November 23, 2007 - Mounting the Comm and Transponder Antennas |
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| I did some more work on the canopy latch mechanism, putting in that little spring deal. I tried putting on the yellow ball handle, but I ruined it by using the wrong drill bit size. I'll have to order another one from Vans. Sigh. | ||||||
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The canopy latch mechanism from the
side.
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| My next endeavor was to drill a hole in the fuselage bottom for the transponder antenna. So what's the deal with the exhaust pipes. Well, after much research on the Vans Air Force forums, I decided to put the antenna on the bottom skin, just aft the firewall. But I didn't want to put it at the mouth of one the exhaust pipe. And I wasn't sure where the exhaust pipes finished up. So I got out the pipes, plans and instructions and got smart on the exhaust system. | ||||||
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I pretty sure the exhaust pipes come
out near the fuselage corners, so I drilled the antenna hold inboard on
the right side. You can see the antenna just underneath the left
pedal there.
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| And there's the business end of the antenna. It looks like it is protruding from a cleco. | ||||||
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| I decided to put the comm antenna on the left side, just forward of the main center spar. I wanted to be able to reach it in flight. The idea is that if the primary radio fails, I could unplug it from the antenna and connect a second antenna wire to a portable radio. We'll see. In any event, the comm and transponder antenna's are a good distance apart. I made that rectangular backing strip for the comm antenna. | ||||||
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| Another shot of the backing plate in its correct position. | ||||||
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Not sure why I took this picture, but
might as well show
it.
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