Section 16 – Stall Warning

11/19/09 – As mentioned below, I began on the stall warning assembly.  I deburred and final drilled the two mounting plates.  I trimmed and deburred the two large angle brackets.  It looks like my supplied parts include a different set of washers than called for in the revised plans, so I’ll need to figure that out.

11/20/09 – Cleaned, etched, and alodined the aluminum parts of Section 16.  Marty Santic’s blog helped me with the washer issue (he’s an RV-12 builder that has a similar kit to mine, but his is flying already).  I should be able to construct the stall warning with the materials available.

11/22/09 – Primed all aluminum parts and assembled the stall warning switch assembly.  Fabricated the terminal blocks.  I was ready to install the various assemblies, but I need to buy some #18ga wire.  Doh.  It’ll give me something to do while I’m setting up the tech inspection.

11/23/09 – Finished the bulk of this section.  Installed the stall warning, but did not attach the wing skin to check alignment because the wing was on sawhorses, not on the table.  The odds of getting Melissa out in the backyard in the 40 degree weather just to switch out wing skeletons were quite low, so I left the test fitting for tomorrow.  I ran the wiring for the stall warning and installed both terminal blocks (one per wing).  I did not install the string down both wings, simply because I didn’t have any string in the shop.  And the last thing left undone is installing the nuts on the left wing’s terminal bracket.  Turns out that the kit came with 2 of these nuts, while the plans require 4 of them.  Hmm.  I looked at the plans about 8 times to make sure it wasn’t my fault, but I seem to be in the clear.  So I will call Van’s tomorrow and request a couple of the required locknuts.  Hopefully the nuts will be waiting for me when I get home on Sunday after Turkey Day.

So, left undone for Section 16 is:

1.  Cleco on the wing skin and check alignment of the stall warning switch. – Completed 11/24/09

2.  Install the string in both wings per plans. – Completed 11/24/09

3.  Obtain and install the two locknuts required for the left wing terminal bracket.

11/24/09 – Spent a little time on the plane waiting for my no-show tech counselor.  I ran string through the grommets in both wings and checked the stall warning.  All looks good.  My only question is whether or not the stall warning tongue should rest on the skin, or if it needs to sit above the lower edge of the cutout.  This is how it looks currently: