Avionics Status Update

I don't have much to say here other than we can see the light at the end of the tunnel! I debated early on having the wiring harness made, but I am very glad to have done this one myself. There is a level of understanding of how the bytes are flowing over the lines that one would not get if someone else were to have wired and configured the system. 

Everything in green is now complete with only a couple of additional wires to terminate (colored in orange).

Tanks

I have been putting this off for so long. I think it was really the idea of the tank having a massive leak that made me wait so long before pressure testing. I finally got sick of the tank on the ground always in my way and ran over to Walgreens to grab some balloons. Initially I thought I had some major issues because I started pumping up the tank with a bike hand pump and the balloon inflated but did not expand. I kept on pumping thinking surely there is a big leak somewhere in the tank.

It made sense that after a minute or so of pumping (with one of those really really small emergency bike pumps that you store on your bike frame) that the tank had enough pressure in it to overcome the initial push to expand the balloon. (I bought the cheap balloons). I let this sit all day and sprayed it up a couple of times with some soapy water. I did find a small leak on the outer flange baffle seal, but this was a pretty easy fix because I could access it through the gas cap. It wasn't a large leak, but I did find a handful of very small bubbles after an hour or two.

That has since been patched and this tank is finally on the wing where it belongs.

GTN650 G3X wiring

I spent a good hour and a half today trying to figure out how to get the GTN650, GTX45R, and the PFD talking to each other. Finally after getting most of the way there I realized that I was searching the G3X install manual for ARNIC and not ARINC. Towards the end of the G3X installation manual in the interconnect section the proper software settings for both the GDU and the GTN. (that is a lot easier than trying to figure that out by guessing the difference between "format 1" and "format 2").

*Note: to get into the configuration sections of the devices, hold "menu" when booting the GDU and hold "home" when booting the GTN.

RS-232 Configuration Overview

• PFD
• RS232-0: GSU25#1
• GSU25#1: RS232
• Configuration: N/A
• RS232-1: GTN650 
• GTN650: RS232-1
• Configuration: MAPMX
• RS232-2: GTN650
• GTN650: RS232-2
• Configuration: CONNEXT
• RS232-3: GDL51R
• GDL51R: RS232-2
• Configuration: CONNEXT
• RS232-4:
• Not Used
• RS232-5: GTX45R
• GTX45R: RS232-3
• Configuration: CONNEXT
• MFD
• RS232-1:
• RS232-2: GDL51R
• GDL51R: RS232-1
• Configuration: CONNEXT
• RS232-3: Vertical Power
• Vertical Power: RS232
• Configuration: "vertical power"
• RS232-4: GEA24
• GEA24: RS232
• Configuration
• RS232-5: GTX45R
• GTX45R: RS232-3
• Configuration: CONNEXT

The following sections detail the software settings for each of the devices.

Vertical Power (VPX-Pro)

1. On the PFD (GDU 4XX) in configuration mode
1. Under RS-232 page in the setup, set the MFD serial port that is connected to the VP-X Pro to “Vertical Power”. (A green check mark in the left column indicates it is receiving data from the VP-X. )
2. The trim and flaps are automatically configured to read their position from the VP-X. If you have a third trim axis wired into the G3X analog position input, you can configure it in the trim and flap setup as described in the Garmin manual. 
3. You can configure the Amps gauge to display amps from the VP-X instead of from an external shunt.

GDL-51R

 

1. On the GDU 4XX  in configuration mode
1. Under the RS-232 interface setup page set serial port connected to the GDL-51R to "CONNEXT 57600 BAUD" A green check is show next to the connection when communication is established with the GDL51.

GTX-45R

             

1. GSU 25 WITH GTX 45R 
1. NO CONFIGURATION REQUIRED FOR GSU 25 SERIAL PORT 
2. GDU 4XX RECEIVING TRAFFIC/WEATHER FROM GTX 45R 
1. THE GTX MAY BE CONNECTED TO ANY SERIAL (RS-232) PORT ON THE GDU 4XX FROM 1 TO 5. ONE CONNECTION ONLY PER GDU.
2. ON THE GDU 4XX RS-232 CONFIGURATION PAGE 
1. SET SERIAL PORT CONNECTED TO GTX TO "CONNEXT 57600 BAUD" 
3. GTX X45R REMOTE MOUNT TRANSPONDER
1. ON GDU 4XX TRANSPONDER CONFIGURATION PAGE SELECT INSTALLED TRANSPONDER TYPE (E.G. GTX 45R) 
2. CONFIGURE HSDB DEVICES (GTN/GTS ENABLE/DISABLE) 
3. CONFIGURE TRANSPONDER SERIAL PORTS 2,3,4 FOR "CONNEXT FMT 1"
4. CONFIGURE ALL ADS-B OUT DATA FIELDS 
4. GTX X45R REMOTE MOUNT TRANSPONDER INSTALLED WITH GTN IN SYSTEM
1. ON THE GTN INTERFACED EQUIPMENT PAGE
1. SET ADS-B IN SOURCE TO "GTX #1"
2. ON THE PFD1 TRANSPONDER CONFIGURATION PAGE
1. ENABLE "GTN" ON HSDB DEVICES FIELD
5. GTN/GNS POSITION SOURCE
1. WHEN GTN IS CONNECTED TO A GTX 345R/45R USING ETHERNET, SELECT "GTN PRESENT" ON GDU 37X/4XX TRANSPONDER CONFIGURATION PAGE
2. ON THE GTN/GNS RS-232 CONFIGURATION PAGE SET SERIAL PORT OUTPUT CONNECTED TO GTX TO "ADS-B+" OR "ADS-B+ FORMAT 1" 
6. GTX X35R/X45R REMOTE MOUNT TRANSPONDER
1. ON GDU 4XX TRANSPONDER CONFIGURATION PAGE
1. SELECT INSTALLED TRANSPONDER TYPE (E.G. GTX 345R)
2. CONFIGURE SERIAL PORT CONNECTED TO ADS-B POSITION SOURCE TO "ADS-B+"
3. CONFIGURE HSDB DEVICES (GTN/GTS ENABLE/DISABLE)

