When a customer calls and asks for aircraft cable, we ask for three pieces of information to get the selection process started: material (stainless steel, galvanized, etc.), diameter, and construction.  Material and diameter are rather straight forward properties, but what do we mean by construction?  When a Loos & Co., Inc. product manager says 1x7, 1x19, 7x7, 7x19, etc…what exactly is being described? In short, it’s the number of wires and strands in the cable.

The number of strands is represented by the first number in the construction call out (the “7” in “7x19”) and the number of wires in each strand is the second number. For example, a 7x19 cable has 7 strands of 19 wires, for a total of 133 individual wires. 7x7: 7 strands of 7 wires for a total of 49 wires. 3x7? You get the idea.

So, the next time you need to order aircraft cable, make sure to include cable construction in your request. If you have a question about construction, or anything else, contact a Loos & Co., Inc. product manager and we’ll be happy to help.