VP-50 software upgrade update

When I sent my Vertical Power VP-50 back after my failed attempts at upgrades, I included the cable you have to make to accomplish upgrades in with the package, with the hope, actually, that it would reveal a problem. Nothing else explained the stalled upgrades, and yet when I checked continuity, everything checked out fine. I didn't want the problem to be either the control unit (CU) or switch unit (SW), nor any incompatibility with the computers I'm using to update.

Fortunately, John at Vertical Power found the problem -- it was, in fact, the cable I made. He upgraded the unit, and is sending it back, with a new cable, too. You can't beat that service with a stick!

As it turned out, it's just as well I had to pull the system out and send it down to Albuquerque for some professional help. I made some changes in the system's location, moving it closer to the center of the subpanel assembly to move it away from a wiring run. And I also changed the way it's mounted, adding some nutplates so that it now screws into the brackets that hold it in place, rather than bolt it in place. And I added a nutplate or two to put some Adel clamps on the brackets to assist in some wiring runs.


In the meantime, I determined that the Grand Rapids EIS 4000 isn't going to provide the visible fuel level monitoring that I want (although it will provide flow rate information, which is possibly more valuable), so I ordered an Electronics International dual fuel level indicator (about $400) for the panel, instead. And having the VP-50 system out will make it easier to drill the holes in the panel to insert it.

Plus it has pretty colored lights.

How much do free software upgrades cost

I finally gave up on the notion that I'll ever be able to do a software upgrade of the Vertical Power VP-50 unit today, packed it in a box and sent it back to Albuquerque where people smarter than me can figure it out.

I thought that getting new features free would be a neat thing and, indeed, it is, except for the "it's not really free" part in real life.

Here's what I've spent so far:

Serial to USB converter cable - Radio Shack - $49
New laptop because the desktop PC erased software but didn't install - $436
New serial to USB converter cable under theory that that's the problem - $15
Postage to mail the unit back - $10.05
$1,500 of postal insurance - $16.70
Delivery confirmation - $.80

Total cost so far: $527.55

But, really, it's more. With the software upgrade, Vertical Power made a wig-wag feature available, which convinced me to buy and install another Duckworks landing light. Cost: $85

I notice the other night -- I had a really bad week of airplane building -- the lens is cracked. That'll need to be replaced. That's $15. Maybe I'll order two.

I'm hoping that Vertical Power can find something wrong with the unit itself, or the cable I built because if it's just a matter of temperamental computers and cables, that's a honkin' waste of money without getting it to work.

Fun with electrons

As you probably know, I'm a big fan of the Vertical Power system going in my RV-7A. It's essentially a computer that runs my electrical system, giving me all sorts of flexibility and cool new features with every software upgrade.

And therein, I have to admit, lies one of the disadvantages of the VP-50. Screw up the software upgrade, and you no longer have an electrical system. This, of course, is not a long-term problem for me because I'm not going to flying for more than a year, but if I were flying and I had tried a software upgrade, as I did on Saturday, I'd be grounded right now.

After reading the VP-50 release notes for the latest upgrade (which included the lights wig-wag figure, I was a little skittish about the prospect. First, you have to download the java environment file and install it on the C drive, which is OK unless you're trying to do this with a work computer with restricted permissions. Then you have to download the software installer and put it in the C drive and then you download the software upgrade.

That's all well and good but the lack of flexibility with regard to drive locations screamed "be careful!" And so did the cable I had to make to communicate with the computer, because it had a serial connection.

Nobody's computer has a serial port anymore, so I had to buy a ridiculously expensive ($35) cable to make the connection. And because the kid at work who administers the computer system doesn't give me permissions (pssst! It's my son), I lugged the desktop PC over on Saturday.

Saturday is a really stupid time to do a software upgrade, because there's nobody at the other end of a phone to help you out if things don't go well.

And things did not go well.

First, it took me quite awhile to get the installation program to recognize which com port the cable was using, but when it finally did, it connected fine with the VP-50, which flashed its pretty red light and reported "software upgrading" .

Everything was going swimmingly until the upgrade program reported it couldn't access a flash boot, or something -- whatever that is, and there's nothing to tell you what that is. But the instructions are pretty clear: Don't turn off the power during an upgrade.

But, at 8 p.m. on a Saturday night, I couldn't keep my master switch on all weekend, so eventually off it had to go. And when starting it back up, it reported "software fail." My electrical system was gone.

Sunday was another day and this time I figured a laptop might be more successful, so I went and bought one at Best Buy ($400, I really didn't need to buy a propeller this year, I guess) and tried getting that to work, but all of the error messages are the same.

