Ivan's RV-7

Installing left wing avionics.Timer icon4h

September 13, 2025

I started installing avionics in the left wing.

I want to install everything I need into the wings, then close them. For the pitot and angle-of-attack air tubes I decided to use 5052-O tubing, 3/16". No specific reason why do I want aluminum, but it looks nice, it is rigid and no issues with connecting it too close to the heated pitot (though in any case I left the minimum 8" tubes from the pitot -- as per Garmin documentation).

Also, since it is rigid, I think, I will pass it under the aileron bellcrank without any bracket holding it down -- snap bushings in the ribs support these tubes well enough.

After some careful bending, this is the configuration I got:

Pitot and AOA tubing.

On the inboard side, I am going to install two 90° bulkhead connectors. Not sure how to clock them given the aileron push tube, though.

Wing root fittings for pitot/AOA

After that, I moved to heated pitot controller installation.

To pass the wires through the wings, I drilled 5/8" holes through the bottom 1/3 of the ribs (as per Wing Wiring: Routing Wires in the Wings FAQ). To drill the holes in roughly the same location, I created a simple drill template.

A drilling template.

Since I've already installed Garmin heated pitot controller, I had to move the wiring hole a bit lower in that one specific rib.