industry WIRED FOR STANDBY Analog panels need juice; digitals need it more S T O R Y F B Y D A V E H I G D O N ew in-flight events seize a pilot's attention quite like losing electricalgenerating power while flying in instrument meteorological conditions, or IMC. The battery starts its steady drain toward zero electrical power the instant output ends from the alternator or generator. That countdown clock starts regardless of how long it takes the pilot to notice the illuminated warning light or see the electrical-system indicator on the wrong side of healthy. Tough to avoid a knot in the stomach, but, as one chief flight instructor observed, "At least it's not a fire." In the short term, generating loss is not quite a worst-case scenario where electrical-system health is concerned; a full-system failure instantly removes everything electrical from use. To a degree, this appears a situation where it differs little between analog and digital panels; no juice is no juice. And analog or digital panel, the 16 avionics news * september 2015