Avionics (canopy wiring); 38 - Canopy & Window (seals and Koger sunshade); 42 - Miscellanea (foot steps)

I didn't accomplish that much during the past 2 weeks, largely because I diverted some time to register the bird with the FAA, and start getting current again with a local flight school (and I completed a written exam, which took me about 6 hrs!).  Formal retraining starts this week.  Back to the bird:  I'm at the "90% done, 90% to go" stage, and formulated a long punchlist of stuff I want to accomplish before I move the fuselage to the hangar in a few weeks, as well as what is needed to finalize the plane prior to its airworthiness inspection. Here is a short list of tasks I completed these past weeks:

- attached head unit for ELT; completed SB-00027 (nosegear cutout and beefy washer); cut and attached LED glareshield light strip (1 extra segment, per Ken B.); started wiring canopy wires to the male molex pins on canopy molex connector

- finished canopy wiring, adhered wires with RTV silicone (note - the LED light strip’s tape does not adhere well - may need to RTV silicone that as well - or use Pliobond, which I ordered)

- attached static line to GSU25 and G5; attached 1/8” NPT straight fittings to pitot/AOA on GSU25 and pitot on G5

- attached some seals to canopy front, some of which used Pliobond to stick better; reattached LED light strip

- attached forward seal to canopy

- attached foot steps (powder coated black a few months ago)

- attached side canopy seals; attached Koger sunshade    

Started the cutout for part of the recent service bulletin (SB-00027):   

Avionics (lots of shizzle)

I completed a lot of avionics-related tasks during the past ~two weeks, including powering on the panel for the first time!  Thanks to Sean M., I have a temporary ground power unit hooked to the aircraft, supplying about 14V (need to have between 13-15V to charge the LiFePO4 IBBS), and I can spend a couple hours at a time playing with the settings instead of only 10-15min with the ship's battery. Specifically, I did the following the past two weeks:

- finished tidying all wire bundles FWF; routed and terminated all grounds (34 in total) to “forest of tabs”

- wired voltage regulator for backup alternator; wired a few other loose wires; attached battery; attached two Comant COM antennae; attached (temporarily) transponder blade antenna

- routed RG400 and connected BNC male connectors to all 4 ends of the coax that goes to the Comant antennae

- fabricated and painted shelf for GPS antennae; routed RG400 for the main GPS antenna (from GTN750xi); ordered RG400 and female BNC to connect G3X "el cheapo" antenna

- tidied some of the avionics wires; routed main & G3X GPS antennae RG400 wires and mounted both antennae to shelf above baggage compartment; installed GTR20 (remote Com2) and voltage regulator for backup alternator to rails (fabricated previously); installed trickle charger harness to battery

- connected transponder and attached right avionics shelf; figured out LED strip light connections; troubleshot rocker switch backlighting issue (3 switches weren’t lit; bad wire crimp for two); wired G3X GPS antenna; wired GTN750xi Nav to Archer antenna (temp. install)

- attached power supply to airplane to test avionics without draining battery, and to charge the IBBS and G5 (since they supposedly need >=13.8V to charge - correction: 13-15V) ; Comms worked well in receive mode - used headset and separate handheld transceiver on 123.45MHz; programmed avionics (started)

- installed most components of the ELT (except head unit, since waiting for battery)

- attached labels to push/pull control knobs; attached canopy avionics wires to molex connector; routed and attached 2 wires to canopy open/closed switch; cut and attached glareshield edge trim; started planning SB for nosegear washer and cutout; cut LED light strip to size (plus one segment, according to Ken B.) 

The next set of pics are the final tidying of FWF wires, hoses, cables, etc: