Most avionics faults
are wiring faults.
Panel and instrument work, communications and navigation, harness repair, mission-equipment installation and the documentation that has to go with it, for helicopter owners and operators across the Northwest, at McCall, Idaho.
The box is rarely
the problem.
Avionics work has a reputation for being expensive and disappointing, and the reason is usually that the wrong thing got replaced. A radio that sounds bad in the air and fine on the ground is telling you about antennas, bonding and interference. An intermittent instrument is usually telling you about a connector.
So we start with the harness, the terminations and the installation before we start with the catalogue. It is slower, it is less profitable per hour, and it is the only way the fault actually goes away.
The second half of the job is documentation. The approval basis gets established before anything is ordered, and the weight and balance, equipment list and continued-airworthiness instructions get done as part of the work, not as a problem for whoever inspects the aircraft next.
- Fault isolation before parts replacement
- Approval basis established before ordering
- Weight and balance and equipment list updated
- Shakedown before the aircraft goes home
Six areas, and one
of them is paperwork.
Panel & instrument work
InstallationReplacing what has failed, upgrading what is obsolete, and making a panel that a pilot can actually read in turbulence at low level.
- Instrument replacement and upgrade
- Panel layout and ergonomics
- Display and navigation equipment
- Placarding and lighting
Communications & navigation
SystemsRadios, intercoms, antennas and the navigation equipment that has to work first time on an incident frequency with four people talking.
- Comm and nav radio installation
- Intercom and audio systems
- Antenna siting and installation
- Interference troubleshooting
Harness & wiring
The unglamorous halfMost avionics faults are wiring faults. Chafe, corrosion, poor terminations and previous owners' improvisations account for the majority of what we find.
- Harness repair and replacement
- Connector and termination work
- Chafe protection and routing
- Bonding and grounding
Mission equipment
Operational fitsSurvey sensors, cameras, searchlights, external speakers, tracking and the mounts and power provisions that make them work.
- Sensor and camera mounting
- Power and data provisions
- Tracking and telemetry systems
- Removable and quick-change fits
Troubleshooting
Fault findingThe intermittent that three shops have already looked at. It usually takes patience and a meter rather than a new box.
- Intermittent fault isolation
- Systems testing
- Second opinions on quoted work
- Post-installation shakedown
Documentation & approvals
PaperworkAn installation that is not documented properly is a finding waiting to happen at the next inspection or sale.
- Approval basis established up front
- Weight and balance revision
- Equipment list and records updates
- Instructions for continued airworthiness
What we do first, what we avoid, and what you get back.
What we do first
- Understand what you actually need it to do
- Establish the approval basis before ordering
- Look at what is already in the aircraft
- Check the harness before blaming the box
- Give you a scope you can read
What we avoid
- Selling a box that does not solve the problem
- Installations that cannot be documented
- Improvised wiring that the next shop has to unpick
- Quoting a panel upgrade without seeing the panel
- Work that makes the aircraft harder to maintain
What you get back
- A system that works in the environment you fly in
- Documentation that stands up to scrutiny
- Updated weight and balance and equipment list
- A shakedown before you take it away
- Somebody to call when you have a question
Equipment that has to come off again on Friday.
A lot of what we install is not permanent. Survey sensors, cameras, tracking and mission equipment frequently need to go on for a project and come off afterwards, without a week of downtime at each end.
Designing for that from the start (provisions, quick-change mounts, documented configurations) costs a little more once and saves the same amount every season after.
What owners ask
about avionics.
Come and talk to us about the specific aircraft and what you want it to do. The right answer for a survey ship, a fire ship and a private owner's aircraft are three different panels, and the approval path matters as much as the hardware.
That pattern usually points at antenna siting, bonding, grounding or interference from something else in the aircraft rather than the radio. It is exactly the sort of fault that takes methodical work and a meter rather than a replacement unit.
Yes, and this is common for survey and monitoring work. The important part is establishing the approval basis and the mounting arrangement early, before your project schedule depends on it. Removable and quick-change fits are often the sensible answer.
That is the whole point of doing it properly. Approval basis, weight and balance, equipment list and continued-airworthiness instructions are part of the job, not an extra.
Yes, and we are happy to. Occasionally the answer is that the other quote is right and you should take it.
Bring us the fault nobody else could find.
Avionics and instrument work for your helicopter, at McCall Municipal Airport.
CALL DIRECT · 208-315-5769