A long time ago I installed the ELT mounting bracket from Van's. It was a real pain to install because of how it's riveted to the J channels. So I was thrilled to discover today that the mounting holes provided by Van's don't match the holes required by the ELT I bought (a little odd, given that this is also the ELT that Van's sells). There wasn't really an easy way to drill new holes and install nutplates with the bracket in place, so I had to drill out all of the existing rivets and pull the bracket out. With it out, I drilled new mounting holes for the ELT and put nutplates in place. Getting the bracket back on the plane was easier said than done, just like the first time! It looks so simple, but the bottom pop rivets are inside, between the bracket and the side skin. Of course as is par for the course in airplane construction, it took ten times longer than I thought it would. With the nutplates in place and bracket installed, I mounted the ELT plate and strapped the ELT on.
