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.

Cabin Top is Painted

Woohoo....time to paint a part of the interior!
I'm pretty excited about this! It feels like a major milestone. I'm excited to finish and paint the cabin top and overhead. Then I'll install the cabin top for good!

There was a lot prep work that went into this and I'll let my pics and daily tasks lay it all out.

Dates and Times
Tues 18 -1.5 hrs- Sanded canopy with 100grit to smooth everything out
Wed 19 -1.5 hrs- Same as yesterday
Thurs 20 -0.75 hrs- Same as yesterday and the day before that
Fri 21 -0.75 hrs- Sprayed with grey high build primer from spray can...same as before when I primed the overhead for the first time
Sat 22 -3.0 hrs- Sanded with 180 grit and then with 220 to get everything really smooth. Wiped it all down and sprayed the overhead first with a really dark grey color I picked out from Sherwin Williams exterior car paint. Both my colors are Range Rover exterior colors (not intentional...just happened that way).
Sun 23 -2.0 hrs- Taped/masked the overhead dark area and then sanded the rest with 220 to smooth out the overspray from yesterday. I then sprayed my really light tan color on the rest. I plan on installing a headliner so the entire top is not painted for that reason.


Original primer sanded down until smooth. Any pin holes filled...again.

After a second coat of primer and more sanding I sprayed my first color.

Masking and more sanding I sprayed my second color.

A close up of the lip. It all looks really good and the pictures don't do it justice. I'm really happy with the results...and of course you need to imagine the closeout panels installed. I'll have a few touch up details and the painting of the overhead will be complete.


I used Sherwin Williams Dimension paint. It is an Acrylic Enamel exterior car paint. The two cans on the right are the two color base paints. You mix the reducer and hardener per the instructions and then add the flattening agent (can on the left). I added an almost 1:1 ratio of paint to flattener to make an almost completely flat look. The finish has a slight "eggshell" reflection back....which is exactly what I had hoped for. I won't be spraying a clear coat.

Overhead Console, Brake Lines, and Fuel Lines

My last post was November 20th and since then work in the shop has been sporadic, not the steady pace I usually have. Visiting friends,Thanksgiving, travel, and all the holiday events create chaos in the shop schedule. We flew to visit Brian and Brandi over in Atlanta. It's a little over an hour flight for us, so not too bad. They usually fly over to visit us but their RV-10 is getting painted and we owed them a visit anyway. Departure was delayed due to nasty cross winds cutting our visit a little shorter than I hoped, but we had fun seeing them regardless. On the flight back home I lost the right vacuum pump, not a big deal since we were VFR. But I can't wait to finish the RV-10, it won't even have vacuum pumps!

We then flew up to St. Louis later that week for turkey and pumpkin pie in the rented Cessna. The trip up was with a 35kt headwind.....ouch. Of course, the winds died down for the return flight so we only had a 10kt tailwind. Baby Ayla slept both trips there and back the entire flight! I had to pick up an IFR clearance on the return trip and, when reaching our destination, leave the beautiful sunshine behind to descend through about 3000 ft of overcast. I was excited about possibly having to shoot an approach, but we dropped out of the clouds around 5000ft. So no luck.

My brake line and fuel line order from Bonaco arrived. The hoses look really nice. The brake line is the standard kit Bonaco supplies for the RV-10 and the fuel lines are custom sized per my order. All of my fuel lines are going to be flexible stainless steel to replace the aluminum tubing that are per plans. This makes the installation easier and should keep the fuel cooler as it travels to the engine. I didn't take any pictures of the brake lines yet...I'll try and remember to do that.

My fuel line measurements are:

QTY 1 - Straight to 45deg - 14.0in Total Length (Fuel pump to firewall)            

QTY 1 - Straight to Straight - 7.0in Total Length (Fuel selector to fuel pump)               

QTY 2 - Straight to Straight - 9.5in Total Length (Each side of fuel selector to Fwd Fuse Rib fittings)
QTY 2 - Straight to 45deg - 28.5in Total Length (Fwd Fuse Rib fittings to wings)

I think these measurements are going to work out really well, but I haven't attached the wings yet for a final fit so don't blame me if you order the same thing and it doesn't work out....: )

Dates and Times

November
Sat 23 -4.7hrs- Overhead fiberglass work. Curved fwd edge molded. Started Bonaco brake line install.

Mon 25 -1.25hrs- Worked on overhead console edge flange

Tues 26 -1.0hrs- same as yesterday, but the opposite side 

December
Tues 3 -1.5hrs- worked on brake line install

Wed 4 -1.5hrs- worked on brake lines and fuel lines

Sun 8 -4.5hrs- Riveted fuel pump mount, worked on fuel lines, cut insulation, laid fiberglass for lip on overhead. A buddy stopped by to help me rivet the fuel pump mount to the lower skin inside the tunnel. We also got some of the fuel lines torqued. Thanks Aaron!
Mon 9 -1.0hrs- sanded and applied layer of build up on one side of overhead

I wouldn't expect much more from me this year. Ayla is going to be ONE YEAR OLD in about a week! Wow already, I know. So were having a party of course and then Xmas, more traveling, food, holiday events, visiting, cold weather.....

Creating molding for where the overhead will flare out at the front.

I'm creating a lip running down the side where an LED light can be tucked inside and the headlines can tuck under.

I cut a piece of foam at an angle using the table saw and taped it into place. A small piece of the angled foam can be seen above. This forms the mold for the fiberglass lay up.

Beginning to lay the fiberglass.

Fiberglass and filler applied. More sanding and filling coming soon.

Torquing what I can on the work bench. I think the stainless steel flex lines are going to work out really well.

Working hard in the shop.