That looks great if you have a display. I have a GDU 370 (non-touch) no camera input. Anyone have good options there? I don't have room for another display. Phone display?

I prefer eBay over Amazon so I went searching and found these way cheaper and seem to be the same thing :

https://www.ebay.com/itm/170-CMOS-HD...4AAOSw3Dtd2FRr

And if you don't want to wait for it from China, for a few dollars more this one ships free from New Jersey so you get it quicker yet it's still way cheaper than on Amazon

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-C...QAAOSw6Ilch318

You got me thinking (dangerous), if you're only going to use it for taxiing, how about before takeoff you just store away the monitor? If you don't want to install cables you might look at one of these wireless ones. At this price I might order one just to see how they work. I don't need it for my plane but if it's good I'll install it on the cab tractor !

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wireless-IR...dLMpp&LH_BIN=1

Cutting sheet metal is not hard. You built what looks like a beautiful fast back RV-4.

1) Why do you need a TAXI Camera? I have 900 hours in RV-4 and they are easy to taxi with out S-turn. Keep your plane light and simple. You have the worlds greatest moving map camera in the world.... your two eyeballs looking out of that beautiful bubble canopy. I suppose you could fit a camera in with the taxi/light. Good gosh....

2) Why do you need a light? Do you fly at night a lot? Personally I flay at night on occasion and don't need them to land or taxi at big city airports with a lot of runway and ramp lights. In remote locations at night you need lights. It is not a FAR. I have lights primarily for wig wag recognition lights. However think about the time, money and weight? Do you need it? Weight and electrical load is not much of a factor now with LED's lights.

3) Yes wing tip lights are in fiberglass would be less stress, I guess fixing a mistake with fiberglass or even wing tip replacement may be less painful. What type of wing tip do you have? Do you have the original Hoerner style or later symmetric wing tips (early "bat wing" or later non bat wing)? Routing the wires will be the biggest challenge. Van's current wing tip has a pocket already molded in. The early Hoerner wing tips required you to cut it out. In my RV I had a Horener style landing light wing tip kit with big landing lights. They worked great but were incandescent and sucked the electrical power. I sold her before LED's were out. You could buy new wingtips with the cutouts for the lights already but that is expensive and a lot of work to install new wingtips.

4) The Wing LE leading edge is common and Duck works http://www.duckworksav.com/LELightKits.htmland others have kits. Cutting it out is not difficult if you use some care and skill, which I am sure you do. However on one of van's demo planes I recall they made a boo boo and have a repair at their wing landing light.

To cut leading edge out follow kit instructions first.... Lay out pattern with template with fine sharpie. Check it three times to make sure it is located correctly. Cut inside your trim line and file to final size. You will open up 1" holes in the corners so you have at least a 1/2" radius in teh skin corners. Cut between the corners with a cut-off wheel and steady hand. Or I like a hack saw blade with a handle. It will not take long to cut the four sides. Once cut out there will be a rough uneven edge. Avoid using a sanding disk as it might get away from you up to you.... I use a hand file to even it out and get to your trim line, then deburr. You will mount the bulkhead between two ribs and install the light. Drill holes to mount plexi cover and install nut plates. Run wire to cockpit in a conduit and wire to switch and power. Done. Now do the other side.

I am not as worried about the cut-out as I am about riveting in the lens retainer strips on an already painted wing.

I have a flying RV-3B with a beautiful paint job. I bought the Duckworks retrofit lens kit for a Squadron Pro light. So last month I got a new cut out in my wing LE without disrupting the paint. It was done by a good friend Dennis who is a master craftsman. I re-drew the Duckworks pattern in my CAD program and printed it out on Vellum for easier use. Once the outline was marked we used flexible straight edges and a circle template to scribe the paint cutting the line down to the bare aluminum so that the cutting process would not impact the remaining paint. Then we applied masking tape outside of the scribe line to protect the finish and Dennis went after it with a Dremel cutt-off wheel. He cut to with an 1/8" of the scribe and then finished cutting to the line with mill files. It turned out great.

I am getting finished with a mini makeover/upgrades on the rest of the bird so now I need to decide if I want to install the retainer strips with rivets on the top or on the bottom. The instructions are for the top with screws used on bottom for access. Since my wing has a perfect finish I am thinking of doing it opposite so the dimpling for the rivets in on bottom and the screws are on top. It seems to be fraught with potential paint cracking and messy finish. Any comments about this would be appreciated.

Jim

I'm not an RV builder but have experience repairing things around the farm and when you said you didn't want to rivet on a painted surface, have you considered using JB Weld to hold those strips? When you said retainer strips I guess it's different than my RV-8 because I have screws holding the lens on top and on the bottom (the lense is easy to remove but a bi#@$ to re-install).

When JB Weld dries that part is not coming off without a grinder !

Belly mounted lights?
 

What is the thought on belly mounted lights? I know a guy who mounted a car flood light to the bottom of his Rans. I know an RV would produce more drag, but couldn't something like this be simple, three holes ( mounting and wiring) mounted through the floor and reinforced?

Nibbler
 

If you are worried about the cutting tool getting away from you consider a nibbler. Hand or powered.

Yes, takes much longer and strengthens your forearm muscles, but no worries.

Something like this:
https://www.testequipmentdepot.com/e...RoCYD8QAvD_BwE

Finn

I am a farmer too which when you look at the percentage of the population in agriculture that's a nice coincidence.

Yes. The RV-8 has a larger leading edge radius allowing screws on top and bottom. Many RV-8 builders bond the attach strip with nutplates to the inside of the lens with double-sided tape to keep it in place when installing the screws. I guess JB Weld would work too. Personally I would likely use Scotch Weld 2216 (BMS 5-92) for the application but in reality a good adhesive sealant like Permatex Right Stuff would probably work too.

However, the RV-3B has a tighter radius so Duckworks designed the retainer to be riveted on the top side of the cut out to eliminate holes being drilled in the acrylic lens eliminating cracking due to induced stress. It was designed this way after reports of trouble from the thinner airfoil wings like the RV-3.

So now I am starting to seriously consider structurally bonding the upper retaining strip in place and have no holes at all on top. When the lens is installed it is designed to have the edge slipped into the upper retainer strip and then 3 screws on the bottom retainer to hold it in place. The highest load on the retainer will be when installing the lens and bending it to insert into the retainer. So shear, peel and tension at the skin for whatever holds or bonds the retainer in. Flight loads will be less than installation loads.

Jim