Old FAA guy I met in Dallas showed me how to wrap wires properly

He pulled me aside after I botched a repair on a Cessna 172 and said 'you're making a rat's nest, son, let me show you the right way' and then spent 20 minutes teaching me a lacing stitch that's saved me hours of rework since, has anyone else had an old timer just drop knowledge like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

christopherw341mo ago

Yeah, that "stitches rubbing through insulation" part hits home... I've seen that too on some older harnesses where the lacing was pulled way too tight. It's a bummer when the neat fix ends up being the thing that causes trouble later.

the_terry1mo ago

I spent three years at an avionics shop in Phoenix where we had a rule against the old "military lacing" methods. We used zip ties and adhesive cable mounts exclusively because every time we needed to replace a wire in a bundle that was stitched, we ended up cutting half the lacing and starting over. It looked clean but was a nightmare for troubleshooting. Plus those old stitches can rub through insulation over time if they're too tight.

smith.parker1mo ago

Man, the insulation rubbing thing is no joke. Saw that happen on a C-130 bundle once.