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Feedback on wing wiring

Aero_Octaveus

Well Known Member
Hi Folks, just hoping for some feedback before I start drilling holes in the ribs for my wing wiring. Just a quick idea of what I intend for the plane. VFR/IFR Capable, Dynon Avionics (Skyview) and AeroLEDs - Aerosun VX and Pulsar Lighting.

Left Wing - Dynon Heated AOA Pitot, Vans stall warning (As a backup), Pitot heat controller, Wingtip NAV Antenna and lighting as above.

Right Wing - Dynon autopilot servo and lighting as above.

Any input to things I may be have missed would sure be appreciated. :)

Wing%2BWiring.bmp
 
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You might want a magnetometer out on the end of a wing. As well you might want OAT probe(s) somewhere on the wing (ie inspection panel).
 
Holes

If you go with the plumbing at the location planned, give some thought to how the plumbing will pass the bellcrank. I ran mine through but had to fab a bracket to hold the plumbing lines and keep them away from the bellcrank. Photos are on the "wing" page of my blog. I drew it up. If you want a copy of the drawing, send me an e-mail.

Also, once you decide, drill one with small pilot holes. Clamp an opposite rib to it and match drill. Use these two as masters to clamp and drill the others then enlarge all the holes to final dimension.
 
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The bracket is a great idea

Yes Larry...the bracket is a great idea. I've looked at your blog and noticed that. PM sent to you with my email address. I would really appreciate the drawing

Thanks Mark...Exactly the kind of input I was hoping for. Now I have a bunch of reading to do on Magnetometer locations :)
 
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I made a spreadsheet with all of the rib holes and which wires/tube runs where. It is very helpful to keep track of everything. I started using my spreadsheet when I was drilling the rib holes. I have an arrangement like you are proposing. Some holes are not needed in all of the ribs. For example the pitot is in the middle of the wing so those holes don't need to be placed in the outer ribs.

In my case there are lots of wires. OAT was mentioned. I have a couple of those. Stall warner if you are going to put it in is also missing from your drawing. Some people put a nav antenna in the wingtip so a coax would be reqired. Heated pitot power and status wires if you want one of those.
 
Diameter of Coax cable

Can those coax cables be routed in the main conduit with the lighting wiring?

Do you know the approximate diameter of the coax, or what size snap bushings are needed for the Nav/com antenna?
 
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On the tip rib, on my RV-3B, the tooling holes are used to line up the ailerons. On the RV-7, that's shown on drawing 12A. I'd recommend keeping the area near those clear.

Also, as other people have suggested, figure out how you'll carry the various things past the aileron bell crank.

Dave
 
Garet,

The normal snap bushings sent in the wing kit will work for running the coax cable like I have in the picture. I ran mine outside the conduit because I heard that others have had interference on their com radios when the coax is too close to the wire runs for the lighting. I don't think it is too much of a problem with LED lights, but just wanted to play it safe.
 
Alignment holes

On the tip rib, on my RV-3B, the tooling holes are used to line up the ailerons. On the RV-7, that's shown on drawing 12A. I'd recommend keeping the area near those clear.

Also, as other people have suggested, figure out how you'll carry the various things past the aileron bell crank.

Dave

This is an important tip. Don't enlarge the outboard end rib alignment holes. You can drill them later.
 
Sounds like my setup is exactly the same as yours. I ran the wires for my pitot heat in the 3/4" main conduit at the bottom of the rib. I did the same with the Dynon Roll servo. I just cut a slot in the black plastic conduit and fed it in from the heater and servo. Looks like I've got my components on the same wings as your planning. The aileron pushrod passes through the forward lightening hole and in my opinion, I'd rather have everything routed as not to get in the way of it. It's a tight area between the root rib and the fuselage so by routing all the wiring thru the 3/4" hole, I can go straight into the fuselage and do a better job of staying out of the way of the aileron push tube. I'd rather turn the corner with the wires inside of the fuselage where it is easier and more accessible to inspect than at the root rib. I put a service loop in my wiring out at the tip rib for the AeroLED NAV/Strobe and AeroSun landing/Taxi Lights. I put another service loop at the Dynon pitot heat controller which I mounted to the inspection plate. I work with computer networks and I am a firm believer in using home runs on the wires and not adding connectors at the root rib, etc. It's not my intention to ever remove the wings now that they're on but if I ever need to, I can cut the wires at the root rib and use the service loops to aid in installing electrical connectors if ever needed. My temperature probe is mounted under the HS for shade from the hot New Mexico sun while sitting outside somewhere.

I'm a fair weather flyer and have gone straight Dynon on everything ( No finger pointing between avionics vendors if something doesn't work right). All antenna's are on the fuselage so I have no need to route coax in the wings. I try to follow the KISS principle with a close second of keeping everything as easy to access and service as possible. I think "easy access" may be an oxymoron when used in the same sentence with the word "airplane".

