Rick,
I think others have already answered this well, but here’s two more cents:
The Lancair-defined locations for throttle, mixture and prop controls worked
out very well for me. I don’t have a blueprint/layout for these, but
could make you one from my airplane if you advise me soon—engine going on
(again) in a few days; very difficult to get a good pattern after that! Focus
on the cable run in the engine compartment, rather than behind the panel
(spaghetti behind the panel as you have to; minimized in the engine compartment
as you can) Several reasons for this, but main one is to keep them working freely
for as long as possible…and they are difficult enough to run in a
straight line inside the engine compartment…just wait; you have a real
treat in store to install these! BTW, if you haven’t planned/used
isolation sub panels to mount your cables to the instrument panel, this is
almost a standard practice today, and is the only way to get the panel out
without disconnecting and pulling the throttle/other cables back through the
firewall… Most folks use one for the throttle/prop/mixture, and a second
for “all others.” I used a third one on the left side of the panel
for the parking brake. If you put it on the right side in the “normal”
location with the other controls, you’ll have to get up on the wing to
release it when outside the cockpit. On the far left side and up on the panel
makes it accessible from the front of the wing while standing on the ground…just
a thought.
The smaller heater control and similar cables are more flexible
and easier to work with, but the same general concepts apply—snake them
behind the panel and minimize this in the engine compartment as you can.
I used the Lancair location and through-firewall fitting for the
oil cooler control, but not the heater and pressurization controls. These
require the control cable to be fairly close to, and parallel to the firewall to
function, and some considerable snaking inside the engine compartment to get
them from the Lancair-specified to the right location. I was able to reduced
the bends and improve the cable run by fiberglassing about 8” lengths of ¼”
6061 AL tubing through the firewall at a 70-80 degree angle (almost parallel to
the firewall) near the top—well higher than Lancair specified. The
Lancair-supplied push/pull cables are a close fit inside the tubing, and a
piece of heat shrink on one end keeps fumes from coming through the tube. Slot
the other end and put a small screw clamp around it to securely clamp the cable
at the correct position. The tubing gives support to the cable and makes a
clean installation.
Bob
Rick
Titsworth wrote:
I’m (almost) ready to drill the firewall holes for the
Throttle/Prop/Mixture cables on my ES (basically the same F/W as a IV)…
Any other thoughts/insights/lessons learned???