L-1011 CPT Installation - AC and DC Power Buildout

AC/DC Power Buildout - L1011 Trainer

The AC and DC Power System buildout is ongoing. Today Jim and I installed a number of components into our Power and Digital I/O system rack. This rack will hold the AC and DC power switching relays as well as the Analog and Digital I/O for the two Simulator Control Computers. All of the power sources used on our L-1011 Trainer are made by German company Phoenix Contact, except for the 120V 60Hz power conditioners and the 115V 400Hz Inverter. In the image below you can see Jim getting busy on preparing the rack for the installation of additional power components.

AC/DC Power Buildout - L1011 Trainer

It's a good size rack that will hold most of the power and the digital I/O as well as the primary control computers. The 24V DC Power supplies (see the following two images) will simulate the actual T/R units on the L-1011. There are 3 engine generator driven T/Rs (we installed them today) as well as an Essential T/R (ESS T/R) and a 24V DC Power Supply that will simulate the aircraft's battery.

AC/DC Power Buildout - L1011 Trainer

Each of the Phoenix Contact Quint Power supplies has an output of 24VDC at 10A. The power supplies have no cooling built into the supply and require external convection cooling. In the image below you can see the fan bank that we installed directly below the power supplies. This fan bank will move air through the supplies and will cool them while they are under load.

AC/DC Power Buildout - L1011 Trainer

L-1011 CPT Installation - Avionics Simulation Computers

OSX Systems for L-1011 Simulator

It's been quiet around the project for a few days while I have been out for some business travel. While there has not been much motion on the action device at the Museum, I have been busy working on preparing the two computers that will run all the avionics hardware used in the L-1011 simulator.

Two MacPro 8-Core Servers

These two computing power houses, they have 8 cores each, will drive both the PCI expansion drawer with the National Instruments adapters as well the Ethernet attached ARINC 429 interfaces. The systems will run a combination of my own software as well as the X-Plane Simulator platform.

A third system will be used for audio and video generation. Once the two system are fully configured we will install them at the Museum into the Avionics rack. 

L-1011 CPT Installation - AC and DC Power Buildout

115V 400Hz Power Inverter for the L-1011 Simulator

The work on the AC and DC power sources and the distribution systems is ongoing. Today Jim and I worked mostly on placing an 120VAC Power conditioner and a huge 115V 400Hz Inverter into a rack. These two units will become the main power sources for the L-1011 Trainer at the National Museum of Commercial Aviation. The image above shows the 400Hz inverter ... aka. The Beast. Below is an image of the 120VAC power conditioner.

120V AC Power Conditioner for the L-1011 Simulator 

Both power units will be remote controlled via the Electrical System panel in the L-1011 trainer. In order to reduce the amount of thermal output and fan noise in the sim room we are placing the power units outside the sim room in a 19" equipment rack. Here are a few images from the installation work/

120V AC Power Conditioner in Rack

Jim working on the Inverter Base

Jim Working Placing Railes for the 115VAC 400Hz Inverter

120VAC Power Conditioner and 115VAC 400Hz Inverter 

400Hz Inverter Power Feeds

The main power units feed a series of power distribution panels that will simulate the actual power busses found on the L-1011. the units had previously been used on a flight simulator and are currently in bits and pieces. In order to get them ready for installation in the simulator room we are refurbishing the units and testing them prior to reuse.

Power Control Panel Rework for the L-1011 Simulator

One of 3 Power Distribution Panels for the L-1011 Simulator

Avionics Bending: Deutsch Connector Recycling

Deutsch DL66R Connector Recycling

Bayonet connectors are pretty darn expensive, especially when they are commercial/military grade. Unfortunately, cockpit projects like the L-1011 project used dozens of them in all different pin configurations and sizes. In order to avoid this cost I was able to buy a box of connectors out of scrap/surplus that had been cut out of an actual L-1011 cockpit. In order to re-use these connectors I need to pull all the sockets and pins out of them. To do so I use a toll made by Astro Tools called the ATR 2080. This tool works for rear release size 20 sockets. Here is how the tool works: 

1. The tool slides down the cable into the rear of the connector.

2. When fully inserted the tool releases the rear retainer clip

 3. Once released the socket together with the crimped on cable simply pulls out of the connector.

There are also hundreds of sockets that had not been used and had been inserted into the connector and then plugged with a small red plug on the backside of the connector. These unused sockets come in handy because they can be re-used, and, at a price of almost $1 per socket .... they come in very handy.