At first I was going IFR everything including the sink from mammas kitchen, then I got honest with myself and the flying I enjoy vs the flying I would never really consider doing unless fleeing the evil empire for my life. I feel that I have a really nice dual Dynon setup with tons more capability than I'll personally need. At that, I have a very complex capability yet simple panel with not too many buttons and switches to figure out. I have flown the same Cessna 182 since 1985. I have tried to keep my switch layout very similar to the Cessna and that gives me one less thing to get accustomed to. Rather than overbuild and add weight to your bird, be real with yourself and the type flying you are comfortable with. I feel its better to have a light airplane rather than to be flying a bunch of heavy equipment around the sky that may never truly be used. There is my 10 cents worth in three disgustingly long paragraphs!
 
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Great Advice!

Ok, Great advice and tons of food for thought. Really tough to find information on where to mount the remote magnetometer from Dynon as it is so new.

Drone Pilot...Excellent advice on running the roll servo and pitot heat from the 3/4" conduit. Didn't even think of that! It would take the wiring out of the 7/16" holes and free them up for potential NAV/Comm wiring. I am a bit nervous about adding extra holes beyond those described on Van's PDF on wing wiring hole recommendations, and this will help avoid that.

Point well taken on the KISS advice. I agree, light and simple is the key. I just don't want to paint myself into corners down the road because I didn't do enough research while building the wings ;). Better to allow for things and not need them, than not allow for it and need it.
 
By the time you get near the end of the build, you start wanting to try the whole thing all over again. I've sure learned a lot in the build process and sometimes I feel like I could cut the build time into much less than half. Likewise, the folks in this forum have had some great ideas and techniques that I'd like to try out for myself. I have enjoyed the building/learning almost as much as I do the flying.
 
Ladies and gents, I have brought this thread back up because I'm sure there will be more questions that need answered as it seems Van's has made a change (maybe this has already been asked but I can't find it). The pic below says it all. Van's appears to have removed one of the existing tooling holes. My setup will be almost identical to what is described in the first post with the exception of not putting a nav antenna in the wing tip. So my question now is, the two holes in the forward part of the rib will be needed for the two pitot lines; therefore, is it a good idea to run all of the wires in the same conduit space? The left conduit would be holding, nav lights, landing light, strobes, pitot heat control, and possibly stall warning. The right conduit would be nav lights, landing light, strobes, and autopilot. What say you?

wing rib wiring by Jereme Carne, on Flickr
 
I did basically what you are proposing and also had planned for a wingtip NAV antenna but opted not to install it. I recently saw a post that showed the ELT antenna in the right wing-tip, which is something you might consider. Mine is in the aft right side of the cabin, which won't work well if inverted.

Left wing:
* Nav/Strobe/Landing light
* Pitot / AOA tubes
* Pitot heat (Pos/Neg/Ind)

Right wing:
* Nav/Strobe/Landing light
* AP harness
 
I did basically what you are proposing and also had planned for a wingtip NAV antenna but opted not to install it. I recently saw a post that showed the ELT antenna in the right wing-tip, which is something you might consider. Mine is in the aft right side of the cabin, which won't work well if inverted.

Left wing:
* Nav/Strobe/Landing light
* Pitot / AOA tubes
* Pitot heat (Pos/Neg/Ind)

Right wing:
* Nav/Strobe/Landing light
* AP harness

Having the ELT antenna in the wingtip doesn't sound very good in the event of a crash. The wingtip would be very easy to break off causing you to loose your ELT antenna as well in the event of an emergency. Personally, I will stick my ELT in the tail and have the antenna right under the tail section fiberglass fairing. Its pretty well protected back there in a crash, and can still transmit when it needs to. I don't want the coax for the ELT running through any parts of the aircraft (ribs, holes, etc) that could flex and cause the cable to be cut or torn during a crash.

I am in the same boat as Jereme. I am about 30 hours into my wings and am thinking about wiring. Here is what I am thinking:

LEFT WING:
LED Nav/strobe
LED Landing and taxi lighting
Stall warner
Heated Pitot
AOA/Pitot lines
APRS

RIGHT WING
LED Nav/strobe
LED Landing and taxi lighting
Autopilot wiring
Archer Nav antenna
OAT probe
Magnetometer (possibly?)
 
There is no perfect location for the ELT antenna. Each place has its drawback, including the tail or wingtip, where it is not mounted per instructions to be vertical.
 
Thanks for the replies guys, Raymo could you comment on one more thing that may help Lynn and I out. He is going to put in the nav antenna in the wing, I have thought about that too but don't know that it's necessary; however, would your conduit run have enough room for this extra wire? I seem to recall seeing it is a rather thick wire, possibly shielded too?
 
