Avionics – expert check

As Jersey is pretty self contained we are not exactly overrun with avionics experts so when Adrain (Norman) pops over for his regular visit he is definitely a man to catch.

Having got the Trig all working I still wanted to get an expert check over and he kindly offered to give it the ‘critical’ eye .. Again .. He does this all day every day .. I put new systems into Trust companies and Banks …

We spent a while reviewing my wiring techniques and the Trig units and general setup. Before he came I spent a while routing and re routing the working harnesses to give what I felt was a more professional setup and appearance. This meant copious but managed use of cable ties but I found this bit to be quite therapeutic .. There’s something about routing and wrapping cables that makes the whole thing suddenly feel closer to THE day of readiness

Had riveted the above PTT earthing in but advised that a a screw would give better long term earthing

Cables neatly tied and routed I could ask Adrian ‘dumb’ questions about intercom cone connectivity and how PTT should earth through the body and tie off on Trig connectors. I was genuinely surprised when all those pins and PTT and earths worked first time !

I had riveted the little headset and phone brackets to the down tube in front and rear cockpits and they looked rally neat and unobtrusive but my long term mentor Mike (F) had noted that a single bent flap of alloy with two rivets over time would work loose with people pushing and pulling headsets in and out .. In fact one was showing small signs of flex already .. So these were removed and new ones made with a wrap around design and 2 rivets front and 2 rear … Nothing is going to move these now !

Adrian did pick up my inability to completely cut the edge off the cable ties .. Indeed my son Benjamin who works for Williams F1 noted that one of his mentors in engineering used to drag the backed his hand over ‘completed’ cable ties to make the point ! I now know how much to cut off !

Adrian finished with a full check of the transponder using his specialist kit .. You could see nice big fat readings of all key bits so happy days !