Jaws!!! A bit of add-vice….

A good vice has a clamping jaw that can hold ANYTHING while you wail away on it. The problem with that is the damage that can be done to the object clamped in the vice.

Here are my vice jaws:

Jaws of Death

Jaws of Death

To prevent damage to small items, I cut a couple of pieces of 3/4 x 3/4 aluminum angle (the square kind, not the structural kind ) to clamp without damage

Jaw protectors

Jaw protectors

The problem was that these babies were ALWAYS hitting the floor while I was trying to insert the work. So, a quick trip to the local stationary store got me a rubberized magnet (used to make business cards into refrigerator magnets) that I cut into a couple of strips and glued to the top of the jaw protectors. Voila!

Magnets glued to underside of jaw protectors

Magnets glued to underside of jaw protectors

Cool.

 

Controls are in place…

We have the engine controls in place. We installed the three stooges today: Throttle, Mixture and Carb heat.  Actually the flap switch is installed too. Just like in a Skyhawk. Easy to access and use on approach.

 

RV-9A incompleted instrument panel

Panel Again

With the controls quadrant installed, we have run the control cables out through the firewall, and we hope they are long enough to reach the carburetor.

We are also continuing to install electric wires. we have the ANL fuse on the fire wall, we have the master and start relays in place. We built the battery to relay wire (4 awg), and the master relay to ANL fuse wiring. We have cut several holes in the right side panel like 2 –  12 volt power plugs,  the heater control cable, the defroster fan switch and the two dimmer control switches. We are still planning the left side. We are still not sure how the fuses and electrical controls will work.

We also installed the mount for the tablet to be installed on the right side.  This will be the backup EFIS and flight planner, including an AHRS insterface with bluetooth connection.

With electronics for tablets growing at the same rate as microcomputers did on the 90’s, we figure we will have double the performance and capability of the backup EFIS every 2 years.  We should plan on making that an easy upgrade.

Mount for Tablet in RV-9A instrument panel.

Tablet Mount