Thanks for all replies. You can see how wrong I had it, never thought of the
space
under the door sill. Is that mentioned anywhere in the manuals and I missed
it?
Regarding transponder antenna, I figure I can place it when I install avionics
later in the build. So no need to worry about it now.
Regarding transponder antenna, I guess I can start a debate regarding that. If
you are asking me about it now so that it is installed internally before the top
goes on I will tell you my experience: I currently own a LongEZ and had a lot
of trouble with internally mounted transponder antennas. I then met a very
wise RF Engineer who also happened to own a Long EZ and he showed me what
happens
when you place a transponder antenna inside a composite fuselage (using a
nifty, and expensive, analyzer). Conclusion: my antenna now goes outside (spam
can style) with a super thin foil, small round ground plane spray bonded to the
outside of the airplane (and a little paint to make it look good). Takes 10
minutes to do and it works extremely well.
Maybe with newer digital transponders you can do OK with poor antenna setups but
with older tuned circuit ones (like I have in my EZ) it can be problematic.
I know that different people had different experiences but until I changed the
antenna setup in my EZ I always had problems with ATC seeing me in my local area
and also with the periodic inspections (drifted frequencies). Anyway, I just
like the simplicity of the externally mounted transponder antenna.
Chris
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