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Dave's RV-7A Builder's Log
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Date:  6-21-2017
Number of Hours:  9.00
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  Wingtip installation & cowl work

I started this morning by taking the now cleaned cowling pieces and rolling two coats of epoxy on the insides to finish those off. I will be installing the inlet ramps in the top cowling, and heat reflective tape to the lower surfaces, so that will give me a good base to work with—overall finish is not important inside the cowling.

Next I returned to the wingtip and spent a couple of hours working on installing the nav/strobe light. I first had to install the bracket holding the light, with placement inside the cutout key to the process. The bracket is held in place by three #6 screws, with a cutout to allow the wiring to pass through, all pretty standard stuff at this point. I finished the installation by doing the requisite wiring, which involved the normal electrical work thoroughly detailed elsewhere in my log—measure, cut, strip, crimp, test, etc. With the wingtip back on the wing, I started working on the clear cover. This ended up requiring a great deal of on-and-off trimming, filing and sanding to get to fit properly, but I at least got the cover done. I’m not happy with the fit along the forward edge, mainly because I don’t think I drilled it carefully enough during initial fitting, so the good news is that I can fill the holes in the tip and redrill to get a better fit. Next session.

With the light installed and ops checked good, I then started working on the 40 or so nutplates that would hold the wingtip in place. Nutplate installation is pretty boring, so nothing much to comment on—after about 90 minutes of drilling, deburring, countersinking and dimpling I temporarily attached the wingtip and illuminated the light to take a picture and document this step of the build. I ended the session by applying a coat of epoxy to the outside of the cowling and headed out for the day. Lots of progress!
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Applying epoxy to cowling

Applying epoxy to cowling

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More nutplates, nav light wiring visible in the background

More nutplates, nav light wiring visible in the background

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Wingtip attached and light works!

Wingtip attached and light works!

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