L-1011 History: Cabin Interior Lighting

L-1011 Cabin Interior Lighting
from. Engineering Description Series, Lockheed, September 1976

Of course for the L-1011 trainer project at the National Museum of Commercial Aviation we are not going to reproduce the L-1011 cabin interior, however, I found this really neat picture of the Lockheed L-1011 interior taken from row 36 looking forward. The picture is out of a 1976 Lockheed publication series covering various design aspects of the L-1011.

The image shows one of the sample configurations of the L-1011 in a high capacity seating arrangement. It also gives a really good idea just how wide the L-1011 is with 10 seats across and and wide aisles. The configuration in the image above shows the L-1011 without center luggage bins installed ... this gives it a very roomy feel ... which in fact the L-1011 really was.  This claim for massive amounts of "headroom" was not repeated until the introduction of the Boeing 777.

For its days the L-1011 had really awesome interior lighting that used fully dimmable cold-cathode fluorescent lights, had individual reading lights and individual zone controls. 

Avionics Bending: NAS 1599 / MIL-C-26482 Connectors

NAS 1599 Connectors used on the L-1011
from. Engineering Description Series, Lockheed, April 1976

Lockheed selected a modified NAS 1599 connector for the L-1011. All of the connectors used on the aircraft are bayonet type connectors. The connectors use standards pins and sockets that can be inserted with a metal or plastic tool and removed with either a metal or plastic tool. The connectors and pin sizes are still in use with aircraft today. The connectors themselves are very very durable, made out of metal and can cover a pretty insane temperature range (-20C to 200C).  The image above is a drawing taken from a Lockheed publication. Below you can see how each of the connector pieces interfaces with the other.

NAS 1599 Connectors used on the L-1011

from. Engineering Description Series, Lockheed, April 1976

Each pin or socket is held in place by a retention collet. The removal tool basically pushes the retention collet open and allows for the pin or socket to be pulled out of the back of the connector.  See image below. This feature makes these very expensive MIL standard connectors reusable.

NAS 1599 Connectors used on the L-1011

from. Engineering Description Series, Lockheed, April 1976

L-1011 CPT Installation - DC Power Buildout

L-1011 CPT - DC Power Distribution

Jim Blasco and I got a lot of good work done on the simulator today. What we are mainly working on for the next few weeks is the DC and AC power distribution for the simulator. Building a good power foundation is important but it's certainly not the most glorious part of sim building. To make the power distribution behavior "feel" as close to the original as possible we are actually reconstructing, on a very small scale, the power buses used with the actual Lockheed L-1011.

All of the DC buses for the simulator will be 24V buses. However, the LED lights that we are using for the cockpit flood lighting are 12V lights. Therefore, we need to DC-DC convert the 24V buses to 12V. Below is an image of a 12V 10A DC-DC converter installed into the power side side of the aft circuit breaker panel.

L-1011 CPT - DC Power Distribution - DC-DC Converter 24V to 12V

Here is Jim installing the DC-DC converter. Having worked as an aircraft mechanic for Eastern Airlines and others for most of his career, Jim really does neat work mounting components.

L-1011 CPT - DC Power Distribution

L-1011 CPT - DC Power Distribution

It wouldn't be an installation job without the appropriate tools! It sure seems that there is a different tool for just about every step along the way. As Richard Grigg would say .... "what a mess!"

L-1011 Retrofit