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Stopped chasing intermittent squawks on a King Air by wiggling every connector I could reach
I had a nav flag that would pop up maybe once every 3 flights on a King Air 200 out of Wichita, and I chased it for 2 weeks swapping antennas and reflowing solder joints. Turned out the shield ground on one cannon plug had a strand of wire that only touched when the airframe flexed during climb, so a 30 minute wiggle test with the plane jacked up beat 2 weeks of guessing. Does anyone here actually trust wiggle tests, or do you go straight to a bonding meter every time?
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the_jenny15d ago
Wiggle test with the plane jacked up" is the part people miss. Everyone wants to wiggle stuff on the ground sitting still, then acts shocked when the gremlin hides. Flex and vibration are the whole point. I've found more bad pins and shield strands wiggling than any meter ever showed me. Bonding meter tells you resistance, not whether a strand taps a can when the gear comes up. Do both, but wiggle first.
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