  -1.0 hr- Final fit for close out panels in overhead. Started sanding filled spots and primer
Fri 17th -4.0 hrs- Insulated top of upper fwd fuselage, trimmed sound panels for easier maintenance when upper fwd fuselage is installed, random small jobs of little importance, with help sanded the overhead (about a 1 hr of effort on the overhead). Then later that evening Jess and I unpacked the finishing kit. (more on this in another post)

Still Working on Overhead

You know, not really feeling very "bloggy" today so it's gonna stay short...
sanded, sanded, and sanded. Back filled with filler to smooth it all out. It's hard to tell but the panels are flush mounted. I plan to finish this thing up and prime this weekend.

Dates and Times
Wed 1st -3.0 hrs- worked on overhead, sanded overhead, cut access panels out, molded panels into place Thur 2nd -1.25 hrs- more sanding, removed panels
Sat 4th -5.0 hrs- sanded everything down, worked on front contour
Sun 5th -3.5 hrs- sanded more, drilled pilot holes into panels, finished forming edge around panels, clean up shop...dust everywhere 

More Overhead Console Work

OK, one more post before the end of the year.

I had a few consecutive days of work and then production came to a grinding halt for Xmas vacation. This time driving up to St. Louis for a week long visit. Drive? you ask. Why would we do a thing like that? Well, renting a plane for a week is not very practical. Its both difficult to book for an entire week and very...very expensive. Just another motivator to finish the plane.

I've still been working on the overhead console. Lots of fiberglass stuff. I don't mind fiberglass but I am ready to move on to some other part of the plane, whether it's fiberglass work or not.

Dates and Times
Tues 10 -1.5 hrs- sanded and added filler to overhead console edge

Wed 11 -1.5 hrs- sanded and cut one edge flange piece on overhead console

Thurs 12 -1.5 hrs- sanded and shaped more parts on cabin and overhead. Located holes for door bracket

Sat 28 -3.0 hrs- sanded and bonded edge flange

Sun 29 -4.5 hrs- more sanding. Cut and bonded edge flange on other side

Mon 30 -1.5 hrs- cut closeout panel openings and removed initial mold foam support

The initial layup forming the edge flange pieces.

I trimmed out a hole for the door strut bracket. Later I went back and did a lot of filler work including filling in around the cutout.

This is one of the internal pieces creating the shape of the forward part of the overhead. This gets bonded in and smoothed out later.

All the pieces on one side are trimmed and ready for final bonding to the substructure.

Both sides bonded into place along with a lot of filler work completed.

A view of the edge flange running along the side of the overhead. This will house an LED rope light to provide cabin lighting.

So far I'm pleased with how it's turning out. Next I need to make the closeout panels and then finish forming them into place. I also need to finish the forward edge where the support post attaches.

Cheers! 

&

Happy New Year!

Overhead Console Work

This is only the first step to making the overhead console. There will be multiple steps and parts that need to be made before this thing starts really looking like a finished product. So far it's been a lot of fun. I have some cool ideas for this overhead which is what finally drove me to making my own instead of ordering one. I often have a very specific thing I want something to do or have and when I can't find it on the market I make one. The "I'll just build it myself" decision is usually a very quick one for me to make and I make it often. Most of the time it's furniture..."they want how much for that?!! Wow I could make that for a fraction of the cost and it will last a lot longer! OK I'll just build it" Yep the decision happens that fast and I'm off sketching plans and buying hardwood. Well, the plane isn't any different. If a product is fairly priced and it would be laborious for me to make on my own I'll buy it and not think twice. The overhead though, I had something in mind, some exact details I wanted. Details I would see on the jets I used to work with. So the decision quickly became "I'll just build it" and, so far, it's been a lot of fun!

Dates and Times

Wed 13 -1.5 hrs- removed cabin cover, drilled backup strips

Sat 16th -5.0 hrs- prepped cabin, cab-o-sil gaps, made foam mold and taped to cabin, spray foam filler

Sun 17th -5.0 hrs- started fiberglass for overhead console, two layers
(The times for Sat and Sun are estimates as I wasn't watching the clock. They also include a lot of planning and trial/error time that is normally not done in the shop.)

First I roughed up and cleaned the cabin cover and then filled in voids in the cover with West Systems Epoxy Resin with 205 Hardener and Cab-O-Sil Filler to thicken it up. After filling in voids in the cabin cover I made my mold for the console. The "mold" is made from foam insulation from Lowe's. It's tacked together with glue and then wrapped in tape so the fiberglass doesn't adhere to it. I also filled in the empty space of the forward door frame with spray foam. After the foam dried I cut it to the height of the rest of the structure and then cut out the area needed to install the visor mounts.

I then added a fillet of the filler mixture along the edge of the foam and coated and filled the empty/cut open cells of the foam. I then laid my first piece of fiberglass while everything was still tacky.

I put two layers on the overhead mold and one layer on the sprayed in foam.

Fiberglass laid in place and drying.....step 1 complete.

Starting the Cabin Cover

Fiberglass! I am actually excited to start fiberglass work. I was productive last weekend. I cut out the cabin top and then had the first test fit. I found a lot of places that needed additional trimming with the test fit. With the top back off I trimmed up the noted places of interference and then tried to fit the cabin again. This time it slid right into place, success. On Monday (holiday off from work) I started all the match drilling and countersinking into the fuselage. All in all, the whole process went a lot faster than what I thought and was much easier than what I expected. Actually, it was a lot like wood working but without worrying about wood grain.

I also did a lot of brain storming about my overhead console and how to do fiberglass work. I got a lot of good pointers from a buddy of mine that stopped by Sunday and Brandi pointed me in the right direction to the West System's Website and their products. Most of their products can be bought from Aircraft Spruce and you can do a lot of research and learning on their very informative website. Instead of forking over $1000 for the Aerosport console, which isn't exactly what I want anyway, I want to build my own overhead console. With an order of fiberglass and epoxy from Aircraft Spruce on it's way I hope to start this coming weekend. In addition to the overhead console the cabin cover is going to take a lot of work filling voids and shaping the structure to actually look decent, but I'm ready to get started.    

Dates and Times
Sat 9th -4.0hrs- Cut cabin top
Sun 10th -3.75hrs- Cut and shape cabin top
Mon 11th -6.0hrs- Brain storming overhead ideas, drilling holes with helper Kris, countersinking etc


Marking the places to cut. The existing scribe lines are hard to see and usually not straight.

    Going into battle with fiberglass gear on.

The cabin top trimmed and ready for test fit.

The tools I used: Cut off wheel, Angle grinder with cut off disk, hand held belt sander with 80grit paper, drill gun with sanding drum and 80 grit paper. I mostly used the angle grinder with the cut off disk and the belt sander. The disks I used were standard metal cut off disks from Harbor Freight and it cut right through the fiberglass without a problem.

The leftover trimmings.

I used a pulley attached to the ceiling to hoist the cabin top above the fuselage. Then I would move the fuselage under the cabin and slower lower the cabin top into position.

The cabin top trimmed and in place.....looking even more like an airplane! 

Match drilling to the fuselage and countersinking holes. I used all the normal tools here, nothing special.

I drilled the attach holes for the center post.