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L..E.D. landing light; It's alive !

Marty57

Marty57

PATRON
Nipomo, Ca
I sure do like L.E.D's; especially for Experimental. I finished fabricating and installing the landing light in my wood wing leading edge and tested the L.E.D. As you can see, it sure is bright; current draw is under .5 amps. The housing will hold a stock size landing light. I have this one angled down 7.5* and the taxi light in the other wing will be set at 30* down for now. The cost of the bulb was a whopping $19.95 ! I still have to to the lens but that is easy. It's alive !

Marty57

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Looks great! My Whelen LED lights are bright too but cost ---------$230 each!!!!!
Advantage, experimental.
 
Nice Marty!

I got two for $10 more at the same place and they are 12 watt and use a PAR 36 reflector, 1660 lumins, AR111-W12-38. I'm mounting mine pretty much the same way...left as taxi and right straight ahead but angled in maybe 5*. These are the same ones Skywagon is using and he likes them. I'm putting them on a 3 way switch with a strobe/on/off set up...should get someone's attention.

I tried them on a 4 wheeler and they pick up the reflectors on our runway at about 1200 feet using a laser range finder. Without the reflectors you can see maybe 300 feet with them...plenty good enough for a lighted runway.
 
The LED options are amazing. I opened the back door of the shop and the light lights up the fence in the back yard much better than a car head light. I'm also going to use a Wig-Wag box with the landing and taxi lights. I don't plan on much night flying but would like to be able to finish a flight home at dusk. The main thing is simply being seen. These LED lights will take care of that very nicely.
Marty57
 
Great idea! I took advantage of your savvy shopping and ordered a pair for my other plane. If I like them, I'll order another pair for my Exp Cub.

-Cub Builder
 
Marty57 said:
The LED options are amazing. I opened the back door of the shop and the light lights up the fence in the back yard much better than a car head light. I'm also going to use a Wig-Wag box with the landing and taxi lights. I don't plan on much night flying but would like to be able to finish a flight home at dusk. The main thing is simply being seen. These LED lights will take care of that very nicely.
Marty57
Click to expand...

Take a look at the MaxPulse controller. It's a little spendy but a VERY small footprint. It gives you options like left or right, both, both flashing, flashing alternately, and flash rate.

Web
 
Cub,

Do you really need lights at Los Alamos??

Besides the cost and low current draw, the fact that you'll probably never burn out the LED's is a big advantage. I always make students do light out landings because those little tungston filaments sure burn out or break at the worst time.
 
Wireweinie,
I am planning on using this Wig-Wag controller from Kestrobes. It's just $45 and can be used with up to 4 lights that draw no more than 3 amps each. Here's a link: http://kestrobes.com/beacon.htm At that cost it's worth a try to see how it works in a bench test environment.

Marty57
 
Marty,

I'm using the same wig wag. I interpreted their instructions as a total of 3 amps for all the lights. Still should be OK for two of the lights you're using.
 
Lowrider,
I think your right; max 3 amps. Still fine with the lights I have. I also bought a mini strobe from Superbright that seem to be very bright. Their prices are great.

Marty57
 
Lowrider said:
Cub,

Do you really need lights at Los Alamos??

Besides the cost and low current draw, the fact that you'll probably never burn out the LED's is a big advantage. I always make students do light out landings because those little tungston filaments sure burn out or break at the worst time.
Click to expand...

We just have the kids stand next to the runway here. They all glow in the dark.

My other plane has the old filament landing lights, used more for recognition with a wigwag in the pattern than anything else, but I'm also still using a 20 amp generator, so throttled back to land in a slick plane, the world starts getting a bit dark as the lights use up my battery. Also, with the old lamps I keep smelling hot plastic if they are on for very long. LEDs should eliminate that issue, which is the main reason for switching to the LEDs. I hate getting a whiff of hot anything while I'm in the air. :onfire:

-Cub Builder
 
I'm with ya Cub...electric smell in flight is not good...maybe LED's and some new wiring is in order. I'm going with 2 small batteries and no alt. due mostly because of low current use from lights and electronics.

