Thanks for the detailed replies guys, which pretty much chime with
some of what I'd guessed, although it is clear I had 'overestimated' the technology available to you at that time. There was me talking kilo
bytes and you only had kilo
bits to work with!
Your photograph really brings it home Christiaan. What little horrors hid inside those TO5 cans?
Apart from the fact that your board must be brand new - the track cutters and wire linkers hadn't got at it yet!
What is interesting are the connections - only eight pins, as far as I can tell? We had 15/25/60 pin 'D' connectors or multi path, gold 'edge' connectors at least.
How much lighter?
I can only make a stab in the dark, but ... I would say (mentally totting up all the electronics boxes and weighing them) the electronics fit weighed in the order of a couple of tons (maybe somebody has a closer figure?). So on an aircraft of 185T TOW, even if you could bring that down to a quarter of that weight, you'd gain less than 1%.
I wasn't quite clear what you meant here Christiaan, 1% of what? Because Dude is talking about serious weight and space saving - which I would expect.
The wholesale replacement of the various control units and computers, not to forget miles of wiring, as well as some bulky mechanical hardware would in my view save around 3 tonnes or more in weight alone. A now far more accurate control of aircraft systems would also bring major efficiency savings. As far as saving space, that possibly free up a couple of seat rows, if it were all done properly.
We can all dream I suppose
We can, indeed dream Dude - I envy you both, your involvement with such a
fabulous (in its truest sense) project.
Roger.