My pals at VP are trying to work through this, and thank goodness I'm doing business with a company with terrific customer service. We're trying to determine first whether the cable is talking to the VP-50 unit. But it talked for at least a little while when it said, "Erase me."

In the meantime, I'm relieving the stress by inserting the close-tolerance bolts in the left wing. That's not working, either.

Lights! Lights! Lights!

Today, N614EF got her landing and taxi lights. It's been a good day of work at ye olde hangar and -- again -- thanks to Vertical Power, it was a simple process.

First, I ran wires to the right wing, attached it to the right taxi light, configured the Vertical Power VP-50 and...



Now, this wing is going to have to come off, but I didn't put any connectors at the wing root. Instead, I just left extra wire coiled, so I've eliminated a point of failure. Why does it have to come off? Because this is the famous edge-distance-screwup wing and I've still got to set the angle of incidence on it, and I also have to run some wires for the TruTrak autopilot, which is in this wing.

The left wing, on the other hand, is ready to be attached for good (one hopes), and so RV builder and pal Brad Benson stopped by to help lift it into position. The temporary bolts went in by hand and fairly easily. I'm hoping that's a good thing.

With the wing on, I ran the wire from the VP-50, spliced it into a wire coming from the wing, configured the VP-50 for the left landing light, and....



You'll probably have to take my word for it that both lights are on in this picture. I got wet to get it; it's raining in Minnesota today.



Incidentally, I ran out of 10 amp circuits on the VP-50, so I took the flaps motor off the VP and will put it on a regular electrical buss with a fuse. I don't need a backup system for flaps; I can land and take off without them if need be.

Now as soon as I get the software updated in the VP-50, I'll configure it and -- voila! -- I'll have wig-wagging wing lights without needing any additional wiring, switches, or relays. That's the advantage of the Vertical Power system. I wonder what need things will come in the future?

One note, the new fuel line came out great and the distance from the fuse to the attachment fitting on the fuel tank was perfect -- 3 1/2" from the rubber grommet (please note that: That measurement is from the grommet, not the fuselage skin). I know a lot of people are always looking for this measurement, so there you go. No charge.



I'm a little concerned about the right wing line. It seemed a hair short, but maybe I can get an extra 1/32" or so by messing around carefully with the line inside the fuselage. We'll see.

How do you know when you're done?

If you ever to decide to build your own airplane, you'll have to learn to put up with people asking you (a) when you're going to be done? and (b) why aren't you done?

Only you will know the answer and if you're smart, you'll never answer it. Once you do, you've set a date and since you're getting pressure from your family and friends, do you really need to add some from you?

Still, you'll face a challenge when you get near the end of a project and here's why: You'll realize there are things you could have done better and you'll be tempted to do them again and there are things you wish you'd done.

In avionics, this is a constant problem but here's the secret: No matter what you put in your instrument panel, you'll find a thing you could have put in it instead when the next monthly issue of your favorite aviation magazine comes in the mail. Get used to it and ignore it. If you're building your airplane just to impress someone else, maybe you're building an airplane for all the wrong reasons.

There are, however, reasons to listen to yourself. The other day, for example, I looked at a fuel line that -- maybe -- seemed fine to me when I put it in. But when I look at it now, it looks like it's restricted at a 90-degree bend. Do you really want to be flying and wondering, "Gee, I wonder how that fuel line is working out?" So I changed it out. It's a 4 foot long piece so, naturally, it took almost all of the 12 feet of aluminum tubing to fix it.

Sometimes, change is thrust upon us. I put in only one landing/taxi light when I built the wings a few years ago -- in the left wing. I didn't know much about electrical wiring at the time, and I wanted to do as little of it as I could. I also didn't intend to do much night flying.

But I've learned electrical wiring since -- at least, I've learned enough about electrical wiring to be stupid enough to try -- and I've also seen the value of wig-wag lights when you're flying during the day.

Find any video of my friend, Pete Howell, turning base to final and watch how those alternating lights in the wings make him more visible. Now, Pete is doing all sorts of fancy stuff with HID and other lighting, but anything that might make you more visible down low is a good thing (I'm actually thinking of installing a smoke system just to be able to flip it on to make it easier for nearby traffic to find me. Is this a bad idea?).

And, Vertical Power has issued a software update to the VP-50 system which takes a switch I wasn't going to use and make it enable a wig-wag function. I don't have to buy anything or do any wiring. How could I not install a second light?

So in the last few days, I did.

When am I going to be finished? When I am.

