L-1011 Trainer Installation: Instrument Lighting Buildout (Flight Station and MIP)

L-1011 Trainer: Flight Station Cabling and Instrument Light Power Units

As I mentioned in some of my earlier posts, the Lockheed L-1011 cockpit has quite a large number of instrument, indicator and light plate power buses. For the last few work sessions I have been focusing on the instrument and indicator light buses. Instrument lights and the panel light plates are powered by 5VDC sources. Indicators, on the other hand, are powered by 24VDC. The image above shows the two 5VDC power supplies (each is rated at 20A) that drive the instrument lighting. The one on the right is of the lower Flight Station and the one on the left is for the upper Flight Station instruments. Power Supplies are Lambda-Nimic and the distribution blocks are Phoenix Contact. Each of the 5VDC source is further split into sub-buses. The different buses for the Flight Station are:

1. Flight Station Lower Left
2. Flight Station Lower Right 
3. Flight Station Upper Left
4. Flight Station Upper Right

The left and right does not always indicate "left" and "right" on the station as viewed from a geometric point of view, but it is more a left and a right power bus. Here is an example on the Hydraulic System panel instruments that I powered up today:

L-1011 Trainer: Hydraulic System Instrument Lights

The top row of instruments (see image below); four Hydraulic Level indicators, are powered by instrument light bus "FE Upper Left" while the instruments for the Air Turbine Motor (ATM) RPM as well as the four Hydraulic Pressure indicators on the bottom of the panel are powered by "FE Upper Right".

L-1011 Trainer: Hydraulic System Instrument Lights

Here is what this looks like in the WDM with line "A" being "FE Upper Left" and "B" represents "FE Upper Right"

WDM for L-1011 Hydraulic Panel Instrument Lighting

A few weeks ago, Jim mounted four 5VDC power supplies in the forward Main Instrument Panel and today I finished cabling the power supplies into the the Circuit Breaker system of the L10 Trainer. There is a breaker for the 115V side of each of those supplies as well as a break for a "Left and Right" side on the 5VDC output side. The power supplies (top to bottom are):

• Top: First Officer Instrument Lighting
• Center Top and Center Bottom: Center Instrument Panel Instrument Lighting 
• Bottom: Captain's Instrument Lighting 

L-1011 Trainer: MIP Instrument Power Supplies

Time goes so fast during sim building and after working on the cabling for the power supplies I only had time left to connect a few instruments that are part of the "Center Instrument Right" light bus. The instrument lighting powered are the N1 (Eng1-3), Rated EPR, Standby Horizon and Standby Airspeed Instruments.

L-1011 Trainer: Initial Buildout of the Center Left Instrument Lighting Bus

Here is what this looks like in the WDM:

L-1011 Center Instrument Lighting Schematic

L-1011 Trainer: Center Instrument Lighting Bus Buildout

L-1011 Design Study - MIP (Capt. Station and F/O Station)

L-1011 Cockpit Design Study - Captain's Flight Station

Click on the images to see a larger version.

L-1011 Cockpit Design Study - Center Instrument Panel / Engine Cluster

L-1011 Cockpit Design Study - First Officer's Flight Station

All of the instrumentation is now installed in the L-1011 Trainer at the National Museum of Commercial Aviation. Once the cockpit lighting is finished, we will start powering the instrumentation up step by step and connect it to the simulator platform.

Avionics Bending: Engine Cluster Rework - Status Update

The past few weeks I have been working on the L-1011 Engine Cluster and Center Main Instrument panel. All indicators are driven by relay boards as the one below. The picture blow shows a stack of two of the 24 relay boards for provide 48 channels. The image above shows a random number of annunciators illuminated and as you can see the engine instruments are still powered down.

Below is a power test before actually connoting anything to the computer. I like running everything for a few hours to see if there are problems (yes, my version of a smoke test). The next step will be to connect all the instruments to the necessary breakers and to power them up from a 110V 400Hz source. Whenever possible I use the original L-1011 breaker.

L-1011 General Aircraft Characteristics: Pilots Caution and Warning Panel (25-25)

When a significant abnormal malfunction occurs that is not within the normal vision of the pilots, an annunciator on the Pilot's Caution and Warning Panel will flash for then seconds and then remain on steady. All flashing annunciators may be extinguished by pressing the reset button (Pilot's CAWP only).

L-1011 General Aircraft Characteristics: Center Instrument Panel and Console (25-23)

The center instrument panel contains engine performance instruments, the landing gear control, a flap position indicator, the Pilot's Caution and Warning Panel, as well as standby flight instruments.