The beans and smoked peppers sure smells good down there though!! My resident source of good beans and peppers retired and moved from ABQ so I'm left with store bought supplies for chili and bean dishes...life is so unfair!!
 
Left wing is also done; just need to make the lenses and I'll have this step finished. With these LED's on there seems to be no heat to the touch at all. The idea of a hot Tungsten filament behind a plexiglass lens inside a wood leading edge wasn't very attractive to me at all. I tilted the light down to 15* in the left wing (below) for taxi lighting. Both lights are adjustable from 0 - 15* and I can use washers to adjust left and right for better aiming.

Marty57
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Very interesting. Is there any consensus on the best angle to set these at when the light is used for recognition rather than landing? I'm thinking about folks like me who are mainly day-VFR types. Marty, I see you chose 7.5*. Lowrider noted that Skywagon uses 5* I wonder if these were chose for landing illumination or for recognition? Or whether it makes a difference?
 
Marty57 said:
Wireweinie,
I am planning on using this Wig-Wag controller from Kestrobes. It's just $45 and can be used with up to 4 lights that draw no more than 3 amps each. Here's a link: http://kestrobes.com/beacon.htm At that cost it's worth a try to see how it works in a bench test environment.

Marty57
Click to expand...
This is the WigWag that I'm using with two bulbs. It works great.

longpacer said:
Very interesting. Is there any consensus on the best angle to set these at when the light is used for recognition rather than landing? I'm thinking about folks like me who are mainly day-VFR types. Marty, I see you chose 7.5*. Lowrider noted that Skywagon uses 5* I wonder if these were chose for landing illumination or for recognition? Or whether it makes a difference?
Click to expand...

My plane is on floats and is unlikely to be landed after dark, though it is possible. 5* is adequate for this purpose. The primary purpose is for recognition.
 
The angles are based on the PA 18 landing light drawings. The drawings show 4 holes from parallel to spar (0*) to 15* . I felt the 4 holes were too close together so I drilled just three holes giving me the options of 0, 7.5 and 15 degrees. I won't be able to really finalize the aim till it's assembled. I designed it to be easily adjusted.

Marty57
 
Marty57 said:
Tcraft128,
The LED's are from Super Bright LED, Inc. The bulb # is AR111-CW9W-30 Cool White. The price is $19.95. Here's a link: www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/large-par-series/9-watt-ar111-bulb-gx53-base-30-degree-white/459/
Marty57
Click to expand...

This website says "non weather-proof, indoor use only unless contained within weather-proof housing". The standard landing light lens & housing seems sufficient to keep out small birds, and maybe bugs (although I've seen flies inside mine on more than one airplane), but it isn't what I would call weather-proof. Have you had any trouble with this issue?
 
I think my housing and mount will be sufficient to make it weather-proof. I am going to use some clear silicone between the fabric and the plexiglass lens. Since these lights should hold up so much longer it's not as important that the lens comes off the wing real easy. My wing is wood so I want to keep out the water as much as possible anyway. The company does make a similar LED that is weather proof; a bit more expensive though (still cheap compared to PMA'd LED.)

Marty57
 
hotrod180 said:
This website says "non weather-proof, indoor use only unless contained within weather-proof housing". The standard landing light lens & housing seems sufficient to keep out small birds, and maybe bugs (although I've seen flies inside mine on more than one airplane), but it isn't what I would call weather-proof. Have you had any trouble with this issue?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't give this a second thought. It is a well constructed aluminum housing which when placed under a Cub leading edge lens cover it will have adequate protection. I think that their "non weather-proof" statement would apply if it was placed out in the open with no protection what so ever.
 
Agree with Sky. I looked the lights over pretty well and I don't see how it can get wet even if the lens blows off. I think they are sealed in epoxy or something like it...think it's a lawyer warning.
 
Agreed. These things look great and the price is even better. They sure do light up my back yard. Good stuff.

Marty57
 
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