Video: Vertical Power's VP-50 in action

I think I did one of the first interviews with Vertical Power owner Marc Ausman and ever since then, I've wanted one. The VP-200, which I wrote about in the RV Builder's Hotline in 2007, is the top-of-the line product from the company, and acts pretty much as your first officer. Unfortunately, like so many avionics products, my "want one" plays second fiddle to my "can't afford one."

No matter. The VP-50 has been more than adequate. I've been installing the radios over the last few weeks and I've made a video documenting the progress. Find it here.

N614EF has ears and talks

It only took about 5 months for me to get through the angst of trying to build a wiring harness for the ICOM A210 communications radio and PS Engineering 1000II intercom, but today I sucked it up and flipped the switch.

And it works!





Since the engine isn't ready yet, I couldn't test out the shielding of the harness and its ability to keep out noise, but I did flip on the strobes and all of the other electrical equipment and it all quiet as mouse. Then I transmitted on 123.45 and listened on the scanner in the hangar and things sound great.

By the way, I've recorded a video on how easy it is to install component and configure them using Vertical Power. I'll edit it down and upload it here in the next day or so.

The rules of flaw

One of these days, I'll write a book of axioms for the airplane builder, but in the meantime, here are two more that I've written down for future reference:

1) The best moments in building your own airplane are when you could take a short cut, but don't.

2) The closer you get to finishing your airplane, the more time you spend looking for a part you can't find, but you know it was here a minute ago.

As my faithful readers know, I've been working on avionics for the last few months. This stage of the project is like working in a maze. You proceed down a particular route, only to find it blocked, so you have to try another direction.



Yesterday, I tried to reinstall the PS Engineering 1000II intercom, only to find that the connector and wires (and, yes, I did rewire the power pin for the Vertical Power 50 as I said months ago) hit the bracket that holds the throttle and mixture cables on the subpanel.

I could have gotten away with forcing a fairly steep bend and maybe just muttering "good enough," but I'm past that stage of my airplane-building career. I had no choice but cut a piece of the bracket to allow the wires more freedom and, presumably, lessen the possibility that a broken wire would leave me without a radio (actually, now that I think of it, this wouldn't happen because the PS Engineering intercom has a fail-safe mode that when it craps out, it doesn't prevent you from transmitting/receiving on your radio).

The documentation for the intercom says it doesn't need to be braced. But the more I look at it, the more I think it should be. The problem is, at this stage of the construction. I can see no way to accomplish this. These are the time that challenge a builder when to press on, and when to apply a proper definition of "right," as in "do it right."

I had hoped to get all of the radios reinstalled, the Vertical Power system reinstalled, the master switch, and flap switches reinstalled, the mic jacks and headphone jacks reinstalled, and power up the system to be sure the radios worked. But, alas, the Law of Rule #2 came in to play.

It would appear that I've mounted the Vertical Power 50 control box a little too close to the subpanel and, as a result, I'm asking the antenna cable for the transponder to take a hard turn to avoid it.



The solution -- maybe -- is a right-angle antenna connector at the transponder. I bought one a few months ago from B&C Specialty Products and now I can't find it. I did locate it earlier in the day's activities, but I wasn't looking for it at the time. I was looking for some clear heat-shrink, which I know I put somewhere around here.

I never did find that, and because I wasn't looking for it at the time, I didn't think much of the right-angle connector I did find. I don't remember where I saw it, so I spent two hours -- two hours! -- looking for it. I came up empty.

During the winter months, the hangar tends to get disorganized. When it's 10 degrees in an unheated hangar, there's no time for putting things back where they belong. So by spring, the workplace is pretty disorganized.

Today, I guess I'll spend time tearing the hangar apart, and reorganizing it so that I don't spend so much building time on "looking for stuff" time.

And that's Rule #3.

Introducing the VPX

Those of you who pay attention know that I'm installing a Vertical Power system as the electrical backbone of my system. It eliminates circuit breakers and fuses and gives me much more flexibility than many "old-fashioned" electrical systems, even though I'm using the lower-end VP-50 unit. Then again, I'm building a simple airplane.

Now comes word that Vertical Power is unveiling the VPX, which is designed to work with EFIS systems.

Since I'm on the road, I haven't had a chance to jump into the system or its reason for being. I guess I can understand wanting every piece of information there is to know in a cockpit on one screen, but at some point I wonder how much information in one spot is too much?

It also appears to give you some flexibility to use your own switches, rather than the control unit that comes with, say, the VP-50.

Anyway, it's worth checking out:

The VP-X supports a single bus electrical architecture with a single or dual alternator configuration. It additionally supports the ability to measure the voltage on an aux battery. There are enough circuits to wire a typical RV (including the RV-10), Glastar, Lancair Legacy, Velocity, Cozy, or other 2 to 4 place aircraft.

