Landing lights

[DesertBearhawk]

Guys, I am not to far from the start of assembly of my wings. I'm thinking now is the time to plan for the landing lights. I want to have a light in each wing. I'm thinking the location will be outboard of the splice, half way to the top but I'm just spit-ballin' here. What have you guys done, what is your recommendation for a light? Lets see your setup!

[Gavin Chester]

Here is what I did in both wings, one is a beam for landing and the other is diffused for taxi .they are LED off road vehicle lights at 40 watts each.
If you look around there are lots of choices that are the same output or more and even smaller and lighter, and these are very bright as i get comments on them from others all the time as i use them all the time.
Connected them both to a solid state wig wag unit for transport trucks ( Cheap and Light ) $ 50.00

[DesertBearhawk]

I like it! Do you remember the brand of light that is? What about heat, how much heat are they putting out? What are you using for the clear lens? Also I notice you do not have fasteners along the sides holding in the lens, whats going on there?

Thanks!

[Gavin Chester]

They are Vision X Lights, They have built in heat sinks .The lens is left over plexiglass from the windows and skylight . There
Are no screws on the sides as they are not needed. The lens is fitted tight to the back side of the nose skin.

[Zzz]

What do you guys think of this location/method?

Eric, did you do this on your Patrol too? Seems like a slick solution, though I'm not sure how the light aiming would be with them that far outboard.

[N3UW]

I will have to take some photos of it to show what I did. I installed wing tip landing lights in my Cherokee 235 as an STC a few years ago. It would be a very Similar installation to the bearhawk. I installed a small false spar between the nose ribs on the outter two nose ribs. This false spar was about 10" back from the nose. In from of this false spar was a mounting bracket that held a standard PAR 36 100 watt landing light. The bracket allowed the light to be adjusted up/down and in/out. I replaced the standard 100 watt par 36 bulb with a Grote Trilliant led bulb made for tractors. It is a bit more of a flood than a standard landing light but works great and lasts forever and uses less that 4 amps. there is a frame that holds a curved lense. It is similar to Gavin's but the lens is on the outside and is held in place with an aluminum frame. Here is a link to the bulb

[N3UW]

the link did not come through correctly. it is

http://www.grote.com/prodcat/attachments/Trilliant36InfoSheet.pdf

[Enewton57]

What do you guys think of this location/method?

Eric, did you do this on your Patrol too? Seems like a slick solution, though I'm not sure how the light aiming would be with them that far outboard.

No - the Patrol is non-electric.

[DesertBearhawk]

Damn, those vision x lights are $450 a piece!!!

[Glenn Patterson]

If you are scratch building then build for the lights and plan to install them down the road. The wiring for the LEDs will not change and can be installed. The LED technology is advancing rapidly, products are getting smaller with more light output & the technology costs are slowly inching downward. If you are a couple years or more away from completion then there may be better quality lights available at a better cost when it is time to complete the project.
Glenn
BH727

[bestbearhawk1231]

Dave, I agree with Glen, install the mounts and wire then wait a bit until you find something that is closer to what your budget will allow. In the last 8 years I have watched LED lights on locomotives improve dramatically. When I first hired on my employer did a test run on some, they were a joke...very little light output, temperature sensitive, and the vibration ate them up. Now 8 years later, I do everything I can to avoid incandescent lighting...they are so much brighter, last so much longer, and have more consistent light output, snow doesn't cause them to shatter, train crew has to work harder to kick them out when getting on board when they don't want to make the run.....the list goes on and on. I can't wait until the mains and ditchlights go LED. If you wait until you are closer to flying your bird you can probably get a better deal...but then again, with your progress you may be flying 2 years from now!

[Bradrock]

Could you point us in the right direction for appropriate adjustable mounts....