First off, a short circut is different than an open circut because the electricty is flowing on a different path than the one intended. the current is trying to find the easiest pathway to its source. This can create damage, start a fire, and now the aircraft is unairworthy.
I thought this article was interesting in the fact that it had a generic 'shut down' procedure no matter what aircraft one was flying, and it made sense too. the point of the article is really to act immediately in an orderly manner. for instance, it states: stay calm, contact ATC, look for tripped circut breakers/turn off components, activate fire extingusher, and then prepare to land which is basically troubleshooting and finding where the problem is. Now, the Seminole POH states turn off master as first item while the article tells you to turn it on and see if that is the source so you can monitor the effects. The seminole basically states to turn ALL electrical equip off and eliminate anything and so does the article, except it states if you have time to troubleshoot you should, but priority is getting the plane on the ground. If i have a lot of altitude and have an electircal malfunction in the future, i have time to troubleshoot in which i shall with the master switch, but basically my priority is getting the plane down on the ground safely because my life is more important than the plane's. I will declare an emegency, turn all equip off, and activate the fire extinguisher. but hopefully this never happens in the future...
I thought it was great the way you described the short circuit. It was simple, to the point, and easy to get a grasp on. I think that quite a few people still have issues with electrical systems, and describing the short circuit so concisely is a great way to get people to understand what's going on. Also, very well put on the rest of the blog entry.
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