Avionics question

[DAS at 10/250]

Need some help from the avionics techies.

We have a 1978 PA31 that came from the factory minus the alternate (emergency) avionics master backup switch. Looking for some experience with this and possible solutions.

Worst comes to worse I have an air driven attitude and heading indicator, so how would it work to add an aux antenna line to plug in a handheld.

Thanks.

 

[TrafficInSight]

Most handhelds have removeable antennas with BNC connectors, all you'd need your A&P to do is mount a new antenna and run the cable up to a convenient position and leave it. Not hard at all.

I'm not quite sure what you're getting at with the emergency avionics master... do you mean just a radio master that turns the stack on and off? some planes never came with them and that's okay... you just have to turn your radios on and off one by one after engine start and before shutdown... if you want to add a radio master it can be done.

 

[DAS at 10/250]

I'm not quite sure what you're getting at with the emergency avionics master... do you mean just a radio master that turns the stack on and off? some planes never came with them and that's okay... you just have to turn your radios on and off one by one after engine start and before shutdown... if you want to add a radio master it can be done.Yesterday 20:35

The airplane does have an avionics master switch. What is missing, from the factory, is an emercency (backup) avionics bus power circuit breaker switch. Most PA31's (serial number 31-7852001 and up) have a backup avionics master that will provide power from the primary bus to the number 1 avionics bus.

 

[TrafficInSight]

The airplane does have an avionics master switch. What is missing, from the factory, is an emercency (backup) avionics bus power circuit breaker switch. Most PA31's (serial number 31-7852001 and up) have a backup avionics master that will provide power from the primary bus to the number 1 avionics bus.

Hmm, okay. In either case you'll probably either need a STC'd kit or a field approval... I hear though, that field approvals are really hard to get these days. You may even want to contact Piper as they may sell a kit to update the older serial numbers. Are you a member of a Piper owner's group? Those are the best places to go with this kind of stuff as someone there has probably already done what you're trying to do and can tell you exactly how they did it.

www.piperowner.org might be a good place to start.

 

[DAS at 10/250]

Yeah, I've already tried Piper. What a joke. I don't know how these idiots manage to gets their pants on in the morning. Pipers own drawings and build specs do not match what they built.

Thanks for the piperowner.org link but it looks like just a bunch of warrior guys.