Left Wing Cuff Filler and ELT

We've been working on the left leading edge wing cuff and ELT for quite a few days.

On the leading edge wing cuff, we've been adding lightweight epoxy filler to smooth the transition between the cuff and the front spar tube.  Due to the high heat, the filler is curing quite fast, so we are having to work in small batches or we waste a lot of filler.  Then, once we let it cure, it is sanded smooth.  There were also some areas we had left without filler until the cuff was installed.  these areas were the transition between the ribs and the front spar.  Filler was added in these areas as well.

Filler Work Finally Completed

 The ELT plate had been installed quite a while ago.  We finally ordered an ACK 406 MHz ELT (model E-04)  and started the install.  There aren't many options in the ELT installation location.  Using the real parts, the base unit and antenna holes were located and drilled.  After installing the antenna and base unit on the ELT plate, we noticed that there was not enough room to connect a BNC cable to the antenna and not have it interfere with the bottom fabric.  So with a little head scratching and a lot of "what ifs", Ed and I came to the conclusion that a new ELT plate needed to be fabricated with a slight modification in the antenna mounting area.

It was no surprise, but we had to order the correct aluminum plate (0.040" thick) from Aircraft Spruce.  We also had to order the wiring needed to complete the ELT installation, as well as the mounting screws and nuts.

Once the plate arrived, a few days later, a new plate with modification was fabricated and the new bend was made on the metal brake. The old plate was used to locate the mounting holes for the ELT base unit and the antenna hole was located to place the antenna were we needed it.  Now there's plenty of room for the BNC connection.

On last  piece.  We wanted to add something to keep the antenna from bounding around, possibly hitting the fabric and or controls.  After taking measurements and coming up with a quick hand drawn part, it was created in a 3d Design program and printed on a 3D Printer.  The part was put in place and epoxy was added to secure the part.  Finally a shorter Coax cable was built, as the one provided with the ELT was extremely too long.

Total Hours: 8

Old and New ELT Plates

New ELT Antenna with plenty of room

3D Printed Part to control Antenna location

ELT Installed with new Coax