GTN-650 to PFD

1. GTN 6XX/7XX
1. ON THE ARINC 429 CONFIG PAGE
1. SET IN 1 SPEED TO "LOW"
2. SET IN 1 DATA TO "EFIS FORMAT 2"
3. SET OUT 1 SPEED TO "LOW"
4. SET OUT 1 DATA TO "GARMIN 429" (GTN V6.50 AND LATER)
5. SET OUT 1 DATA TO "GAMA FORMAT 1" WHEN "GARMIN 429" NOT AVAILABLE
6. SET SDI TO "LNAV 1"
2. ON THE RS-232 CONFIG PAGE
1. SET CHNL 3 INPUT TO "MAPMX FORMAT 2" WHEN THIS FORMAT IS AVAILABLE
2. SET CHNL 3 OUTPUT TO "MAPMX" WHEN "MAPMX FORMAT 2" INPUT NOT AVAILABLE
3. SET CHNL 4 INPUT/OUTPUT TO "CONNEXT FORMAT 2" WHEN CONNEXT IS USED
3. ON THE MAIN MAIN INDICATOR (ANALOG) CONFIG PAGE
1. SET SELECTED COURSE FOR VLOC TO "IGNORED"
4. ON THE VOR/LOC/GS ARINC 429 CONFIG PAGE
1. SET NAV RADIO TO "ENABLED"
2. SET TX SPEED TO "LOW"
3. SET SDI TO "VOR/ILS 1"
2. G3X
1. ON THE GDU 4XX/37X RS-232 AND ARINC 429 CONFIG MODE PAGES
1. SET THE CONNECTED GDU 4XX/37X RS-232 CHANNEL TO "MAPMX"
2. SET ARINC 429 TX 1 FORMAT TO "EFIS/AIRDATA FORMAT 1" AND "NAV 1"
3. SET ARINC 429 RX 1 FORMAT TO "GARMIN GPS" AND "NAV 1"
4. SET ARINC 429 RX 2 FORMAT TO "GARMIN VOR/ILS" AND "NAV 1"
2. ON THE GDU 4XX RS-232 CONFIG MODE PAGE WHEN CONNEXT IS USED
1. SET THE CONNECTED GDU 4XX (PFD) RS-232 CHANNEL TO "GTN CONNEXT 2"

Starting to look like a plan(e)

Dad came out for a couple of weeks to help me button up the bottom wing skins and install the wings onto the plane. It took about three total days to rivet the wing bottoms. Towards the end, we were just getting the hang of it and the right communication signals for what a "1/2" vs "1/4" hit is ;)

I still need to seal the rivet the left rear tank baffle, but today was a milestone. After a good pressure test I was able to install the right tank.
The prop is on. 

Cowl Photos

TODO: Come back and add words to this.

Cross bar dimensions

I keep forgetting to make a post about my engine mount crossbar dimensions, so while this is old news I still want to document it. With my cold air induction (Thunderbolt) I had to lower my crossbar in order to gain enough clearance for the engine.  The short of it is that the rear of the sump on the cold air setup is about ~3/4 lower than the standard sump.

This is a pretty standard modification and Barrett sells these crossbars with their cold air induction. The dimensions of my setup are in the photo below.

I unfortunately measured once and cut/welded twice. The first time I welded one in, I more or less eyeballed in the dimensions while the engine mount was on the weld table and not on the airframe. After I mounted the engine and allowed the mounts to sag a bit, I was not happy with the clearance I had remaining (1/16"). As such, I removed the engine off of the mount and welded a new cross bar in place. The tubing was pretty easy to find and I just ordered it from: McMaster Link

With the Thunderbolt IO-540 setup with Cold Air, .82" of cross bar drop got me a little over 1/2" of clearance on a mostly settled engine.

AUX circuits complete

The wiring is coming along nicely, today I was able to clean up the existing and complete the rest of the AUX power circuits.  With my GMA-245 on AUX power, I spent a little more time than I care to admit with my headset on, streaming pandora over bluetooth from my phone into the entertainment system, making radio calls to myself.

I am going to move the wiring on the AUX fuse block around a little bit to make it easier to replace fuses. In my head when I was creating the schematic I thought it would be best to spread the fuses out to make them easier to identify. I found that when I was finding and pulling the fuses in the cabin that it is actually easier to identify the correct circuit if the fuse block is fully populated.