The VP-X uses a third-party EFIS screen to display faults, flap and trim position, and individual electrical device status. You get the best of both worlds—ECBs are remotely mounted yet you can view their status and reset a fault from the EFIS screen. The VP-X is hidden from view and doesn’t take up any space on the panel. The screen below is an example of an electrical system display on the EFIS where you can view and control each electrical device.

VP-X Wiring from Vertical Power on Vimeo.

It's going for $1,800 and you can get all the details here. Vertical Power, by the way, probably has THE best manuals, Web pages, and information guides of any avionics company I've ever seen.

New Vertical Power features

Vertical Power announced a software upgrade today that introduces new features. For the VP-50, which I have, the highlights are, according to the company:


· Variable speed pitch trim
· Landing light wig-wag
· External switches can turn devices on and off
· Switches 7 & 8 can be used to turn devices on an off
· Current fault alarms (open circuit detection)
· Display of aux battery voltage
· Intermediate flap stops (VP-100 only)

I'm getting two new switches on my panel for the price of... zero! Let's see you switch and fuse people do that! (g)

The light wing-wag has given me a new project for the the winter -- put a second landing/taxi light in the other wing.

I don't have an auxiliary battery so that feature doesn't concern me, and I have manual trim so that does nothing for me either.

Of course my next task is going to be putting the cable together that allows me to download the software update into my lonely Vertical Power control panel.

Here are the particulars.

The simplicty of the Vertical Power 50

The more work I do on the electrical system of my RV-7A, the more impressed I am with the Vertical Power 50 system I've installed. I'll write more later about this week's exploits on installing the Whelen NAV and strobe light in the tail, but it highlighted the ease with which the VP-50 makes electrical work.

I had to restring the wires to the tail -- for reasons I'll get into later -- and last night all I had to do was add connectors to the wires back at the tail, then splice into a single wire on the VP-50 harness that goes into the power connector.

Then I just flip on the master switch, which fires up the VP-50 (and warns me of a low voltage condition)



Put the VP-50 in configuration mode:



Flip to adding a "device":



And configure the device:



In this case, I'm configuring the wire that is connected to the #4 pin (it's the Whelen strobe power unit power wire), I've set a 10 amp "fuse" and chosen switch #6 on the VP-50 unit to turn it on and off. I hit save and voila!



What's not to love about this?



The VP-50 also monitors the health of the electrical system. In this case it shows the battery at 12.4 volts and the draw of 2.7 amps.

Firing up the Vertical Power 50

The more I work with the Vertical Power system, the more I love it. I mean, think about it: There are no circuit breakers to wire, no fuses, no buss to wire, no holes to drill in the panel (except for the control unit).

Basically, you take a wire from whatever device you want to power, stick it into the correct pin on the Vertical Power system, then fire up the system and set the circuit breaker and amp value, and assign it to a switch on your panel. Could it be simpler?

Of course, my newfound perfectionism (which, for the record, rarely yields perfection itself) bit me. I didn't like the original power cable from the master to the Vertical Power unit. The terminal connectors I got from Van's had a hard plastic and I didn't like crimping them with the B&C Connectors' bang-the-crap-out-of_it crimping tool.

So I ordered new terminals and heat shrink and made the cable over. Can you tell the new from the old?



I'll carry the old cable with me as a space in case something happens sometime.

Then I hooked one end to the VP-50...



... and the other end to the ANL on the firewall. Yes, I know this is not wired properly at this point, I just wanted to tap into the power.



The other reason I wanted to make a longer power cable is to run it -- via Adel clamps -- down the engine mount tubing.

Then, I reconnected the ground cable from the battery, climbed into the cabin, flipped the master switch on and...ahhh,.....



How sweet is that? Then I flipped to the setup menu because at this point the VP-50 doesn't recognize anything and isn't passing power.



The VP-50 monitors your electrical system constantly. No need for a bunch of annunciator lights on the panel. In the shot above, it's telling me it's got 12.3 volts form the battery (normally it would be about 13.4 but all I do is drain the battery since it's not connected to a running alternator), and .3 amps and that the system status is OK. If it wasn't OK, the red light would light up and the screen would tell you exactly what's wrong. How can you not love this?



The first device I configured was the flap switch. I set it to always be on (it's not slaved to a switch on the VP-50 unit because the flaps have an up and down switch on the panel. Set the amps to 10 and the circuit breaker to 10 (I have to change this to 6), hit "save" and the flap switch worked!

