[ARC5] Wire

[Michael Tauson]

Hi, Folks,

Most of my wire problems are fixed/cured/being diligently ignored.  I
still have a few questions for the lists regarding wire.

After looking at interior shots of original (i.e., unrestored) late WW
II aircraft,  they seems to indicate a tendency toward "variety" in
wiring.  (The specific examples in this case are the PB4Y pages from
Mike Hanz's site, the TBM in the material from Twin Beech, and the
B-29 "Hawg Wild" at Duxford Gallery.  Okay, that one was restored but
still has an amazing collection of different kinds of wire.)  I took a
quick look at others but they simply confirmed what I had already
seen.)  I saw fabric over rubber, varnished fabric over rubber or
plastic, vinyl and others plus shielded and rubber or plastic covered
cable all next to each other in the same aircraft.  Some of the
shielded cables in the PB4Y photos were taped together (friction tape?
 Plastic tape?) and apparently to the airframe to keep them from
wandering around and lacing seemed to come in a variety of styles in
the same airplane.  This implies to me that it was "whatever works" so
long as the desired end result was achieved.  Did I miss something or
is this a fair assessment?

I already have 1000' of Teflon insulated #20 coming (While this should
have been #22, this was available for cheap.) and the needed crimp
terminals for the J-13* junction boxes.  In addition, I have a means
of making the needed shielded cable & handling the primary power
cables, sources of varnished cloth covered stranded wire, unvarnished
cloth covered stranded wire and cable lacing tape, and I think I know
where I can get some #18 Teflon insulated wire.

Still needed is a source of Mil-W-5086/1 and -/2.  I was looking at
commercial sources but they have a minimum makeup of 1000' which is
way more than I need (maybe 500' of #22, 50' of #18 and maybe 15'
lengths of sizes ranging from #14 to #10) so that's a problem.  Since
Mil-W-5086 is no longer an approved standard for aircraft use,
aviation supply houses no longer carry it and calling around to some
local operators who have boneyards (including the military bases)
yielded nothing.  If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears.  Er, eyes.

Also needed are … well, a list of things that will appear in a separate post.

If someone could point me to sources of 1.) TelCo fabric or paper
covered wire like was used on frames & switchboards or in trunks, and
2.) single and/or double cotton and/or silk covered (SCC, DCC, SSC,
DSC) wire, I'd greatly appreciate it.  I know short lengths of the
TelCo wire are available on eBay but I'd prefer longer lengths than
are available there – or that I've seen – and the prices seem a bit
much, likely driven upward due to the audiophoolz who can hear the
difference between Western Electric wire and other, lesser brands.
These have nothing to do with the displays but rather are for some fun
projects I'm putting together.  I've found solid varnished fabric
covered wire (fabric over vinyl) and pushback wire, but still need the
rest to fill out the needs of these projects.

Finally, there was a recent discussion about shipping costs.  For
those who want evidence of rip-offs, check out
http://stores.ebay.com/M3-Technology-10 and pick any wire, select ONE
foot of it then put in zip code 96792 to get the shipping.

Thank you.

Best regards,

Michael, WH7HG