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Kupe's Zodiac 650B
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Date:  2-7-2017
Number of Hours:  2.50
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  Aft Fuselage Wiring 1

Got back to work today after an extended pause. The next few sessions will focus on finishing off the wiring in the aft fuselage area. Access to these tasks is helped immensely by Zenith's inclusion of an access door in the belly of their airplanes. The access port is big enough for a guy like me to get fully inside and access electrical wiring, control cables (aileron, rudder and elevator), and the flap actuator torque tube.

Working up in the belly of the beast has been a challenge. Installing my ELT and initial ADAHRS fittings were tough sessions performed for extended periods on my knees. Even with some industrial knee pads, this was strenuous work. Today I hit upon an idea. I reconfigured my garage creeper from the lie-on-your-back configuration to the small-rolling-stool configuration. As luck would have it, after kneeling up through the hatch then standing up inside the aft fuselage (bent over), I could roll the stool under the hatch opening, sit down on it and comfortably work inside the belly. And with a stool on wheels, it's a piece of cake to rotate a full 360 degrees inside the workspace with no problems.

Now, comfortably ensconced in my "interior" workspace, I continued the wiring I started by passing various wires/cables through the fuselage. In this case, I secured the ADAHRS cable and the elevator trim motor cable along the left side of the fuselage using offset zip-ties secured to the ribs. Along the right side side, I wrapped and secured the VHF antenna cable and the ELT power, control head, and GPS input wires.

With the wires secured, I sited the ADAHRS location toward the left side away from the elevator and rudder control cables which will run down the middle and checked it for level. Fore-aft leveling is easy as the ADAHRS mount is hinged in that axis. Left-right leveling has to be just right, so I measured extra carefully and determined I'll need a small shim on the outboard edge to set the level just right.
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Garage creeper that converts to a very helpful rolling stool.

Garage creeper that converts to a very helpful rolling stool.

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Left side looking forward: ADAHRS cable and elevator trim lines secured.  Test leveling the ADAHRS.

Left side looking forward: ADAHRS cable and elevator trim lines secured. Test leveling the ADAHRS.

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Right side looking forward: ELT and VHF antenna leads secure.

Right side looking forward: ELT and VHF antenna leads secure.

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