Brief Description: Avionics fit test - with GTN 650 first fit
I was staring at the hole that the GTN650xi goes in and decided to switch gears. I went and grabbed the 650 and slid it into the slot up to the point where I knew it needed some notches filed in the panel sides and bottom. I marked those places and started filing and sanding the three areas. It took a few test/file/test iterations, and I was happy with the fit. Then I looked at all the other holes and wondered what they would look like, all filled in.
No need to wonder - let's have a look. Filling all the holes took longer than expected, but it also looked better than I dreamed it would. I am thrilled with the final look and feel of the panel! I noticed I should also run the scat tubing from the air inlet to the panel vent to ensure that it still fits - after moving some wires around, there are fewer contact points. The flap power wire still needed to run to its termination point, but it was too short. I originally had the flap relays behind the panel, but now the relays will be near the flap motor. So, I spliced some additional wire to the end of the original flap power feed as I didn't want to re-run it to the C/B bankâmy first wire splice.
The last item for the day was to install the transponder tray (and transponder) to test fit those harnesses and antennas. DOH! First oops of the day. I forgot a cutout for the antennae. I will have to fix that tomorrow.
