Will it REALLY ever be completed?

I spoke yesterday with Bill, the avionics technician who has been diligently working on the airplane since September 2009. It appears that all the changes required by Xerion, Aspen, S-TEC and others have now been completed. The airplane may actually be run up next week for the first time since November, 2007.

Here is Bill doing some final testing.

And a photo of the proud owner hoping this is nearly complete!

Part of the challenge has been the installation of the recently approved Aspen MFD. This unit is presently configured as a PFD, for primary flight information and full redundancy. The switch to the Multi Function Display (MFD) has required some wiring changes, and Aspen recently issued a dirrective that there shall be a disconnect switch for EACH PFD or MFD unit. The original installation provided a single disconnect for the two Aspen units. But that is now resolved, and next week should be a big event.

Nearly finished instrument panel - this time with all the wiring hooked up!

We also found a neat passenger light for the rear seat. This is a single LED light, fully adjustable, and supplied at a very reasonable cost by Cockpit Lights .

I will do another update next week after the final testing is complete.