I got my caps back from Aircraft Specialty today. They were engraved and filled with paint, then clear coated. They turned out fantastic, and I would highly recommend you contact Steve if you need your caps engraved.
Received Fuel Caps
Replaced Transponder Antenna
I previously installed the TED transponder antenna which is just a round rod with a ball on the end. When I purchased it, the blade antennas were far too expensive, so I just figured I’d live with the additional drag. After Dynon announced their ADS-B receiver, I realized I was going to need a second short antenna, so I looked around and found that another homebuilder had started making blade antennas for about a third the cost of the other brands. Reviews looked outstanding, so I ordered one of their transponder antennas as well as a 978MHz UAT antenna (which looks identical) for the ADS-B receiver. I’ll install that later once I decide where it will go.
This antenna is installed with a couple of #8 nuts and star washers, so I had to drill a couple of additional holes. Fortunately, I had made the doubler plate large enough that I didn’t come near the edges with the new holes.
Finished Attaching Propeller Governor Control Cable
I received my parts order from Aircraft Spruce, so I decided to wrap up the propeller governor control cable. I powder coated the bracket I fabricated and installed it to the governor control arm with an AN3-6 bolt and castellated nut. I then attached the rod end using an AN3-7 bolt and castellated nut. Both bolts are short enough to easily be removed without hitting the governor head. Here’s the arm against the fine pitch stop.
And here’s the arm against the coarse pitch stop. I’m super happy with this bracket. It solved all of the issues that builders run into when using the PCU5000 governor with the Van’s bracket.
