How Many Breaches are There in the Wiring of a 20-Year-Old F-16?
Posted by John Ashour on October 30, 2017
Two common question that InterConnect receives are: (1) “How many wiring harnesses are there in an aircraft? and (2) “How many miles of wire are there in an aircraft?” This blog will answer these questions as well as one more question which is “How many breaches are there in the wires of a 20-year-old F-16?” • Read More >>
What is Arc Tracking of Kapton Insulated F-16 Wire?
Posted by John Ashour on October 23, 2017
Until 2001, all F-16’s were manufactured with wiring harnesses that contained Kapton insulated wires. In May 2001, Lockheed Martin asked the companies who were making F-16 wiring harnesses to replace Kapton insulated wires with TKT insulated wires. Kapton is a DuPont tradename as is TKT. TKT stands for Teflon/Kapton/Teflon. Kapton is a light-weight insulation • Read More >>
How Many Breaches in F-16 Wire Insulation is Acceptable?
Posted by John Ashour on October 16, 2017
Occasionally a customer will ask InterConnect how many breaches in a wire’s insulation is acceptable. The answer is an easy one; there should not be any breaches in the insulation of any wire inside an aircraft. So why is that? And, what is a breach? A breach in the insulation of a wire is when • Read More >>
Why Aircraft Pylon Wiring Harnesses Should Be Replaced
Posted by John Ashour on August 28, 2017
An aircraft pylon is used to mount external equipment such as a weapon, reconnaissance pod, or external fuel tank. Figure 1 shows a pylon attached to an F-15 fighter aircraft and Figure 2 shows a close up of an F-16 Centerline Pylon. In order to have electrical signals between an aircraft, the pylon, and • Read More >>
Can a Wiring Harness be Repaired or Overhauled?
Posted by John Ashour on July 24, 2017
A common question asked of InterConnect Wiring is, “Can InterConnect repair or overhaul a wiring harnesses?” The short answer to this question is “Yes we can!” The long answer is that in many cases it is less expensive to produce a new wiring harness instead of repairing or overhauling an old one. Typical wiring harnesses • Read More >>
Topics: Blog, Harness Assembly, Rewire, Wiring, Wiring Harnesses
What are F-16 Fuel Cell Wiring Harnesses and Why Replace Them?
Posted by John Ashour on May 29, 2017
Jet fuel is stored in five locations in an F-16 including: (1) the wings, (2) a large fuel bladder located behind the cockpit, (3) gas tanks on the wings and/or center fuselage, (4) Conformal Fuel Tanks (CFT’s) and (5) the aft fuselage that surrounds the engine. The aft fuselage that surrounds the engine is also • Read More >>
What is a Station 5 Wiring Harness? Why is it Often Replaced?
Posted by John Ashour on May 1, 2017
On the F-16 aircraft there are nine wing weapon stations. A wing weapon station is an attachment point for an ordnance such as a bomb, missile, or rocket. Wing stations can also carry reconnaissance pods, cameras, fuel tanks, or storage containers. Station 1 is on the tip of the left wing. Station 2, 3, and • Read More >>
Why Replace Leading Edge Wing Wiring Harnesses?
Posted by John Ashour on April 10, 2017
A common question asked of InterConnect Wiring is, “In harsh environments, which wiring harnesses inside an F-16 are affected most?” By harsh, they mean what we call the Big Six: (1) Very hot or very cold temperatures. (2) Grease and other fluids in the area as well as other contaminants such as sand and dust. • Read More >>
Topics: Blog, Leading Edge Wing Wiring Harnesses, Wire, Wiring, Wiring Harnesses
What is Falcon Wire?
Posted by John Ashour on March 13, 2017
Many people in the F-16 community have heard of two of the largest F-16 structural update programs, (1) Falcon Up and (2) Falcon Star. These programs were designed by Lockheed Martin to extend the service life of F-16s. Back in 2005, InterConnect Wiring asked about increasing the service life for F-16 wiring. There was no • Read More >>
Topics: Blog, Falcon Wire, Wire, Wiring, Wiring Harnesses
When Is A Total Rewire Needed?
Posted by John Ashour on February 20, 2017
When is a total aircraft rewire needed? Let’s take a step back and ask a more common question that military users and maintainers of aged aircraft ask: “When should any aircraft rewire program be considered?” Here are 5 Main Factors to contemplate when deciding to rewire a military or commercial aircraft. They are listed in • Read More >>
Topics: Aircraft Rewiring, Blog, Harness Assembly, Rewire, Wire, Wiring
