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LED landing/taxi lights

That said,
whats the latest and greatest (and cheapest) in LED landing and taxi lites?

edit: just noticed I posted in the experimental section, looking for certified.
 
I got a good deal, thanks to Gary Drean at the closing moments of the Great AK Aviation Gathering, from AeroLED. The lights are really bright and can be seen from a considerable distance. I am not sure I would have paid full price, but I can say that they are pretty awesome.

Randy
 
Oliver said:
That said,
whats the latest and greatest (and cheapest) in LED landing and taxi lites?

edit: just noticed I posted in the experimental section, looking for certified.
Click to expand...

Read CAR 3. If your light meets the requirements, then install it. There is no approval for light bulbs.

As to the cost. Whatever you pay for the LED, above and beyond the price of an incandescent, will be made up for in savings on labor. LED's basically don't burn out. You install it correctly and it will last for years.

Web
 
I brought a 4509 to an auto parts store matched it with an led ,bought two and installed them.They are way brighter than the 4509s and work great. Easy on the battery too as I still have the old generator in my scub. For the wigwag set up I think you'd need to install a resistor in line to prevent it from hyper flashing. not sure though. I know there not "approved" but like someone said "its easier to ask forgiveness ". It's just a light bulb for xxxx sake!
 
Whelens are the least expensive airplane ones and it seems they have their PMA straightened out so no issue with approval. These lights have specific polarity so make sure you get the positive and negative hooked up right or they'll get twice as expensive. :)

If you want cool factor just add a couple of these. http://www.aveoengineering.com/vega-tl-tlr/
 
That's a good point about polarity. The 'D' in LED stands for diode (as in light emitting diode). Diodes are always polarity sensitive. Hook them up backwards and they just plain don't work right. In the case of the LED lights, if you hook the wires up in reverse polarity, they simply won't light up. The good thing is they won't burn out if you do. I've had to troubleshoot several cases of this and the fix is to just switch the wires back to the correct polarity. There will be a '+' sign or 'pos' next to the hot terminal and a '-' or 'neg' next to the ground.

Web
 
I bought two LEDs here for my Cub for about $30 each. I don't recall seeing a polarity designation but they work great and are bright. https://www.superbrightleds.com/ The lights are an exact size exchange for the 4509. I only use them for recognition so can't comment on their night use. I had one which had some of the LEDs fail and they replaced it no questions asked.

The LEDs require a special flasher because of the low current draw. A flasher for a regular bulb will not work. I used this: http://kestrobes.com/beacon.htm#LL1 model WW $45 at the bottom of the page.

My electric system only operates from a battery with no alternator/generator. There are three electric instruments, a GPS and two landing lights on the wig-wag for a system draw of 2-1/2 amps. With the lights on steady the system draw is 3-1/2 amps.

A representative from Whelen gave a talk at an IA meeting showing their products. He threw the landing light all over the room dropping it on the floor with no damage. That is an impressive unit.
 
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The ones I installed (AR111-CW9W-30 Cool White from SuperBrightleds.com) didn't have a polarity marking and work regardless of the polarity of the wiring. I can only assume they have an onboard circuit that addresses the polarity for the LEDs. They cost ~$20 ea when I bought them a couple of years ago. Today they are listed at $15. Drop in replacement for the standard old GE landing light in most planes. The spec sheet says they are not polarity sensitive.

-Cub Builder
 
I've got 1 wire running to my taxi/lnding lite cluster (original setup) Connected to "landing lite" switch.
Thinking I could I set up a different switch and flash relay via same wire and have a flashing option for daytime use, no?
 
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If I were experimental, I'd consider the AR111 lights. Since I'm certified, I installed the AeroLeds taxi and landing lights, with pulse, and like them. Because of the lower current draw (8-9 amps combined), I can run both lights at the same time, and was able to repurpose the taxi light switch to be pulse.

