For three years now I blew off
fitting the fiberglass rudder bottom. Now, I have no choice since
it is on the short list of things to do. So the problem is,
"how the heck do I bolt this light on"? Seems like I was not the
only one wondering. Searching the archives of the usual places
turns up a variety of solutions, some of them good, some overly complex.
My goal with this particular piece of fiberglass is to permanently attach it to the rudder bottom. This means that the light must be easily removable from the outside in order to be serviced. The obvious answer is to slap a couple of nutplates on and be done with it. However as you look closer, that is more easily said than done.
The little pod that Van's molds in to this piece is scarcely big enough to hold the Whelen combo strobe/position light. It is just about physically impossible to cut a hole for the light and for nutplates, then actually rivet nutplates directly to the fiberglass. What I did instead, was to create a plate out of some scrap aluminum sheet in the same shape as the mounting surface of the fiberglass, attach nutplates to that plate, then attach the plate to the fiberglass. Simple, fast and works great! It also allowed me to use a decent sized #6 nutplate and screws.
Step 1. Get some aluminum sheet from your trim bundle and trace the outline of the rudder bottom light mounting area. Use your ruler to draw some lines and mark the center.
Step 2. Using a fly cutter, big unibit, or a large firearm, make a hole large enough to accomodate the light. Mine was 1 1/16" in diameter, and I used a fly cutter in my drill press to knock out the hole. Once you punch the hole, use the light assembly itself to mark the locations of the mounting holes on the plate. Find a good position to place the nutplates. Note the picture - I found that only the "one legged" nut plate (MK2000-06) would fit. I suspect a "corner" style would fit also, but I didn't have one available.
My goal with this particular piece of fiberglass is to permanently attach it to the rudder bottom. This means that the light must be easily removable from the outside in order to be serviced. The obvious answer is to slap a couple of nutplates on and be done with it. However as you look closer, that is more easily said than done.
The little pod that Van's molds in to this piece is scarcely big enough to hold the Whelen combo strobe/position light. It is just about physically impossible to cut a hole for the light and for nutplates, then actually rivet nutplates directly to the fiberglass. What I did instead, was to create a plate out of some scrap aluminum sheet in the same shape as the mounting surface of the fiberglass, attach nutplates to that plate, then attach the plate to the fiberglass. Simple, fast and works great! It also allowed me to use a decent sized #6 nutplate and screws.
Step 1. Get some aluminum sheet from your trim bundle and trace the outline of the rudder bottom light mounting area. Use your ruler to draw some lines and mark the center.
Step 2. Using a fly cutter, big unibit, or a large firearm, make a hole large enough to accomodate the light. Mine was 1 1/16" in diameter, and I used a fly cutter in my drill press to knock out the hole. Once you punch the hole, use the light assembly itself to mark the locations of the mounting holes on the plate. Find a good position to place the nutplates. Note the picture - I found that only the "one legged" nut plate (MK2000-06) would fit. I suspect a "corner" style would fit also, but I didn't have one available.
