McFarlane Aviation flight control cables offer quality that is second to none in the aircraft industry. Our quality assurance procedures and personnel are relentless, ensuring that our aircraft flight control cables meet the highest standards possible. These standards exceed the military specifications that govern aircraft flight control cables. Each McFarlane cable assembly is made from the highest quality U.S. manufactured materials from suppliers that have been listed by the U.S. government as being tested and qualified for government use (QPL listed). McFarlane Aviation, Inc. is also a D.O.D. approved cable supplier.

Samples selected from each lot of cable and terminals are inspected for dimensional conformance to applicable specifications and subjected to a test load equal to 100% of their rated minimum breaking strength. Every cable terminal swaged on a cable assembly is inspected for proper dimension. All cable assemblies produced are pre-stretched to eliminate rigging and growth changes after installation. In addition, each and every McFarlane cable assembly must endure a sustained proof load equal to 60% of the cables minimum rated breaking strength assuring the safest and highest quality aircraft flight control cables available.

Stainless Steel or Galvanized Steel Cable?

The majority of cables for Cessna aircraft follow a numbering system to designate the cable as stainless steel or galvanized steel. Cables with a dash number from 0 to 99 or from 200 to 299 are typically galvanized steel. The equivalent stainless steel cable is typically found by adding 100 to the dash number of a galvanized cable. For example, part numbers MC0510105-16 and MC0510105-208 are galvanized cables and MC0510105-116 and MC0510105-308 are stainless cables. There are exceptions to this system. AG-CAT and Cessna 188 Series ag-aircraft cables are mostly stainless steel, and any cable with a dash number that includes an S or CS is also stainless steel.

Stainless steel is very corrosion resistant and works well in tough environments such as salt air, water saturation, or agricultural chemicals. Galvanized carbon steel and stainless cables are soaked in a Mil spec rust preventative and lubricating compound. In normal environments the galvanized cable will not suffer from corrosion damage for decades. The advantages of galvanized cable are its wear resistance and cost. It will resist abrasion wear four or five times longer than stainless steel as stainless steel wire is high in nickel and much softer than the carbon steel wire. Stainless steel cable will show signs of wire wear at pulleys and fairleads much quicker than the galvanized carbon steel wire. We recommend using galvanized steel cables except in coastal geographical areas, agricultural aircraft, float planes, and other applications where the cable is exposed directly to water.