Chip McClellan, Kelly Aerospace's VP of OE Business Development, was in the booth at Oshkosh, when we came by to see what was new. We were used to Kelly's turbochargers...

"How about a primary electric system in a box?" he asked. This box (it really is a box, about the size of a large motorcycle battery, or a small car battery, weighing 16 pounds) takes in the power of two separate aviation batteries, and handles all control, protection, and annunciation functions for the primary circuits.

"It's an enhanced start control," Chip Explained. "We use two small batteries to get the turbine started. The first battery gets the turbine going, slowly; then the second battery kicks in in series. A 30-second start becomes a 10-second start. It's even cooler than idle, sometimes."

A test on a Williams FJ-33, which has a reputation of being occasionally difficult to start, provides a good example. "We came out there," Chip said, " with two 13 amp-hour batteries and this box. The Williams people looked at those two little [Concorde] batteries, and said we'd never be able to do it. It worked fine. Then the asked about putting this system in the back of the airplane. We ran thirty feet of wire [#4, we learned --ed.], and... it worked just fine."

The box is packed with high-quality components, tested, matched, and pre-wired. The two batteries are electrically separated, except that they are charged in parallel. The box can take the heat -- it's on the firewall in several applications -- but it can also be mounted in the cabin.

One of the big advantages to this system, is that it's all in one place -- the builder doesn't need to go chasing parts, wondering about matching components, wiring everything, and then testing the heavy-amp circuits. It's made with quality components -- mil-spec plugs on the outside; hermetic relays -- and the high-quality automotive-style secondary-wire plugs are moisture-sealed and mechanically closed.

There are two basic designs -- the big one, suitable for jets and big-turbine prop machines, costs around $4000; the smaller one (bottom photo), ideal for high-class homebuilts (several are being tested on RVs, for instance), will be priced, Chip said, "around $400."

FMI: www.kellyaerospace.com