Positioning Position Lights – Jared and Tabitha's Bearhawk Construction Log

Here’s the antenna block that I was working on in the last session. I couldn’t figure out how to clamp it for drilling, and even if I did, I don’t think I’d have enough room between the elements to get in there and install the nuts and terminals.

VHF Nav Antenna Insulator — Here's another attempt at an antenna insulator. This one has the correct angle between the elements, but I don't have any way to drill the holes at the same angle, since my drill press only tilts to 45 degrees.

Meanwhile, I did make some progress on the wingtip mounted position lights.

Reference Marks for Position Lights — These are the marks that I made to locate the position lights fixture. Once the wings are on, I will be able to get the centerline accurately transfered to the other wingtip, and the chord positioning will be easy to measure.

I used a step drill to cut the holes, and verified with my marks that the holes weren’t wandering.

Aeroflash Position lights — There isn't really too much fairing to do, since the fixture sits pretty close to the tip.

Installing Aeroflash Position Lights — The aft hole is large enough to fit the molex connector on the other end of those wires.

I mixed up a batch of epoxy and attached three 1/4″ sections of blue foam on the back of each of the two aluminum mounting plates. I’ll file these down to match the wingtip contour after they have cured. While I had the epoxy out, i also stuffed a rolled up section of paper towel into the open end of the aileron balance tube and filled up the last 1/4″ or so with epoxy to seal the end.

Aileron Balance Tube End — Sealing the tube end with leftover epoxy

Tabitha came out for a few minutes and carved more seat foam today too. She worked on the back seat cushions.

Leave a Reply