Wow where to start, after riveting on the rear seat vent duct flange I decided on a spot for the transponder antenna. I drilled the doubler in place and gave it a test fit. I like the location, I spent too much time making this decision and trying to see what others have done. If it is a bad spot I can always put a cover over the old location and try something new. The shark fin antenna has #8 studs that get nuts put on them from the inside. Since the antenna is below the baggage floor and that gets riveted in place I needed a way to get at the antenna nuts, so I drilled two holes inline the studs on the antenna that will fit my socket and extension. I gave it a test run and it works just fine. Now if I need to replace the antenna I don’t have to drill out all of the rivets for the baggage floor, and I can inspect the nuts each annual. I have some plastic plugs for the holes but these are a pain to remove if you can’t get to the back side. I made keyways for the tabs on the plug, now I can rotate the plugs to line up the tabs with the keyway and the plugs will lift out with just a little effort.
I am getting ready to start the canopy; the front top skin needs to go back on for this so I started to finish this up by drilling the holes along the bottom edges, I then deburred all the holes. I pulled the canopy rail and frame from the shipping crate where they have been stored. I spent the last hour going over the plans and familiarizing myself with the canopy parts.
The is just aft of the F807 bulkhead and left of center
Test fit view from the bottom
Shot of one plug installed and the other empty to show the keyway
