PILOT'S GUIDE Electrical power alternatives essential in the digital-instrument age KEEPING THE JUICE FLOWING S T O R Y T B Y here's a truism that pilots recite during hangarflying sessions and other discussions that holds some truth for their electrical systems. The line goes, "The only time you have too much fuel is when your plane is on fire." For the electrical system, we upend the truism: There's almost never a time when you have too much juice. D A V E H I G D O N Sure, there are overvoltage situations that can burn out electrical components - but our aircraft typically use protections against those situations in the form of circuit breakers, fuses and electrical crowbars designed to cut all power from the electrical system. That's not the same as having multiple options for keeping electrical power flowing to critical instruments, - 42 -