Vertical Power - Electronic Circuit Breakers for Experimental Aircraft

VP-X Key features for builders of modern aircraft
The Vertical Power logo indicates features only available from Vertical Power.

Electrical System and Circuit Protection

Eectrical fault alarming and resetting on EFIS. When a circuit breaker pops, you may or may not know it. When the VP-X detects a fault, an alarm is shown on the EFIS and also may flash a master warning light and sound an audio alarm in the your headset.

Short circuit alarm. When a short circuit is detected, the VP-X opens the circuit and generates a fault on the EFIS. You can then leave the circuit open or reset it manually from the EFIS screen.

Over-current alarm. When a device draws more current than the circuit breaker value, the VP-X opens the circuit and generates a fault on the EFIS. The VP-X filters out inrush current and other anomalies that generate nuisance trips. You can then leave the circuit open or reset it manually from the EFIS screen.

Current fault alarm. When a device draws no current when turned on, the VP-X opens the circuit and generates an alarm on the EFIS. You know right away if a landing light is burned out, an avionics fan has stopped working, or the boost pump is inoperative, for example. The feature can be turned on or off for each individual circuit. You can then leave the circuit open or reset it manually from the EFIS screen.

Electrical system status and display on the EFIS. The EFIS displays whether each device is on or off, and the amount of current it is drawing.

Configurable panel switches. The switches on your instrument panel for avionics, landing lights, boost pump, and other items are wired directly to the VP-X. You can then configure which electrical devices are controlled by each switch. The switches are very easy to wire. With 22 gauge wire, wire each switch to a switch input on the VP-X. Wire the other side of the switch to ground. No current goes through the switches as the actual switching is done within the VP-X. That means you have a lot of choices about the style of switch to use.

Individual circuit switching. Let’s say you have 10 devices controlled by the avionics master switch, and you want to cycle power only to the weather receiver. You can use the EFIS screen to turn the weather receiver off then back on while the other devices on the switch are unaffected.

Over-voltage protection. Disconnects the active alternator if an over-voltage condition is detected.

Single bus support, with one or two alternators. The VP-X controls both the primary and backup alternators.

Backup power for critical avionics. You can wire backup circuits for critical avionics so in the event of a failure there is an alternate power source.

Aux battery voltage measurement. A dedicated input pin is used to measure the voltage on the aux battery and is displayed on the EFIS.

14 or 28 volt support. The VP-X works with either bus voltage. Further, the trim motor circuits are regulated to 14v so you can use the Ray Allen trim servos on a 28v airplane without external voltage converters.

Wig-Wag
Land light wig-wag with auto turn-on & off. When you turn the landing lights on they are steady on the ground and then automatically pulse (wig-wag) while in the air. When you come in for landing, the lights are pulsing, but then remain steady below a specified airspeed. You can also set a desired warm-up time before the lights begin to pulse (typically for HID lights).

Trim
The VP-X drives the electric pitch and roll trim on your airplane based on inputs from external trim switches. It supports standard trim switches on the stick such as those on the Ray Allen, Tosten, or Infinity sticks (Do not buy the sticks with embedded relays).

Solid-state, no relays. The control circuitry is all solid-state, meaning there are no problematic mechanical relays to fail. For additional safety, each trim circuit has two solid-state control switches wired in series, and each switch is independently commanded (by two different command mechanisms) by the microprocessor.

Easy-to-wire pilot trim switches and servos. Wire one side of the trim switch to ground, and the other side to the VP-X. Run the five wires (included in the wiring harness kit) from the VP-X to the Ray Allen trim servo. Use the setup menus on the EFIS to calibrate the trim.

Easy-to-wire co-pilot trim switches. Simply run wires from the co-pilot trim switches to the VP-X. No need to install black boxes or relays.

Runaway trim protection and backup control. If your trim switch sticks or one of the switch wires shorts, you can stop the trim from running by pressing the opposite trim button. Holding the opposite button for three seconds will disable the trim switches. You can then control the trim from the soft keys on the EFIS as a backup.

Trim position indicators. Pitch and roll trim position indications are shown on the EFIS display without any additional wiring.

In-motion indicator. The EFIS shows not only the pitch and roll trim position, but an indicator to show when a trim motor is running.

Trim travel limits. Limits can be set to restrict trim travel.

Voltage regulation. The trim motor outputs are regulated to 14v so you can run Ray Allen servos in a 28V system with no external voltage regulation.

Variable-speed trim. The pitch trim motor runs more slowly at higher airspeeds, making the trim switch less sensitive. While at slower airspeeds (in the pattern, for example) the pitch trim motor runs at full speed. For example, you can set the pitch trim motor to run at 60% speed above 120 knots and 100% speed below 120 knots.

Power-on fault detection. If any of the trim inputs are active when the VP-X is powered on, the inputs are disabled and an alarm is displayed on the EFIS. This adds another layer of safety.

Flaps
The VP-X connects to standard (up)-off-(down) flap switches, the flap motor, and optionally a flap position sensor. The flap switch can be located on the stick, throttle, or on the panel. The pilot and co-pilot switches are both wired directly to the VP-X.

Solid-state, no relays or black boxes. The control circuitry is all solid-state, meaning there are no problematic mechanical relays to fail. For additional protection, the flap circuit has two solid-state control switches wired in series, and each switch is independently commanded (by two different command mechanisms) by the microprocessor.

Motor run-on protection. Some flap motors, like the one used by Van’s aircraft, have no internal limit switches and will run continuously if not controlled properly. You can specify the maximum motor run time, after which the motor will shut off and an alert displayed on the EFIS.

Motor braking. When the flap motor is turned off, it will stop the flap motor instantly so the actuator does not run past the intended limit.

Intermediate stops. With the optional flap position sensor, you can set the top and bottom limits as well as up to two intermediate flap position stops. Simply bump the flap switch down to go to the next down position, and bump it up to go all the way up. You can stop the flaps anywhere along the way by bumping the flap switch in the opposite direction.

Configurable behavior. The flaps can configured to run one of two ways: a quick press of the flap switch runs the flaps down to the next position, or the flaps can run only when the flap switch is pressed.

Flap position. With the optional flap position sensor, the flap position is sent over a serial data link to the EFIS where it is displayed on the screen.

In-motion indicator. The EFIS shows not only the flap position, but an indicator to show when the flap motor is running.

Backup flap control. If your flap switch becomes inoperative, you can control the flaps from the EFIS screen.

Flap switch disable above a certain airspeed. The flap down switch is automatically disabled above a specified airspeed. The flap up switch works at all times. No mechanical airspeed switch is required.

Flap over-speed warning. The EFIS displays a flap over-speed warning on the screen if the flaps are down above a specified airspeed.

Robust flap circuit. Designed for 10 amps continuous operation, the flap circuit is much more robust than other individual flap controllers.

Starter
Automatic starter disable. If the engine in running, the starter circuit is disabled. This means you can install a starter switch on the stick or on the panel and not worry about hitting it accidentally during flight.

Starter annunciator. You see an annunciator on the EFIS whenever the starter contactor is closed. This is important as it can be difficult to detect a starter that is engaged once the engine is running.