Brief Description: Firewall battery tray installation - Part 1.
After countless hours of humming and hawing, I have decided to install my battery on the firewall instead of in the aft position. Forum research shows that in general RV-8's end up with a forward C of G with the firewall battery installation. The problem is if I just don’t like the routing of about 7 feet of No. 2 AWG wire (which would carry a couple hundred amps during start) as specified in the plans. The wire would pass in very close proximity to my fuel lines, filter and valve selector. Not to mention once I get it to the starter solenoid on the firewall I need to find a way to get wires back to my main and aux busses which won’t be easy. To justify the forward position I will point out that I am using a battery that is almost 10 pounds lighter than the original Concorde and I will have a fixed pitch propeller or lightweight composite variable pitch prop which will be lighter than the 60 lb Hartzell Constant speed some people use. I punched a couple lightening holes in the battery tray and got started on the fabrication of the tray support brackets. The tray support angle brackets I fabricated are temporary because they are not made out of aviation grade aluminum. I will order the proper angle from Vans at some point and replace these.