Be aware that there is a big difference in light output between the AR111 and Aeroleds: 600 lumens v. 1500+, and a corresponding difference in current draw. The AeroLeds bulbs also have lenses to create the appropriate beam. Below is a picture of both taxi and landing lights on at once. It's not very good pic, but you can see the effect of the lenses on the beam shape.
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On the AeroLeds noise problem: consider using twisted pair instead of the frame for the return current. Bring the ground wires all the way to under the panel to a central ground point. Do not connect the return wire to the frame out by the lights - you want just one return path.

Some have advocated using shielded wire, but I'm not a fan of shields unless there is no other way: shields tend to break down and won't stay terminated. Using a single conductor, shielded wire and using the shield for the return current doesn't seem to work well in practice, either.

All that said, it's kinda hard to run twisted pair if your wing is already closed up.
 
Oliver said:
...Thinking I could I set up a different switch and flash relay via same wire and have a flashing option for daytime use, no?
Click to expand...
YES. The flasher (post #11) which I used alternates the two lights as opposed to both flashing at once.
 
Vision X Optimus lights with a Max Pulse controller. Max Pulse is PMA'd and STC'd. Minor alteration on the lights. 0.8 amps per light. The airplane was recovered with no lights in the wings. This seemed a good option.
 

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Oliver said:
I've got 1 wire running to my taxi/lnding lite cluster (original setup) Connected to "landing lite" switch.
Thinking I could I set up a different switch and flash relay via same wire and have a flashing option for daytime use, no?
Click to expand...

You might want to double check that. The original wiring was a separate wire to each lamp and a separate toggle switch and breaker to each. If you only have a single switch now, you might get lucky and find that both wires were hooked to the same switch. If that's the case you can hook up the wires to a wig-wag controller and have full control. If you do have only one wire, you can still hook it up to a flash or wig-wag, but all you'll get is both on or both flashing.

Web
 
Flashers:

There are two general kinds of flashers or wig-wag controllers. The old school mechanical (bi metal) and the newer electronic types. The mechanical style uses the current flow to produce heat on a small metal strip that makes up one contact of the internal 'switch'. When the current flows through this strip and out to the circuit, it creates heat. When the metal strip gets hot it pulls away from the other contact and opens the path for current flow. With no current flow the circuit shuts off and the strip cools. When it cools, it snaps back to the other contact and it all starts again. Remember the sound of the blinkers in an old car? That's what makes that sound.

The new,electronic types use a small circuit who's only job is to turn 'on' and 'off' at a set rate. As long as there is power to the timer circuit, it will run.

Both systems can be used to power a light or, say, a relay arrangement such as a wig-wag controller. The advantage of the mechanical is it's simplicity and low cost. The disadvantage is that it needs a specific current flow to operate. To low and it won't switch on/off. To much and it switches very rapidly until failure. The advantage of the electronic type is that it works no matter what the current flow to the circuit is. It's biggest disadvantage is it's higher cost.

All in all, if you stay with the newer, electronic styles, life is made much easier.

Web
 
And there is no 'approval' for light bulbs. Show me the 'approval' for any GE light bulb on an old airplane.

Web
 
Thanks for the info Web,
just finished recovering left wing last week, I ran only one wire to the landing lite as that was how it was wired before,
one wire, one breaker, one switch, two lites
doh!:bang

don't mind both flashing together though.
for comparison sake, how many lumens does a GE 4509 put out? Can't find any data stating lumens.
 
The listings I'm finding show the GE 4509 putting out 110000 candle power. Take the candle power (110000) times 12.57 to convert to lumens. This works out to 1,382,700 lumens. Hope that helps.

Web
 
wireweinie said:
The listings I'm finding show the GE 4509 putting out 110000 candle power. Take the candle power (110000) times 12.57 to convert to lumens. This works out to 1,382,700 lumens. Hope that helps.

Web
Click to expand...

aeroled Sunspot lamp is rated at 24,000 lumens - 1500 lumens per led (X 16)
i would assume GE's to be considerably less, unless incandessant vs led measured different system.?
 
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