Vans Aircraft RV-12 Airplane Build, Section 31A: Wing Electrical Interconnector Update (part 7) & Section 40: Lighting Kit

Reference: Pages 40-08, 40-09; 4.0 hours

Today will just about finish up the wing wiring for the RV-12 airplane lights.

Step 8: Snap the female Molex pins on the ends of the WH-B211 (WHT) Nav/Strobe Ground Wire and WH-B212 (WHT) Nav Power Wire, WH-B203 (WHT) Strobe Power Wire, and the WH-B318 (WHT) Strobe Synch Wire into a male Molex connector housing in each wing tip.



Step 9: Tie-Wrap all four wires together near the ring terminal on each wing tip to prevent the wires from rubbing on the edge of the access opening.





Step 13: Label the Molex connector housings as to which wire goes in what position.





That's it for today's work . Next I will start in on the prep for painting and finishing of RV-12 including the fiberglass parts. I have decided to paint the plane myself using Epibond epoxy primer and Aerothane for the top coat. Because this is a time consuming task with not much interest points for separate entries I will do one mass blog entry explaining the process and how long it took. So until then enjoy! I will also be doing an entry on how to register an ELSA aircraft between now and then as well.

Vans Aircraft RV-12 Airplane Build, Section 31A: Wing Electrical Interconnector Update (part 6) & Section 40: Lighting Kit

Reference: Pages 40-09 (now page 40-10), 31A-06; 3.0 hours

Today I am going back to working on the wing tip lighting and wiring for the RV-12 airplane.

Step 8: Crimp male Molex pins on the ends of all the wires coming from the LN-200 Wing Tip Nav/Position/Strobe Light -Red & -Green.



Step 9: Snap the male Molex pin on the end of the black wire coming from the LN-200 Wing Tip Nav/Position/Strobe Light -Red & -Green into a female Molex connector housing opposite the position of the WH-B211 (WHT) Nav/Strobe Ground Wire.



Step 10: Snap the male Molex pin on the end of the red wire coming from the LN-200 Wing Tip Nav/Position/Strobe Light -Red & -Green into the female Molex connector housing opposite the position of the WH-B212 (WHT) Nav Power Wire.

Step 11: Snap the male Molex pin on the end of the yellow wire coming from the LN-200 Wing Tip Nav/Position/Strobe Light -Red & -Green into the female Molex connector housing opposite the position of the WH-B203 (WHT) Strobe Power Wire.



Step 12: Snap the male Molex pin on the end of the green wire coming from the LN-200 Wing Tip Nav/Position/Strobe Light -Red & -Green into the female Molex connector housing opposite the position of the WH-B318 (WHT) Strobe Synch Wire.



Step 13: Label the Molex connector housings as to which wire goes in what position.

Tomorrow I will pick up where I left off today.

Vans Aircraft RV-12 Airplane Build, Section 35: Landing Gear & Engine Mount (part 6)

Reference: Page 35-06; 3.0 hours

Today started the process of bleeding the brakes on the RV-12 airplane. What a pain!

Step 7: Fill the brake system with the brake fluid recommended in the wheel and brake package instructions. Follow the instructions in the wheel and brake package for bleeding the brake system (note that the loop around the base of the main gear legs is standard for RV aircraft and has not hindered the removal of air from the brake system).





Builder's note: pictured above is the first bleeding system I used. I later built a pressure tank and used compress air to prime the system. It worked well on the left side but not the right side.

So, after talking with Matco (the brake manufacturer) I discovered if the piston is pressed all the way in (as pictured below) there is no room behind the piston to allow the fluid to flow into the system and press the piston out.


Builder's note: I did have some air bubbles that didn't want to flow out. So I loosened some of the strategically placed fitting and then forced the bubbles out as can be seen below.



Checking the next day I did find a few leaks between the master cylinders and the brass elbows. Some of these I added an extra turn in tightening to stop them and one needed to be removed and resealed. This completed the priming and bleeding of the brake system.