The installation of the Battery shelf (or tray) was listed early on in the build manual. But I’ve been putting it off hoping that a new, small, light-weight, high-tech battery would become available. There are tons of them in 12 volts, but they haven’t started making 24 volt versions yet.

So I took the supplied part and decided to improve it a bit. The factory part is just a flat piece with a bottom that fits the inside of the fuselage. I added a small “wall” around it. That way, if it ever decides to try and run away, it won’t fall into the landing gear and create more problems.

Unfortunately, my trip down was part business and I flew commercial so my phone was my only camera. But here’s the battery tray with the low wall around it.

Then the corners are cleaned up and a layer of BID inside and out.

The hole in the corner is to allow a slightly larger battery.

The battery tray was modified a little while back in SC. Now it’s time to install it. Before mounting it, I drilled some large holes to accommodate the wiring that will be going from the ground service connector, landing gear controller, master and starter solenoids. Unfortunately, the connector from the landing gear controller to the power pack is WAY too large so it’ll have to take a different route.

Then I had to decide on how to hold the battery in place. My initial plan was to use “J” hooks. Buy I wasn’t sure how that would work in terms of wearing through the battery tray where the hooks went through. So instead, I used some 1/2″ aluminum and created a bracket that screws to the outside of the tray supports that has a drilled and tapped hole for the rod which holds the battery down.

I then located the battery tray between the master/starter solenoids and the brake reservoir making sure that it cleared the nose gear when it was retracted. Once the location was set, I drilled a few holes, mixed up some structural adhesive and pop-riveted the tray in place.

Once the adhesive had cured, I had to grind a divot in the inner skin. The battery I’m using is just a bit too big so I had to make some space. So I removed the inner shin and some of the foam. Then covered it with 2 layers of BID.

Battery tray with battery mounted.

A view of the corner where I removed the inner skin and foam.

And a view looking down from the top.