The extensive use of remote sensors and air data computers on the L-1011 permit use of servoed instruments. Servoed instruments exhibit considerable improvement in accuracy and legibility due in part to the use of digital readouts.

The center console is designed to provide all three crew members with access to any of the controls.

Original Flight Hardware: Center Panel - Instrument Cluster - Almost Complete

So close! Except for one instrument, a small airspeed indicator, I have assembled all the instruments for the main engine cluster. Here is a list of what is installed from top left to bottom right:

• Standby Attitude Indicator (as flown on the L-1011)
• True Air Temperature and EPR Mode Indicator (as flown on the L-1011)
• 3 EPR Instruments (as flown on a Boeing 747)
• Trailing Edge Flaps Position Indicator (as flown on the L-1011 (not the 500s))
• Altimeter (as flown on a Boeing 727)
• 3 N1 Instruments (as flown on a Boeing 747)
• 3 EGT Instruments (as flown on a Boeing 747)
• Landing Gear Lever (as flown on the L-1011)
• 3 N3 Instruments (as flown on a Boeing 747)
• 3 Fuel Flow (FF) Instruments (as flown on the Boeing 747)
• Brake Pressure Indicator (unknown - but not the way it would have been on the L-1011)

In previous pictures here on the blog, I had shown the engine cluster with N1 and N2 instruments only. I was previously under the wrong impression that there are no N3 instruments for this particular gauge style. Well, I was wrong! I found the correct N3 instruments and they are now part of the engine cluster as they would have been in the actual L-1011 configuration for the Rolls-Royce RB211 engines.


There is a good amount of damage to the annunciator fields on the panel that I have. Several of the clear/red annunciators are replaced with paper legends (this must have been done while the panel was on the line) and two of the annunicator caps broke off during de-installtion when the aircraft was scraped. Eventually, I would like to either replace the annunciators, or replace the complete panel.

Original Flight Hardware: Main Instrument Panel (MIP) - First Officer Side

Here is the current status of the right hand side main instrument panel. It is pretty much complete, except for one instrument missing (a small cabin altitude indicator) and the HSI control panel below it. The Control surface instrument will eventually be replaced with on that is original to the L-1011 (since the one in the picture is from a DC-10). But here are the instruments that I picked for the project (from top left to right):

• AFC Modes (as flown on the L-1011)
• AFC Warning (as flown on the L-1011)
• Instrument Comparator (as flown on the L-1011)
• Static Air Temperature - SAT (as flown on the L-1011)
• True Air Speed - TAS (as flown on the L-1011)
• Surface Position Indicator (as flown on the McDonald-Douglas DC-10)
• Airspeed Indicator (as flown on the L-1011)
• Attitude Direction Indicator ADI (as flown on the Airbus A300)
• Radar Altimeter Tape (as flown on a Boeing 747)
• Altimeter (as flown on the L-1011)
• Radio Digital Distance Magnetic Indicator (RDDMI) (originally flown on a Boeing 747)
• Horizontal Situation Indicator HSI (as flown on the Airbus A300)
• Vertical Speed Indicator VSI (as flown on the McDonald-Douglas DC-10)
• Chronograph (as flown on the L-1011)
• Instrument Source Select (as flown on the L-1011)

Again, it is a bit of a mix, but, potentially all these instruments could have flown on the Lockheed L-1011 given a specific customer configuration.

Original Flight Hardware: Main Insrument Panel (MIP) - Captain Side

Finally, I have assembled all the instruments for the MIP. Here is the panel for the left hand seat of the L-1011. The instruments that I have picked for the project are (from top left):

• Instrument Comparator (originally flown on the L1011)
• AFCS Warning (originally flown on the L1011)
• AFCS Modes (originally flown on the L1011)
• Altitude Indicator (originally flown on the L1011)
• Radio Altimeter Tape (originally flown on a Boeing 747)
• Attitude Direction Indicator (ADI) (originally flown on an Airbus A300)
• Airspeed Indicator (originally flown on the L1011)
• Radio Digital Distance Magnetic Indicator (RDDMI) (originally flown on a Boeing 737)
• Horizontal Situation Indicator (HSI) (originally flown on an Airbus A300)
• Vertical Speed Indicator (originally flown on a McDonald-Douglas DC-10)
• Chronograph (originally flown on a Boeing 737)
• Instrument Alternate Source Select (originally flown on the L1011)

So, yes, its a bit of a mix, but, potentially all these instruments could have flown on the Lockheed L-1011 given a specific customer configuration.

