L-1011 Trainer Installation: 75% Panel Light-Up Milestone

L-1011 Panel Lighting

Today we celebrate reaching the 75% panel light-up milestone! Jim and myself also worked on installing more bus bars for the panel lighting. Currently we have a few more panels on the pilot's overhead panel to light up as well as a few panels on the Flight Engineers station. Most of the remaining 25% of panel lighting are the circuit breaker panels. Once this is complete, all the of the instrument lighting, panel lighting, flood lighting, instrument digital, instrument analog and flight control analog cabling is in place. Then we will get really deep into the phase where it's mostly software between the cabled components and the simulator platform.  

L-1011 Flight Engineer Station

Here are a few more pictures of the current state of the simulator panel lighting:

L-1011 Project - Panel Lighting

L-1011 Trainer Installation - Overhead Panel Lighting

L-1011 Project - Panel Lighting 

L-1011 Flight Engineer Console ... 2/3 Panel illumination complete. 

L-1011 CPT Installation - Annunciator Lighting System

L-1011 BRT/DIM Light Bus Control

All of the Caution, Warning and Advisory annunciators and switchlights on the L-1011 can be switched between two illumination intensity modes. The two modes are BRT (Bright) and DIM. There are two switches for BRT/DIM selection in the cockpit. One switch is located on the overhead panel light controls and switches the pilots annunciators and the second switch is located on the Second Officers light control panel (as seen in the picture above) and controls the light intensity of annunciators on the flight engineer's station.

The BRT/DIM switch is an alternate action latching switch that controls a relay that switches the respective BRT/DIM LGT bus from 24V to 10V ... hence changing the intensity of the illumination. Below is a short video that shows the BRT/DIM logic implemented on the workbench using a SPDT 24VDC relay.

L-1011 Cockpit Trainer - Light Controls Planning

There are a total of 20 discrete controllable light systems in the L-1011 cockpit. Any more, and you could probably put on a Las Vegas-style light show. Just kidding. The light system in the L-1011 cockpit is designed so to give maximum control over each flight station lighting conditions to each flight crew member. Replicating the lighting systems in the simulator will allow us to replicate this experience as well allow the cockpit to stay illuminated when it is not used for a guided flight discovery session.

Light Control Systems

1. Center Console Flood Light
2. Overhead Panel Background Lights
3. Cockpit Overhead Flood Lights
4. Captain's Glareshield Panel Lights
5. Captain's Utility Light
6. Captain's Instrument Panel Lights (Instruments and Backgrounds)
7. Captain's Instrument Panel Flood Lights (Left and Center)
8. Center Console Background Lights
9. Engine Instrument Light Controls
10. Magnetic Compass Light Control
11. Eyebrow Panel Light Control 
12. First Officer's Utility Light 
13. First Officer's Instrument Panel Lights (Instruments and Backgrounds)
14. First Officer's Instrument Panel Flood Lights (Right)
15. Second Officer's Instrument Lights
16. Second Officer's Panel Background Lights
17. Second Officer's Panel Flood Light 
18. Second Officer's Desk Utility Light 
19. Forward Circuit Breaker Board
20. Aft Circuit Breaker Board

Where possible we are replacing incandescent and fluorescent light sources with LEDs. The LEDs will give us a lot more hours of operation and will also cut down on the thermal output of the individual light system. Again, the idea is to allow the simulator to stay illuminated even when it is not in use so that museum visitors can still enjoy the cockpit as a display item.

Here is a more detailed discussion on each of the light systems in the L-1011 cockpit.

Center Console Flood Light

L-1011 Flight Station Light Control (From Delta Pilot's Reference Manual)

The Center Console Flood Light consists of a single light bulb located inside of a panel that is located on the the pilot's overhead panel. To cut down on the heat output from the light, we will replace it with a 12VDC LED spot light. The potentiometer for the intensity of the spotlight will be re-used to control the 12VDC LED light.

Pilot's Light Controls

The second light control on the pilot's overhead panel is located right above the first officer's station. It controls a number of different systems: a) it controls 5V lighting to the overhead panel light plates, b) there is an ON/OFF switch and a transformer that controls the overhead cockpit flood lights and c) there are also two switches to test all the Caution/Warning and Advisory annunciators and to toggle the annunciator illumination intensity between BRT (bright) and DIM.

L-1011 Flight Station Light Control (From Delta Pilot's Reference Manual)

The cockpit overhead flood light switch will actually be a two-way light switch between the overhead panel and a light switch located right next to the cockpit door entrance. This way the flood lights can be controlled from at least two different places in the cockpit. By the way, this is also how it is configured in the actual L-1011 cockpit.  Below is an image that shows the overhead lights highlighted in yellow:

L-1011 Flight Station Light Control (From Delta Pilot's Reference Manual)

Glare Shield and Main Instrument Panel Controls

The main light controls for the captain's and first officers lights are located on the right and left hand side of the glare shield. Each side has a similar controls for main instrument panel flood lighting, a work light as well as the main instrument illumination controls. Most of the controls are basically just potentiometers that control the 5V instrument lighting as well as the 12V flood lighting. On the captain's side there is an extra control for the autopilot back lighting on the glare shield.

L-1011 Flight Station Light Control (From Delta Pilot's Reference Manual)

L-1011 Flight Station Light Control (From Delta Pilot's Reference Manual)

The image below illustrates whit yellow lines the illumination of the main instrument panel with flood lighting. On the original sim this was done with fluorescent lights, however this will be done with 12V LED lights going forward. 

L-1011 Flight Station Light Control (From Delta Pilot's Reference Manual)

Center Console and Instrument Lighting Control

The two potentiometers located just aft of the throttle quadrant control the 5V back panel lighting of the center pedestal instruments and the engine instrument illumination, which is also 5V. 

L-1011 Flight Station Light Control (From Delta Pilot's Reference Manual)

Flight Engineers Panel and Circuit Breaker Panel

The light control located on the lower left hand side of the flight engineer's station. The panel controls a number of lights as well as the annunciator test and brightness for the warning/caution and alert lights on the flight engineer's station.

L-1011 Flight Station Light Control (From Delta Pilot's Reference Manual)

The instrument and panel lights for the flight engineers station and the circuit breaker panels are 5V. The flight engineers station utility light as well as the console flood light will be 12VDC LED lights.