Cotton Waiex 191 - N191YX

[Spaceman]

I sat in the airplane in the dark, and tried many orientations of a red LED. Nothing from the top or side made it legible. So, I'm not sure that setup would work.

I'm curious why you went with green instead of red.

Maybe what could work would be like a camping head lamp, but on a longer strap and wrapped around your chest instead of your head. Oh, even better maybe, if you found one on a clip you could just clip it to your shoulder strap at the right height. Then it would be more directly aiming at the panel and wouldn't reflect off the inside of the canopy from whichever direction you look, like a headlamp would.

I did green only because that's what I'm used to at work ;)

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Although I will probably not fly the Waiex with NVG's on so I guess it doesn't really matter

[Bryan Cotton]

Although I will probably not fly the Waiex with NVG's on so I guess it doesn't really matter

We had NVG compatibility on the UH60s, but I never thought to go that route for the Waiex!

I'll definitely have a headlamp as a backup but prefer it's not the primary lighting. Shoulder mounted is a great idea.

[Spaceman]

I just had another idea. If you could find a clip similar to this one, then you could probably get someone to 3D print a custom bracket to fit any flashlight you want!

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Here's where I found that; it seems kind of expensive but that's what I was picturing:
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/catseye-collimation-tools/catseye-red-led-clip-on-light.html

I'm not sure if those green lights are actually even NVG compatible honestly; I'll have to test it!

[Bryan Cotton]

So I have bought one of these:
https://www.harborfreight.com/588-lumen ... 63934.html

Unfortunately it is not very user friendly for modifications. I tried to press it apart last night and the battery compartment will never unscrew again. Next stop is the lathe. I need to get the stock guts out and I'll wire one of my LEDs to the dimmer, and put the LED behind the flashlight optics. These tactical flashlights can focus the beam to a narrow angle so I think I can mount it on the forward tailcone formers and shine it on the panel. I may end up using both this and Josh's method for indirect lightning.

This is what I want to put in my flashlight:
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinf ... /639/1929/

I bought a few of them and I'm using one as my battery fault light.

We have three 3D printers in the family - got that covered!

[Bryan Cotton]

I just tried the red LED with the lens. I think it's gonna work.

[Bryan Cotton]

I've designed a VOR antenna.

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I've got to hurry up and finish this thing before there's no more VORs left.

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It's printing now.

[Bryan Cotton]

The antenna is done.

Balun is next.

With thanks to Bob Nuckolls & The Aeroelectric Connection:
http://www.aeroelectric.com/articles/BA ... ation.html

[Bryan Cotton]

The balun is done. Here is how I connected the shield of one cable to the center conductor of the other:

This is now installed on the airplane and I'm halfway through securing all my navcom coax.

[Bryan Cotton]

I installed my ELT. It goes under the elevator pushrod.

Much easier to do it on the bench. I also drilled holes for my VOR installation. One of the nice things about 3D printed parts is you can also print out tools to locate holes.

Floor about to go on, for the final time.

And it's on. Looks grungy but that is just the reflection of the gray hangar floor.

You can see the cleco reflections. Next time over it is time to rivet.

[Area 51%]

I wish I had purchased whatever brand ELT you have instead of the Artex. The Artex says specifically NOT to attach the unit to the skin (page 40 of the installation manual), which resulted in a week-long fabrication of a bracket.