Avionics News July 2016 - 28

KEEP 'EM FLYING

Continued from page 27

"The category of the aircraft is something the owner or
maintainer should know. But if you're not sure, you can go to
the FAA's website and look up all the information using the
aircraft's N-number."
That little bit of research can easily save you a lot of headaches down the runway.

even know where to start with that one."
Like Ranasingha, Fryar said his warbird and classic customers are looking to make other improvements beyond just new
avionics. One of his biggest opportunities is to integrate new
digital engine monitors and graphical displays into their panels.
"We have all kinds of interface issues with using these new
digital units with the old radial engines," he said. "Most of the
time it's trial and error - we're sort of doing the Beta testing
for the engine monitor companies. It's a slow, learn-as-you-go
process. Customers need to know this upfront so they're not
surprised by the labor bill."

EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN ... NOT!
While the kinds of avionics shops can install may be limiting,
HOT AVIONICS FOR COLD WAR JETS
there is absolutely no limit to what aircraft owners want to inTo most of us, the words warbirds and classics are synonystall. And while that may be music to the ears, it can offer some
mous with propellers. Big propellers. But in today's world,
unexpected challenges when it comes to warbirds and classics.
that's no longer the case. Korean-, Cold War- and Vietnam-era
"A lot of owners want to keep their panel looking as origijets are beginning to make their presence known in the U.S.
nal as possible, which presents some challenges," stated Kirk
warbird market.
Fryar, president of Sarasota Avionics. "And there are some who
Aviation Classics Ltd., a repair station in Reno, Nevada,
just want to glass it out. The small size of many of these panels
built
the warbirds side of its business on Soviet-built jets.
makes that extremely difficult. And some owners want to keep
The company's manager and chief inspector, Lynn Jenkins,
some of both looks."
knows the ins and outs of what it takes to deal with these
Fryar shared a recent installation where the owner of a 1942
new-generation jet warbirds.
Stinson V-77 (warbird version
"Most of the guys with the
of the Stinson Reliant) wanted
Soviet-bloc jets - MiG-15s, 17s and
to do just that - with amazing
21s, as well as TS-11s, L-29s, L-39s
results.
and L-139s - are staying away
"It's pretty cool," Fryar
from the experimental avionics and
said. "It has the digital engine
installing the Garmin GNS and GTN
monitor, Garmin GTN 750
units," he said. "The performance of
touchscreen, Garmin GDL 88:
the aircraft is so high, and the nonall kinds of stuff. It's a beautiful
certified units don't stand up. And
panel."
most of these owners want certified
Ranasingha also shared details
WAAS units and autopilots for the
of a recent all-glass installation
IFR flights."
his shop completed on a unique
Jenkins also explained that in
de Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk.
North
American
T-28;
Sarasota
Avionics
many instances, especially with
"I'd say this is the secondthe supersonic capable MiGs,
hardest avionics installation I've
the owners are going to use them
personally done - the first was
for
U.S.
military
contracts,
so they also have to install and
an (Apollo/Garmin) CNX 80 in a B-24," he said. "The Chipintegrate compatible radios like the ARC-164 for UHF and
munk has a GTN 650 in the front and 10-inch Garmin G3X disARC-182 for VHF.
plays in the front and rear cockpits. Nothing like this installation
"No matter what you are installing, you have two major
had ever been done before in this kind of airplane. It required
problems,"
he said. "The first is trying to interface with any kind
rewiring the entire aircraft.
of Soviet equipment. In most cases, we work around it and keep
"The aircraft only has a 17.5-amp generator, so we had to
the units separate. The second is, like most warbirds, where do
do repeated checking and rechecking of the electrical load
you put it? There is not a lot of room on the panel or room in the
analysis. We had to fabricate our own tach generator and
cockpit to put anything."
make British Standard Pipe threaded adaptor hoses for the
He also said that unlike U.S. or Allied aircraft, the Soviet jets
pressure transducers.
often have sophisticated systems that integrate airframe com"All this for an experimental airplane that's limited to day/
VFR. The owner absolutely loves the panel and equipment. His
Continued on page 30
next upgrade will be to install the Garmin G3X autopilot. I don't
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avionics news

july

2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News July 2016