Then I did the same with the Dynon D-100 electronic flight information system (EFIS). This time I assigned it to switch two. What I can do here is use that as an avionics master switch if I wish. I can also use put all the non-essential avionics on that switch and then, should I have an alternator failure, I can shed load by hitting one switch. In the case of the Dynon, it has an internal battery backup, so I would disconnect it from drawing battery power in the event of an alternator failure.



The goal in this system is to have an electrical system in the plane such that any alternator failure will not be a major issue. People who are using circuit breakers and fuses are creating emergency busses in which a flip of a switch brings the backup system online. I could do something like that, but it would defeat the purpose of the VP-50 system in the first place.

For me, the goal is to have backups (the internal battery on the Dynon, the battery on the Garmin 296, a handheld radio) on the avionics, and I'll also have a switch for the electronic ignition and also the fuel boost pump so -- if something happens to the VP-50 system, I can flip a switch and bring power to those items directly from the battery.

This is a major step for the construction project. I suppose the next big step is the first start of the engine. That's at least a year -- and several thousand dollars -- away.

Installing the VP-50 control box

With an electrical system design (mostly) completed, and with the wires to the back of the airplane (mostly) run, allowing me to button up the top skins, I'm getting down to brass tacks on the electrical system.

Last night at the hangar, I mounted the Vertical Power VP-50 control unit.



It's mounted on two pieces of .063 angle that tie the ribs together. You'll note, too, that doing it this way also allows me to add more Adel clamps for wires heading to the panel from the conduit that runs up the firewall. The more Adel clamps, the better.

You'll also note, as an aside, that I didn't prime the subpanel components. Why not? Somewhere along the line, I read someone's Web site that they'd wished they'd painted the subpanel white so it would be easier to see up under there. So I figured I'd keep it mostly unpainted and allow the light to reflect to see better later on. Whether this ends up serving any purpose, I don't know.



As you can see, I have a nice "approach" to the VP-50. This is the shot of the connection for the cord that connects to the control unit in the panel.

I still have more research to do on the full electrical system design. For example, I was reading last night that Lightspeed wants me to wire directly to the battery, whereas it's possible to wire via Vertical Power and have a backup available to switch to a different circuit should I lose the VP. I'm thinking that's the way to go.

I have an order coming from B&C (by the way, why does it take B&C just two days to get my UPS shipment to me and it takes Van's almost a full week?) which will have the wires and connections I need to wire the VP-50 to the battery.

In any event, I'm hoping the blog will be a good source of information for people considering the VP-50. Just use the Vertical Power category.

Filling the panel

I've been spending a ridiculous amount of time on cutting the panel and getting the jig lined up right for the screw hole locations for the steam (round)gauges. But most of the cutting is done (I still have to put a master switch in and a few other things) but the initial filling of the panel is going pretty well.



With the panel mostly cut, I'm ready to put the Vertical Power control box back in and start significant wiring once I get a gizmo to crimp on a #8 terminal ring to bring power from the battery contactor to the Vertical Power system. You can see I've put in the instrument panel Vertical Power interface, which is about as easy as it gets -- a bracket, a thumbscrew and -- voila! This system brings a solid state approach to aircraft avionics instead of fuses, circuit breakers and switches.

This is not a show-stopping panel but you know what? The more I look at it, the more I love how I have it arranged for the way I fly. And thanks to Doug Weiler, Tom Berge, and Stein Bruch's presentation a few years ago, I've got everything fitting tightly but efficiently in the panel.

It's a very exciting time. I'll be hanging the engine in a few weeks, the wiring to the rear of the ship is layed, the skin is ready to be riveted on back there and things are moving right along to the point where I'm starting to think 2011 might be the year.

Vertical Power cutout

Since I have a separate Vertical Power category, I thought I should update you that I made the cutout for the VP-50 switch yesterday. I ended up moving it from the original location down near the flap switches. This is because I had moved the Air Gizmo GPS296 dock to the top of the radio stack before I realized that the horizontal adapter does not fit the cutout for the AirGizmo dock, and I'd already installed the support angle.

That left the VP-50 to be installed in the 296's original spot, to the right and slightly above the big Dynon D-100. It is, of course, still workable with the "same hand you use for the throttle control" as the instructions say.

I didn't see a specific mounting plan but there's a bracket attached to the back of the switch, so it appears I need to install two pieces of angle above and below the cutout. (Update: Marc Ausman says the bracket sits on the back of the unit and -- because the rectangle for the unit is snug, the thumbwheel screw just keeps the whole deal tight.)

In any event, it looks slick.

