Today I started by attaching platenuts to all 48 holes around the edges of the wing access panels. I elected to leave the skins on the wings during this process as it gave me good access and the skins were well supported during the work. After drillng, deburring, and installing the platenuts, I moved on to installing the bracket for the pitot tube.
Since I'm going with a heated pitot tube, I needed to install a special bracket that requires positioning and cutting on the lower wing skin. By this time in the overall project, this type of work is really pretty simple (I think about how long this would have taken a couple of years ago!), it's just a matter of looking at the plans, making all cutouts a couple of times in your head...then getting to work. After ensuring that I was working on the correct wing (never assume!!), I started the process. The photo shows the cutout and installation holes that will be used to rivet the base plate in place during final wing riveting. The pitot tube just slides in place and is secured with four #6 screws.
After finishing the pitot tube installation, I ran the aluminum tubing in through the rib bushings and left the end unfinished for now. I finished up by running conduit in both wings. The photo shows the detail of the conduit in the bellcrank area. I'm going to secure the conduit to the lower portion of the bellcrank with a plastic conduit clip to ensure there is no interference between the conduit and bellcrank.
