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I plan to occasional fly IFR, so I wanted a reliable electrical system to power navigation equipment, etc. My electrical system design is based on those proposed by Bob Nuckolls at the Aeroelectric Connection . Bob has been working in the field of aircraft electrical systems for many years. Most of his work has been on type certificated aircraft, but he was chosen to design the electrical system for the Voyager non-stop around the world aircraft. I liked Bob's design philosophy that emphasized a failure tolerant design, such that no single failure should cause the pilot to break a sweat.

Bob generously has provided a lot of information for builders on his web site. His suggested electric system designs provide a good starting point for homebuilders. I particularly liked his concept of an "all electric aircraft on a budget"

Read on for more.

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Today I carefully drilled the holes for the screws that hold the four round engine and fuel instruments in place. It was a bit of a finicky job, but they all ended up in the right places. Tomorrow morning I leave for a week in Miami.

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I started hacking more holes in the instrument panel on 12 May (the holes for the switches on the left sub-panel were actually done a few months ago). Now I've got the holes for the pitch and roll trim indicators on the left sub-panel, which means it has all the holes done. I've also done the large hole where the EIS 4000 Engine Information System goes. And, just before I went on the road, I did the four holes for the fuel gauges, tachometer and manifold pressure gauges.

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I shortened the front control stick so it would clear the instrument panel. Then I fitted the Infinity stick grip. I came ever so close to drilling the mounting hole 90° from the correct angle, but discovered the error just in time. You have to split the grip open to fit it over the stick, and it was a bit of a trick getting it back together again without having one of the switches fall out, but a few blue words scared everything into place. The various switches on the stick will operate the pitch and roll trim, trim and wing leveler disconnect, radio transmit, boost pump and starter. The last switch will be reserved for the smoke system, which may be installed during the mid-life update.

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I downloaded the installation drawings for the GNS-430 and found that it is a bit longer than I realized. It is long enough that it would have hit the left side of one of the fuse blocks. So, I had to move the fuse blocks to the right, which meant I needed to remake the door that they mounted on, as I didn't want to be staring at the old mounting holes every time I went into the forward luggage compartment. I thought I would have to remake the main power feeder cable, but it turned out I could simply reroute it. And the new door works more smoothly than the old one. The hinge on the original door had a bit of a bow in it, so it didn't want to close smoothly.

The wiring looks a bit of mess right now. I'll bundle it up neatly once I get all the wires run in any one area.

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I thought I had finished making the hoses for the fuel system last weekend, but I realized that I had forgot to allow for a way to measure fuel pressure. Drat!! I hadn't yet purchased the fuel pressure sender, so it completely slipped my mind. Fortuitously, I have two extra hose ends due to an ordering error, so I just need to get an Earl's 100192ERL fuel pressure adapter and a VDO pressure sender. Then I'll need to get the hoses pressure tested, and finally make up the firesleeves.