Be Mindful of the Bell Crank Range of motion

I bought my wings "done" and sweating the details now for the attachment. I found two issues. One was the pitot routing down the center can get pinched between the bell crank and the spar web - the other is taken care of by your conduit routing, that is - clearance around the servo. My conduit is right under the D-sub connector. :eek:
 
Thanks for the replies guys, Raymo could you comment on one more thing that may help Lynn and I out. He is going to put in the nav antenna in the wing, I have thought about that too but don't know that it's necessary; however, would your conduit run have enough room for this extra wire? I seem to recall seeing it is a rather thick wire, possibly shielded too?

If you want an IFR airplane, a NAV antenna is, for most practical installs, required. My wingtip NAV antenna works out to 100nmi at altitude. I made several of these antenna for various RV project and I recommend making instead of buying. I have other posts on this if anyone is interested.

Carl
 
I bought my wings "done" and sweating the details now for the attachment. I found two issues. One was the pitot routing down the center can get pinched between the bell crank and the spar web - the other is taken care of by your conduit routing, that is - clearance around the servo. My conduit is right under the D-sub connector. :eek:

Thanks for the advice Bill, I have heard many comment on clearance in the bellcrank area but not the AP motor so I'll be looking out for this as well now. wirejocky Larry has come up with a pretty good bracket in the bellcrank area to address this, I may follow suit.
 
If you want an IFR airplane, a NAV antenna is, for most practical installs, required. My wingtip NAV antenna works out to 100nmi at altitude. I made several of these antenna for various RV project and I recommend making instead of buying. I have other posts on this if anyone is interested.

Carl

Thanks for that Carl, kind of demystifies why so many people install these. I do want the option of being IFR someday so I may go ahead and install one. Could you provide details of how to make one instead of buying one or at least direct me to where I need to go to take a look?
 
Thanks for the replies guys, Raymo could you comment on one more thing that may help Lynn and I out. He is going to put in the nav antenna in the wing, I have thought about that too but don't know that it's necessary; however, would your conduit run have enough room for this extra wire? I seem to recall seeing it is a rather thick wire, possibly shielded too?

The conduit in mine has plenty of room. A trick to pulling wire through is to use a vacuum cleaner to suck a string down the length of the conduit. Then pull more strings and/or wires.

I opted not to install the VOR antenna because I am not IFR rated and by the time (maybe next year), most approaches will support GPS as VORs/ILS approaches are phazed out. If you want IFR capability for less cost than a certified GPS you should at least run the RG-400 when it is easy to do. The FAA will likely keep some VORs/ILS approaches for years to come but they are expensive to maintain compared to the newer type.

Mac McClellan's The Future Arrives article in EAA Sport Aviation November 2016 magazine is a good read on the topic.
 
The conduit in mine has plenty of room. A trick to pulling wire through is to use a vacuum cleaner to suck a string down the length of the conduit. Then pull more strings and/or wires.

I opted not to install the VOR antenna because I am not IFR rated and by the time (maybe next year), most approaches will support GPS as VORs/ILS approaches are phazed out. If you want IFR capability for less cost than a certified GPS you should at least run the RG-400 when it is easy to do. The FAA will likely keep some VORs/ILS approaches for years to come but they are expensive to maintain compared to the newer type.

Mac McClellan's The Future Arrives article in EAA Sport Aviation November 2016 magazine is a good read on the topic.

That was indeed a very good read Ray. I am probably a good 3 to 5 years (maybe) from completion since I am just now on my wings. I really have to wonder that if by the time I finish, will there still be enough VOR stations around to make a NAV radio useful? I think I may just run the coax since its not very expensive, but hold off on buying the Archer antenna until I am close to flying.

Here's a schedule of the VORs decommission: http://www.boldmethod.com/learn-to-fly/navigation/the-faa-is-shutting-down-308-vors/
 
Thanks for that Carl, kind of demystifies why so many people install these. I do want the option of being IFR someday so I may go ahead and install one. Could you provide details of how to make one instead of buying one or at least direct me to where I need to go to take a look?

PM me your email and I'll send a write up on how to do this.

Carl
 
The conduit in mine has plenty of room. A trick to pulling wire through is to use a vacuum cleaner to suck a string down the length of the conduit. Then pull more strings and/or wires.

I opted not to install the VOR antenna because I am not IFR rated and by the time (maybe next year), most approaches will support GPS as VORs/ILS approaches are phazed out. If you want IFR capability for less cost than a certified GPS you should at least run the RG-400 when it is easy to do. The FAA will likely keep some VORs/ILS approaches for years to come but they are expensive to maintain compared to the newer type.

Mac McClellan's The Future Arrives article in EAA Sport Aviation November 2016 magazine is a good read on the topic.

Thanks for that explanation and link, I had no idea. The nearest ILS to me is probably an hours flight so I'm not sure the antenna will do me much good. Sometimes living in the boonies has its drawbacks. haha
 
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