At Jetguys we see a lot of older canards that come to us for refurbishment and modifications. Homebuilders spend years building an airframe and it seems towards the end of the build, there’s a rush to get finished and what suffers is wiring. A common item in a 80’s vintage EZ is speaker wire. We rip all that out.
Every builder has a different approach to how things are done. Just because they did something in a way we wouldn’t do it doesn’t make them wrong, its just not the way we’d do it. There are just some things though that need to be done correctly and wiring is one of them. Simple and light are key elements to aviation. Keep your airframe light. Keep your systems simple.
Jetguys supports the Rutan Aircraft Flying Experience aircraft. We adhere to their mission to maintain the donated aircraft to the way they builder built them, to a point. If its safety related we will change it. We’ll also push to change it if it’s something we just can’t stand.
While assisting RAFE in completing the condition inspection of the David Brown LongEZ the nose gear system became one of things we just couldn’t leave the way it was. LongEZ’s and Varieze’s are very simple airplanes. There is no reason the nose gear system needs to have three huge connectors and pounds of wiring.
Ryszard and Mike went to work on it and now the David Brown LongEZ is a much happier, lighter and simpler aircraft. Looking at the before and after pictures you’ll see the difference. Now, only six wires and two limit switches are involved and neatly contained under the nose gear cover. The system still does everything it did before (without the auto-extension) and it’s simple, light and clean.
All aircraft evolve as radios and systems become layered up each other as changes under the instrument panel occur as the decades have passed. Chances are the wiring in your airplane looks like a rats-nest. Its time to make things simple, light and clean again.