[macrafic]

On the RV-7A plans, there is one pre-drilled hole in the fuselage skin just rear of the main spar that is to be drilled out to 5/8" and accept a bushing. This is for tubing/wiring from the wing.

When I built my wing, I put additional wiring "runs" in, as have many (most?) builders. Given the pitot static tubing, the AOA tubing, the wingtip antennas, position/strobe lighting and landing/taxi lights, one 5/8" hole is simply not going to do it.

My question is, are you guys drilling more holes in the fuselage in the wing root area to accomodate these additional "runs"? Assuming the answer is yes, are you waiting to do this until you mate the wings to the fuselage? This seems to me, at this time, to be the best idea, so that I can match up the position of the wing runs to the fuselage.

 

[Jeff R]

I added an extra hole and am having to go back and add another. How many you need depends on what all you need to run wires to and if you want isolation.

Some things to consider are:
Com antenna
Strobe/position light wiring
Rear mounted Dynon magnometer?
ELT antenna

You might want to keep the magnometer wiring away from the strobe wiring.

Size the holes for the need. Each hole weakens the structure a bit, so don't make them bigger than they need to be.

 

[paul330]

The VANS website has advice under the FAQ section as to what extra holes are acceptable in the ribs.

http://www.vansaircraft.com/public/confaq.htm

 

[RatMan]

My question is, are you guys drilling more holes in the fuselage in the wing root area to accomodate these additional "runs''?

My wingtips have landing lights, taxi lights, nav lights and strobes. I have a Dynon heated pitot in the left wing and autopilot harness ran out to the right bell-crank.

All of the wire runs through 1/2 inch PVC pipe with a 'T' at the bell-cranks/inspection panel
to accomodate the pitot and servo. There is still room for more wire if need be but I don't anticipate the need anytime soon. The pipe runs from about 1/2 an inch inside the fuse to about 1/2 an inch inside the wingtip.

 

[Rick6a]

..... are you guys drilling more holes in the fuselage in the wing root area to accomodate these additional "runs"? Assuming the answer is yes, are you waiting to do this until you mate the wings to the fuselage? This seems to me, at this time, to be the best idea, so that I can match up the position of the wing runs to the fuselage.

I accept the common notion that many builders are most productive when the project is located at home. When the airplane is moved to the airport, progress can and often does slow down for a variety of reasons.

With that in mind, I decided to approach my second project differently. My goal this time was to complete as much work as possible at home and finish the final tasks at the airport. That consisted of little more than the final fuselage/wing splice mating procedure.

By (among other things) pre-wiring the wings and the fuselage at home, I was able to completely finish and test all of the wiring including the instrument panel from the convenience of my small attached "2" car garage. When the airplane was moved to the airport for final assembly, its wiring was simply "plugged in."

 

[sglynn]

Should I drill fuselage wiring hole now?

Rich, it's been awhile since you asked your question, and now I have the same question. Should I drill a wiring hole now in the fuselage side skin and outboard seat rib? I'm working on the fuselage. I've enlarged the seat rib tooling hole to 5/8 for pitot tubing per drawing, but where do wires run as they exit the wing into the fuselage? And should I drill it now or later when I do wing to body join?

I put the Van's suggested wiring hole under the lightening holes and ran the corrigated tube. Will wiring enter through the large hole in the seat rib?

Thanks for any insight you can give on this.

 

[prkaye]

Is it acceptable to run some wires through the big hole that the aileron pushrod goes through? I was planning on running some wires through there, in some conduit ziptied to the side of the big hole to keep them out of the way of the pushrod...