I'm cutting the panel myself. As I've noted before: This is a blue-collar airplane that's pay-as-you-go. I can think of a hundred things I'd like to do with this plane if I had more money. But one of the interesting challenges now is doing more myself and learning to live with a more realistically-constructed plane.

At this point in our economy, I consider it a metaphor for life and an unseen challenge that probably should get its own award at Oshkosh -- a "people who aren't rich" category.

Vertical Power wiring diagram updated

My good RV-building (well, now he's flying) friend Kevin Faris has made some suggestions to the wiring diagram.

One is overcurrent protection:

I would recommend two on the firewall, an 80 or so for the alternator and a 40 for the battery feeder (providing you use a #8 jumper from the battery lug to the fuse block.) My reasoning on this is you do not want your "backup" feeder to accidentally pop EVER. So it is sized quite heavy for the sum of all loads plus a bit more.

Kevin also has a backup circuit for the Lightspeed EI, which made me slap my forehead over my leaving it off.

Here's the update with his additions. At some point I'll figure out how to make this diagram all nice and pretty. At the moment, it's written mostly in pencil. Click on the image to make it big.

The wiring plan

My goal for the winter (i.e. -- frozen hangar) months was to get my head around an electrical system architecture for the RV-7A. I think I'm on schedule. Today I finally sketched out a wiring diagram utilizing the VP-50 system from Vertical Power. You'll have to click the image to enlarge it.

I won't go into the whole Vertical Power sales pitch because it's a category on the blog here now and you can click it and go read for yourself. I will say that it really does make wiring simpler. First of all, my shortcoming as a builder is being organized enough to buy all the various switches and gizmos that I'd need for a traditional system. Since I installed the Vertical Power VP-50 unit a few weeks ago, I've basically done all that.

I also bought the wiring harness which provides me with the right wire size. I'll have to do some crimping of D-Sub and, of course, I'll have to run the wires, but a lot of work is already done for me.

The diagram above is still a work in progress, but it gives you an idea (if you can read these things) an idea of what I'm up to. Since my Dynon D100 has an internal battery, I'm not wiring a backup circuit for it. The battery is the backup circuit. Same for the GPS (I use a Garmin 296, which I realize won't get me invited to the cool kids' party at Oshkosh, but that's OK).

But I have planned on a backup switch for the fuel boost pump and I'm thinking about one for the flaps. I'm also planning on a second, smaller alternator as a backup but I won't install that until later, when there's more money. For now, I'll run a wire for it out to the engine compartment and tie it off.

And I've still got to look up some more specs on the Lightspeed electronic ignition. So what do I have to buy now? A master bat/alt switch and a starter switch. Oh, and an alternator. I'm leaning toward the Plane Power alternator because it has an internal regulator and overvoltage protection and that's just so much wiring and extra components I don't have to buy and install. I'm all about simple on these things.

Other than that, I've got to buy a bus block (I have one on the way from B&C, but I need one more) and that should do it.

When you first develop your electrical system, you fill out a load planning worksheet from Vertical Power. This makes it easier to figure out what's going to go where. Then, all you have to do is crimp a D-Sub terminal on the proper wire, insert it into the receptacle on the control unit, run it to the device and, voila! It's so simple, even a blogger can do it.

Here's my load planning spreadsheet. I haven't figured out yet what is going to be on the switch unit that actually goes in the panel and connects to the control unit. My very important avionics, however, will be assigned to switch 1 (on the far left) so that if an alternator fails, I simply flip the switch down, which brings the (soon to be installed) backup alternator online. I then flip the rest of the avionics off with one switch and I've taken care of load shedding.


I'm just a VFR pilot. I don't fly at night (although I might a little), so backup electrical systems aren't critical to me. But if I'm on a cross country flight and an alternator goes south, I should be able to complete the journey or -- at the very least -- get the plane down on my terms. Since I'm using half an electrical ignition system, having the backup alternator allows it to keep working without a problem.

And until I get the backup alternator put in, I can certainly hobble to the nearest airport on the strength of the left mag.

Feel free to offer your comments.

Beginning installation of the VP-50 in an RV-7A

There is no documentation, as far as I know, of an install of the Vertical Power 50 in an RV-7A. The VP-50 is the low-end version of the solid-state electrical management system, that eliminates (for the most part) circuit breakers and fuses. This will be the brain of my electrical system and after weeks away from any substantial progress on the RV-7A, I figured it was time to get serious. So I've set up a VP-50 category for folks in the future who want to see how this system fits.

The heart of the system is the control unit, which essentially is the main electrical buss. It takes power from the battery and distributes it to my various electrical goodies. I'll install the battery in a few weeks.

