terminal

I think this is a terminal job.

Wiring

It is fortunate  that I am comfortable with wiring, there is a lot of it to do. The electrical wiring classes were some of my favorite while attending Automotive School. It just seemed to make sense, all of those little electrons speeding through the copper.

Jim nicely sent me his super duty terminal crimper to borrow, what a professional quality tool that really does a nice job.

The work and holiday schedule is such that it will be a while before any more work gets done on the airplane. Check back in a week or two to see if there are any updates. 

Progress

It seems like a lot of progress since we returned from China, Maine.

I lowered the top rail under the motor per suggestion from Al. He said that it would be a lot easier to check or change spark plugs if the top rail wasn’t in the way.

We finished pulling wires, all of the wiring is “roughed in”. That means that all of the wires and all of the wire looms are in place. Now all we have to do is connect many, many wire ends to the wires, plug or attach them where they belong, and test each system. That’s all. Piece of cake right?

With company coming for the holidays, the airplane has found new digs, moved easily from the downstairs “workroom” to the garage. We were very fortunate to be able to fit the plane through the double doors without removing the landing gear! Then Jean got her first “ride” in our Challenger II, up the driveway and into the garage. She said “watch out you don’t hit the wing tips!”, funny woman.♥

WOW !

Wow!  is how we describe yesterday.

The drive to China via stops in Bangor and Waterville went quickly. A lunch by the lake, then over to Mike Watson’s for a very informative look at his and Al’s (name?) Challengers. So many things to look at, so many different ways to build a plane. Mike’s is in his basement in a state of assembly pretty close to ours. Al’s is in the hanger ready to fly, and fly it did. He was nice enough to let both Jean and I have rides in it and boy was that the highlight of the day (week, month, ….).

What a thrill to see first-hand what a Challenger II can do. Take-off was effortless, the flying was smooth, and Mike’s landings were both greasers. He let me fly some and I don’t mind telling you it was tricky at first. The handling is quite different from a Piper Cherokee, and I was told the Challenger flies differently with the doors on, which it needed as the temps were in the low forties.

As Jean said later, it was just like we were in the video, the promotional video that Quad City mails to prospective customers. Well put.

A day to remember and now a new enthusiasm to get ours built!

Wiring cont.

Wiring, day 100 (or so). The wiring is slowly developing into a coherent or at least somewhat understandable pattern.  

The diagram is done and we have actually run some of the wire harnesses. Jean and I have routed wires, thought it over, re-routed wires; then gotten into the seats paying attention to where our feet go, where our heads with headsets on are located, where we need space to get in and out. A little different placement of a plug here, a little shift of the wire route there and yup, looks good.

Tomorrow we are driving to China, Maine to the Challenger dealer Mike Watson. There we will carefully check out a completed Challenger and another work in progress. There are so many different ways to build; the battery in front, the battery in the back, the wires on top, the wires on the bottom. We should get some ideas and if everything works out, to FLY IN A CHALLENGER!!!

wiring woes

Figured I should at least say something so people didn’t think we packed up and left the country. Well, actually we will be next summer but that is another story.

Wiring diagrams in pencil are our way to catch mistakes before they are expensive mistakes. When you are running copper wire, you want to do it right the first time!

Work, door orders, and craft fair preparation have all conspired to keep us from working too much on the airplane, but I guess life goes on. I think I have the final “first draft” of the wiring diagram done. The first draft had some glaring errors (left out the wingtip strobes) and had so many criss-crossed wires it looked like a bowl of spaghetti. Now I think everything is on the page and somewhat neat and understandable. Now to get the 36″ X 36″ piece of paper reduced to 8 1/2″ X 11″.