Wing Riveting & Wiring
Today I continued attaching the fuel tank to the wing, riveting everything but the 4mm rivets at the back edge of the top skin — I’m leaving these cleco’d for now until it’s time to attach the top wing skins. I also had a bunch of rivets to put into the outside nose skin… I think I left these until now to ensure the area where this skin overlaps with the fuel tank lines up okay (it did!).
I decided to switch over to some wiring, so that I could finish off the pitot install. The Deutsch DT connectors I bought are sized for 14-16AWG wire, which I what I ran to the pitot heater; however, the wires coming from the heater controller are 2x18AWG, so I used some sealing splices to join up the 2 wires to a single 14AWG. Same thing for the temp sense line coming from the controller, although this was a single smaller 22AWG wire.
After these preparations, I could then use my crimping tool specific to the solid barrel-style crimp terminals used on these Deutsch connectors. I love this style of terminal, it’s very sturdy & secure, and similar to what is used on military-style D38999 connectors, but for a much more affordable price.
After crimping, I install the terminals into the connector body and install the wedge locks. As you can see in the next photo, I also dressed up the wiring with a sleeve.
Deutsch DT-series 3 contact connector
Finally, I mounted some standoffs into the rib to secure the connector and wire so that it won’t interfere with the aileron torque tube. I don’t have this tube yet, so I assume it comes with the fuselage kit.
I started installing similar connectors for the taxi and landing lights, but I had enough for today.
