Fri Nov 27 14:10:09 2009 - Final assembly of the NAV/LOC antenna. I'm still researching the merits of using a NAV/LOC antenna for the glideslope. It turns out that the glideslope frequencies are 3X (third harmonic) of the NAV/LOC frequencies; so, the antenna works pretty well for glideslope. The problem arises what to do at the radios. Some radios, notably the SL-30, have a splitter in them. Other popular NAV radios, notably the Garmin 430 series, do not; but instead provide for separate antenna connections. Here's the problem: There is only so much RF energy available. And when a splitter is used to share one antenna with two radios, performance is degraded. However, in the case of the NAV/LOC and GS splitter, a filter is also incorporated so that the "low frequency" RF energy for the NAV/LOC goes to the NAV input and the "high frequency" glideslope RF energy goes to the glideslope input. Sounds good, but I'd like to know what I'm loosing as far as NAV range. Another option is to install a specific glideslope antenna thus ensuring maximum performance for all cases. Like I said, still researching.

Fri Nov 27 13:52:32 2009 - The Sportcraft instructions are very specific about grounding the antenna. In the HVAC industry, they use a heavy duty aluminum tape when working with fiberglass board. Pretty neet stuff. Anyways, it turns out that it's alclad coated and the stuff sticks to just about anything. I cut a piece off my roll and carefully squeegeed it into place. I want the manufactured heads of my nut plate rivets to be under the tape. So I cut the rivet holes, installed the antenna, and riveted on the nut plates. I then folded the tape over and cut out the holes for the screws. When this is installed, the tape will be sandwiched between the skin and tip providing for a very good and reliable ground.

Fri Nov 27 13:05:40 2009 - PIREPs for the wingtip SportCraft NAV/LOC antenna are good. So I went with one on the right wing tip.

Wed Nov 25 09:26:11 2009 - Fit the position and strobe lights.

Sun Nov 22 18:17:04 2009 - Finally got around to riveting on the bottom skins, finalising the pitot tube hardware and electrical connections, and fitting the wing tips. The only problem I had with the wing tips was that they were approx 1/4" too long. Being that there was plenty of fiberglass material, I carefully sanded the trailing edges to match the ailerons.

June 6, 2004: After much thought I came up with this contraption for the wing jig. The garage door can still open up without me having to duck and walk around the other end. I'm also considering on building two of these so that I can work on both wings at the same time...we'll see.

May 10, 2004: After ten weeks of waiting, the wing kit finally arrives! I wish I had taken a picture of how this all fit into the truck. The short box was in the bed and the long narrow box was slid into the cab via the rear sliding window. Of course, everything was tied down nice and secure.