Types of Aircraft Wire

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 Type of Wire
Trademark

 First
Introduced		 Mil-Spec
(Mil-W)		 Installed in
Losses		 Advantages & Disadvantages Current
Status
1 Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC)
Quad 4®		 1950 5086/1-2 Early B727, 
Early B737,
Early DC9

ValuJet 592

 Heavy, thick, chafing, aging, flammable, burns readily, producing copious smoke, outgasses, can turn into hydrochloric acid Does not meet FAR25, no longer installed but is still in service
2 Polyalkene & polyvinylidene fluoride
Kynar®		 1964 81044/9 Later DC9 Can't meet temp spec, poor fluid resistance No longer installed but still in service
3 Aromatic Polymide
Kapton®, Apical®		 1966 81381/11 Airbus (all)
B727, B737, B747, B757, B767
MD80
MD11

SwissAir 111		 Lightweight and thin, excellent dielectric qualities. Arc tracks wet and dry, hydrolysis, stiff and resistant to bending, limited resistance to chafing, abrasive to other wires, explosive flashover Still being installed and in widespread use
4 Fluoropolymer
Teflon®		 1969 22759/13-15 Longitudinal splitting, cold flow properties
5 Alkane-Imide or
Aliphatic Polyimide
Poly-X®		 1970 81044/16-29 Early B747
Early DC10

TWA 800		 Lightweight, radial cracking, copious smoke, premature aging, embrittlement causing bare conductor, chafing, fluid resistance No longer installed but is in service
6 Polyarylene
Stilan®		 1972 81044/20 B747
DC10		 Stress-crazing, internal fracturing, fluid resistance No longer installed but is in service
7 Fluoropolymer ETFE
Tefzel®		 1973 22759/16 Military Soft at high temps, dry arcs, must not be mixed with other types of wire Used in some military aircraft
8 Cross-Linked EFTE or
Irradiated Flouropolymer
XL-Tefzel®, 
Spec 55®		 1977 22759/34 B747
B767
DC9		 Wet arcs, flammable, copious smoke, soft at higher temps, notches, toxic, explodes in oxygen rich environment, must not be mixed with other types of wire Still being installed and in wide use
9 PTFE Polyimide Composite
Teflon-Kapton-Teflon® or TKT
BMS-13-60		 1992

22759/80-92

 B737 since 1992
B757 since 1992		 Light weight, abrasion resistant, superb insulation protection, high heat tolerance, resists smoking when burning, no known disadvantages Being installed in post 1992
737 and 757