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That time a King Air's transponder kept failing at 500 feet
We had a King Air 200 in our hangar in Boise that kept failing its transponder check right after takeoff, around 500 feet. I spent a day checking the usual stuff, but the fix was a corroded ground strap behind the panel I almost missed. Replaced it with a new one, and the next flight test was perfect. Anyone else had a weird ground issue hide in plain sight like that?
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jones.angela1mo ago
Ugh, ground issues are the worst. I swear they're always the last place you look. Had a similar thing with a nav light that would flicker only in a left turn. Spent hours on the bulb and wiring before finding a bad ground on the wing root. Felt so obvious once I saw it.
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averywright1mo ago
Wait, it only flickered in a left turn? That's such a weirdly specific thing... how does a ground even know which way you're turning? I'd have been pulling my hair out over that one. You must have felt like a detective finding that. Makes you wonder how many other gremlins are hiding in plain sight like that.
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