Cozy Experimental Aircraft Update – January 19, 2019

I will plan to install the ILS, COMM, and GPS antennas but no marker beacons or adf antennas.

Marker Beacons are generally being decommissioned everywhere. (i.e. Outer Marker (OM) / Middle Marker (MM) / Inner Marker (IM)). I will install an ILS and plan to use the GPS waypoints along the approach to know where I am. The main approaches are going to be GSP/WAAS/LPV and ILS’s, with more ILS’s being decommissioned also.

Installing the glide slope antenna:

First I located the position for the V-shaped glideslope antenna such that I will avoid the nosewheel (wait I’m a tailwheel pilot, oh well) and landing light.

Drilled a hole through the fuselage bottom for the RG58 c/u coaxial cable penetration then used the dremel tool to carve out a run for the coax along the bottom of the fuselage and carved out the V-shape for the copper antenna tape.

I removed the insulation at one end of the coax cable and placed 3 toroids on the cable as shown.

I positioned two 7.5″ copper antenna strips within 1/2 ” of each other, in a V-shape. Next I soldered the coax shielding to one of the copper strips and the coax conductor to the other. I tested all connections with an ohm meter to ensure I had continuity where it should be and no shorts between the copper strips.

Lastly, I mixed a small batch of dry micro and potted the cable where it penetrates into the aircraft. I also used the dry micro to permanently position the toroids in place.