Permit Aircraft Electrics - Basic Course

This course provides the theory and practical knowledge to enable the implementation of a basic electrical system in permit aircraft. Although the course necessarily includes a small amount of technical theory; it is only included at a level needed (essentially Ohms Law) to understand how wire sizes, fuses, circuit breakers and other components etc are selected.

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The basic premise of the introductory course is that the owner/builder already has a circuit diagram to work from (few kit manufacturers provide electrical diagrams, so the course includes details of where such ‘standard’ diagrams may be found). They are not expected to do any design work, but they do need to source the materials and components and build a working, reliable and safe installation.

The course explains how to interpret a ‘typical’ permit aircraft electrical systems diagram and for every element, explains how to size, select and source components and then how to practically install them. The course uses a PowerPoint presentation for the theory side, a demonstration electrical panel in the classroom so that attendees can see the various options and good practice for wiring and systems installation and also runs two practical sessions in the LAA workshop which includes practical soldering, wire stripping and connector crimping, cable marking options, use of heat shrink, radio antenna coax connector installation and the correct crimping and installation of typical D Sub connectors used for avionics systems.

What this course will try to do is:

• Introduce and explain the components of a wiring system

• Help you understand a circuit diagram

• Give practical experience in wiring techniques

• Give the knowledge to select and source cables and components

• Explain failure modes and reliability issues

• Help you conduct basic fault finding

• Warn about the ‘gotcha’ areas and the things to look out for

What the course will not do is:

• Turn you into a design engineer

• Enable you to design an aircraft EWIS

• Enable you to fault find on an undocumented aircraft installation

• Solve interference issues

• Delve into avionics