Lindy
3/30/2009
I did a ton of builder website surfing today, and I decided to scrap the behind the seat idea for mounting my ELT...I also did not go with what has sort of become the "traditional" place to mount the ELT antenna in a tip up RV-behind the roll bar, inside the baggage area.
First I made a mounting plate for the tray to sit on...
And here's where I decided to mount the ELT...
I used some .032 for the mounting plate, and some angle on both sides of the plate to make it really rigid. This is just in front of the 707 bulkhead. It took FOREVER to get to the point of riveting the plate in, and I lost track of how many times I got in and crawled back in the tail cone to do this.
A half-hour later, I had the tray mounted.
Voila! ELT mounted! It's super solid too! So, why an AmeriKing 121.5? Three reasons...one, I got a GREAT buy on this thru work (yes, it's brand spankin' new), two, I'm not going buy a 406 until it's mandatory (I will be carrying a PLB with me however), and three, there's no way I was gonna drop a grand on an ELT...not until they make me.
Time to turn my attention to the antenna. I argued with myself for a LONG time on this. I really wanted to put it in the baggage area behind the roll bar...REALLY wanted to. So why didn't I? Well, my main reason for wanting to put it inside, was the fear of another draggy antenna sticking out in the breeze. After a LOT of reading on the subject, it amounts to almost nothing when mounted outside. Will I lose a half a knot? Maybe. But I decided to go the safe route and make sure I get the best chance at this thing working, should I ever need it...hopefully never. So, why here? Well there's already a doubler plate right there, and it's almost spot-on the centerline of the fuselage. Also, the antenna is supposed to be mounted away from the vertical stab to reduce interference, and this way, I have no bulkhead structures to go thru with the antenna coax wire. It's a straight shot from the battery box to the antenna.
The last thing I did tonight, was fish the phone cord thru the bulkheads, up to the panel to the remote switch area. That was a bigger PITA than I had thought, but it's up there now.
Another item checked off the list.
2.75 hours