So here is a speculation ... the serial number of the Main Instrument Panel plate reads:

LAC MODEL NO: 25-1624298-103
MFG SER NO: 1233

Could it be that this plate is from ship 1233 ?? And if so, it would make it a plate from an L-1011-500 delivered to BWIA International in Trinidad Tobago? Can someone help?

Original Flight Hardware: Heading/Pitch Mode Panel

I finally added the last panel for the autopilot of the Lockheed L-1011. The panel that completed my set is the HEADING/PITCH MODE panel. It's actually a really neat device, it has a vertical speed dial that is synchronized to the vertical speed of the aircraft and can also be overridden with the dial to the right of it. The idea is that in control wheel steering the pilot would pitch the aircraft to the correct vertical speed and then engage the autopilot. The panel also has the heading input for the automatic flight system.

Below is a picture of the complete autopilot of the Lockheed L-1011. This one is completely analog, the -500 models also had a digital version.


The other switch elements on the panel are:

• VS ... Vertical Speed (Hold)
• ALT ... Altitude (Arm / Hold)
• IAS ... Indicated Airspeed (Arm / Hold)
• MACH ... Mach Speed (Arm/Hold)
• HDG ... Heading (Arm/Hold0

The various modes will be indicated on the AFCS Mode Indicators.


Panel Location

Original Flight Hardware: Main Instrument Panel - Captain's Side (Left)

The instruments for the main instrument panel of my Lockheed L-1011 project are coming along very nicely. As of today, the instruments missing from the captain's side of the main instrument panel are:

• Clock
• RDDMI
• Digital Attitude Indicator (ADI)
• Radar Altimeter Tape

Most of your certainly realized that the surface position indicator on the bottom right hand side is not the correct one for the L-1011 (it's actually from a Boeing 727). I am also still looking for the correct surface position indicator.

Cockpit Design Study: Control Wheel

The spacious cockpit of the Lockheed L-1011 has a dual control column layout. Each control wheel has an electric trim wheel, an auto-pilot disconnect and a takeoff/go-around switch (see images below). The control column is 25" tall and connects to a 6" raised platform.



All images in this posting are from the Lockheed L-1011 section owned by the Delta Air Transport Heritage Museum in Atlanta, GA.

Avionics Bending: AFCS Warning Panel (Analysis)

The AFCS WARNING panel is the last of three panels for the AFCS system that we will examine for the Lockheed L-1011 cockpit. In previous postings we looked at the AFCS MODE panel and the INSTRUMENT COMPARATOR panel. Like the other two panels, the AFC WARNING panel uses solenoid driven flags to indicate warning messages.

This particular unit was made COLLINS AVIONICS and goes hand in hand with the AFCS Mode display.



Whenever a flag is raised on the panel, the ALERT button will blink until the ALERT button has been pressed. Pressing the button for a 2nd time resets the flag(s). The large print board on top of the instrument implements the former described feature.

Top View


Right hand side view. Here you can see the typical push solenoids used for the flags.


Bottom View.


Left hand view.


The two test switches, one in the top left and top right corner of the instrument, will show two different warning states each flag can be in.


Test 1 Button: AP DISC (Autopilot Disconnect), ATS DISC (Auto Throttle System Disconnect), AP LIMIT (Approach with Limited functions), NO FLARE (Automatic Flare not possible)


Test 2 Button: NO DUAL (No dual autopilot information for auto-land), NO GA (No automated go-around available). NO ALIGN (The Yaw Stability Augmentation System can not align the aircraft with the localizer), CMD DISC (Autopilot Command Mode not available).

Avionics Bending: Instrument Warning Indicator (Analysis)

The Instrument Warning Indicator, or Instrument Comparator, is electron-mechanically very similar to the AFCS Mode panel that we looked at a few days ago. It's function in the Lockheed L-1011 cockpit is to warn the crew of instrument differences between the captain's and the first officer's instruments. There are versions of this instrument with four indicator fields, however the ones that I have, only have three.


The instrument was made by Collins Avionics. In the 4 side views below, you can see that every field has two solenoids that actuate the fields on the front side. Each field has 3 sides with one of them being blank (just black).


Top view


Right hand side view

Bottom


Left hand side view


The instrument is rather simple and has two test switches that either flip the indicator fields up or down.


The comparator indicates differences in that Airspeed, Attitude and Altitude monitoring systems,

and it indicates differences in the displayed airdata for Airspeed, Attitude and Altitude.



Instrument Location