I wasn't sure where to mount the control unit. The instructions recommend some aluminum angle brackets to be installed between the subpanel and the firewall but I didn't like this system for a few reasons. First, if you install it on the right side of the plane, you'll run into problems with the brake lines coming off the reservoir (at least if you have a dual brake system as I do). If you put it in the middle, you'll need to mount it near the center recess in the firewall. Didn't want to do that. And if you mount it on the left side, you're that much farther from the battery and the ground tabs I've already mounted on the firewall. I want short runs.

So I ran a bracket width-wise across the two subpanel ribs. Just cut two pieces of .063 3/4 x 3/4 angle to roughly 19" lengths. Cut the flange on one side at each end and by about 7/8" to allow the other flange to sit under the flange of the subpanel ribs.

I fit one bracket about 1 3/4" forward of the subpanel, drilled two #19 holes for two #8 screws. I elected not to put nutplates in the flange of the subpanel rib and will use screws and nuts instead. I obviously didn't rivet the angle either. Riveting is forever and I'm not entirely sure that something else down the road won't require me to move things, and this gives me the flexibility to do that.

Anyway, I installed one angle and then clamped the other angle to the subpanel ribs and adjusted it so that each bracket was flush with the control box. I marked the location, and removed the control unit. Then I drilled the aluminum angle to the flanges of the subpanel and installed the screws and nuts.

The next step is to install nutplates in the angle to mount the control unit. I elected to use AN-3 bolts (a #12 hole) instead of screws because I thought it would be easier getting the unit off when and if I needed to, using a socket set. This was a mistake. Some small screws on the VP-50 near the mounting holes very nearly interfere with the bolt. You can't get a socket set around it. In fact, you need to be very careful locating the holes on the angle.

With both angles mounted in place, I got underneath the subpanel and decided where I wanted to mount the control unit, holding it in place, and tracing the mounting slots with a Sharpie onto the angle. For a guy with Meniere's Disease (vertigo), this is the least pleasurable part about working on the panel. Whenever I'm on my back looking up, the ear canal sends weird signals to the brain and I might as well be on a roller coaster. It takes me several minutes after doing this, sitting in the cabin, to let the nausea go away. But you don't exactly ever feel good for the rest of the day.

I then removed one angle and installed a nutplate and bolted the control unit on. I checked to be sure my mark for the other bolt hole was correct (it wasn't) and drilled the next bolt hole, installed a nutplate and bolted the control until to the angle. Then I reinstalled the angle (with the control unit attached), got underneath again and traced slot holes on the angle and marked drill points, removed the angle, attached nutplates and reinstalled.

Voila!




Earlier in the day, I finally removed the fuel boost pump and center cover. I don't know why I installed them a year or so ago. It all has to come out to allow me to run wires down the center, and up some conduit to the subpanel and the VP-50 unit. Of course, I couldn't find the right nuts for the Adel clamp to keep the conduit in place, so I moved on to the VP-50 control unit installation.

After I install the battery and cables, I'll probably start with the flap motor wiring and switch. I've settled on the instrument panel design, so I'll try to find a place to send it to to be professionally cut.

As always, click the image for a bigger size.

Electrical system work

I had hoped to spend the weekend working on finalizing the electrical system for N614EF. I've tried; I really have. I put together the load analysis spreadsheet for the Vertical Power system, and I realize the instructions need to be "dummified" more. Why? Because I'm a dummy, not an electrical engineer.

I'm a writer and if you could design and install an electrical system by turning a phrase or two, I'd have it done by now. To people well-schooled in electronics, a schematic is much easier to implement than subject-verb tense agreement. Everybody's different.

It's still not clear to me, for example, how I supply always-on power to the Dynon unit (which keeps the clock updated etc.). As near as I can tell, the wiring would require a line from the battery, which tells me that there should be some sort of battery buss somewhere under the subpanel somewhere, in a fashion that avoids the Vertical Power control unit altogether.

Vertical Power's Marc Ausman -- a really good guy -- said on VP's support forum, "...anything else will will be powered from the VP-50 or the aux bus (like starter contactor power) which is wired downstream of the battery contactor." I get that, I guess. But it's still not clear to me what that looks like when I lean over and look at someone's RV subpanel.

And therein lies the problem for people like me. We learn by actually SEEING things. I can ruminate for hours over what a schematic tells me about what to do with shielded cable, but it's a lot easier for me to look at that schematic, then go downstairs and pull out the Dynon harness and see what SteinAir did. Voila! Now the schematic makes sense because I saw what it looks like in real life.

