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Dave's RV-7A Builder's Log
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Date:  7-9-2017
Number of Hours:  8.00
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  Wingtips & cowling

Today was a marathon session with the goal of finishing the wingtips and moving on to attaching the cowling. I started by doing the final wiring on the left side for the nav and landing lights. Since I may have to remove or replace the nav lights some day, I used D-Sub pins as connectors and added a double layer of heat shrink over the whole assembly to provide protection. I used a simple butt joint for the landing light, but left some extra wire for future changes if necessary. Since there will be no way to visually check this area, I added an Adel clamp and some grommet edging in the lightening hole to provide wire support and chafe protection. After testing the lights one more time I attached the wingtip with screws and moved to the right side.

As usual, the second wingtip took half the time and the results were twice as good. After learning a few lessons on fitting the nav light lens on the left side, the right one was complete in less than an hour—and the fit was significantly better. So much better that I’m considering ordering a new lens and making a new one for the left side…later maybe. The wiring was done in the same manner as the left side, and after the necessary testing, the wingtip was installed and that job was done. I have some filling/sanding/finishing to do on both wingtips, but that can be done later. On to the cowling.

After putting the cowling back on with clecoes, I started evaluating the best strategy for attaching the camlocks. To ensure that it all fits when I’m finished, I’ll probably have to do a lot of on & off adjustments and mark each camlock location as I go, so I found the place to start and installed the first one as a test. It was a small milestone, but it marked the beginning of the last major assembly on the aircraft.
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Left wingtip wiring detail

Left wingtip wiring detail

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Fitting right wingtip nav light lens

Fitting right wingtip nav light lens

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Test fitting first cowl cam lock

Test fitting first cowl cam lock

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