A planned maintenance program for aircraft wiring

Abstract

Aging wiring has been identified as a national concern and is a major topic for those involved in aerospace electrical systems. This paper identifies some of the major contributions why wiring installed on legacy aircraft has taken center stage. It suggests a planned approach to enhance wiring safety that will improve electronic system performance and reliability. We suggest a two pronged approach: 1. Become cognizant of the technical and operational issues that govern electronic systems robustness and determination of useful life. This is accomplished by providing training to those individuals directly exposed to the aircraft electrical systems during operations. Training can aid management, engineering and technical positions by providing the latest practices that are applicable to the tasks at hand. 2. Apply available technology complementary to the issues of legacy and new design aircraft for systems level diagnostics, prognostics and enhanced life expectancy. Several alternatives in obtaining both of these objectives are presented in this document and is only meant to stimulate the thinking of those readers involved in the everyday operations of aircraft into a more proactive approach to maintaining aircraft electrical systems.