This is a typical electrical system schematic:



After spending weeks looking at that, it finally made sense what the philosophy of it was. But what does it look like in an RV airplane? I couldn't tell you, but because this is one of the most common installations, there are enough builder Web sites out there to give me a clue.

And this is also why Van's electrical system instructions are so good for people like me. It approaches building the system this way:

1. Start here.
2. Mount this thing there.
3. Mount the other thing here.
4. Run a wire from this location, to that location and back to this location.

See what I mean? It doesn't give me philosophy, it gives me instructions. And because Van's is helping you build an airplane, they don't just concentrate on their own product and give you only the information pertaining to its product, they tell you the whole shootin' match.

In other words, they're focused on the whole, not on the parts.

Here's an example. Dan Checkoway's excellent Web site carries pictures of the firewall and such things as the ANL limiter. Now, I've read the AeroElectric Connection -- about 13 times. And it sort of makes sense in its philosophical ways, but a site, like Dan's, which says "put this here, put that there, the hambone is connected to the leg bone" is the way instructions should be put together for airplane builders like me.

Unfortunately, that's not possible with a product so new as Vertical Power. Don't get me wrong, it's a great product and the instructions are well written, but because it's such a new product, there aren't any Web sites out there that do for it what sites like Dan's, or Walter Tondu's do for the traditional electric system.

I was out at the hangar yesterday trying to figure out where to mount the Vertical Power-50 control unit. With a traditional unit, you enter your search terms in Google, check however many of the 1,000 RV builder Web sites you want, and do what they did. You can't do that with the Vertical Power system. There's only one RV-7 builder site. Bernie Daenzer and Alex Lichtensteiger's flyvans.com , and they're using the VP-200. Also, it's not a step-by-step Web site.

So, I never really came up with a good solution, partly because I don't know what else I need to fit under the subpanel because there aren't any Web sites with pictures and step-by-steps of installing a complete electrical system.

So what to do now? I have to think some more about whether I'm the right guy to be one of the first builders to install a VP-50. If I am, I'd put together a Web site on how to do it. Or do I want to punt and just go back to the tried-and-true traditional electrical system, and take advantage of the online resources that, as I indicated, are available? A lot depends on the answer to that. I can't send the instrument panel out to be cut until I know whether it will have circuit breakers, for example.

One thing that's great about the VP boys, however, is when you send them your load planning worksheet, they send you back suggestions for how to improve your plan. You gotta love that!

Here's what changes Marc made to mine (including catching my mistakes):

-Swap the EFIS and 296. The loads were not correct, and Dynon recommends a 3A breaker.
- The flaps draw 4.4 amps under load. So I put them on a 10A circuit. Usually a 5A CB is fine, but sometimes you need more.
- The flaps need to have their own external flap switch, the VP just provides power (unlike the VP-100 and 200 which actually drive the flap motor directly). See VP-50 wiring diagram.
- What trim systems are you installing? The trim is not filled in (some blacked out).
- Do you have a 296 or 496? It is unclear. In either case, it is on its own pin
- I put the aux bus items each on their own pin. You have extra pins.
- I assume the ext warning light is for something else and you just need power? It is now on J8-23

Odd, I don't remember adding an exterior warning light. I don't need it, though.

Here's what my spreadsheet looks like:



Once I fully understand the Vertical Power system, then I have to figure out how to set up a backup system in case it goes south. With the schematic above (the traditional system), you can flip a switch and voila! You're on a backup electrical system. Simple? No, but as I said, enough people have put this system in that you can just look at where they put what and do the same thing.

Vertical Power has drawn out a schematic for a "get home" system here. As near as I can tell, it takes the main battery power, runs it through a fuseblock, and then out to the Vertical Power unit. And then has several switches to bypass the VP-50 if you need to. Philosophically, I get it. I also get that it adds expense back to a system that I'd hoped the VP-50 would cut. What it looks like behind the panel? I haven't a clue.

It's times like this I really appreciate the homebuilders of yesteryear. They had no Internet to compare their projects with. Of course, they didn't have the electrical systems homebuilt aircraft do today.

Meantime, if you have also purchased a Vertical Power 50 system for an RV-7A and you've designed your electric system and have some pictures of your installation (maybe even a step by step guide), by all means, contact me.

One thing I did accomplish yesterday was finalizing the location of the main instrument on the panel -- the Dynon 100.



This will require moving the left rib closer to the center. I also moved the backup airspeed and altimeter to just left of the Dynon (instead of below it) and moved the TruTrak autopilot selector to below the Dynon. I also eliminated one switch. Now I've got to figure out how to get this into some sort of CAD design to take to place that can cut the panel.