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LED landing lights

kaweeka

Well Known Member
I just replaced the 75W halogen wingtip landing/taxi lights on my -9A with the following. No noise, $22.59 for the pair on Amazon. They seem bright as the halogen without the excessive heat or power draw.

Soraa 00957 - 9 Watt - LED - MR16 - 75 Watt Equal - 3260 Candlepower - 3000 Kelvin - 80 Color Rendering - 25 Deg. Narrow Flood

Just in case anyone is interested.....
 
Thanks. You said $22.59 for the pair? That's the price I'm seeing for a single. Do they come in a 2-pack?
 
My mistake,


Ordered from 1000 bulbs
Order Summary
Item(s) Subtotal: $34.54
Shipping & Handling: $4.99
Total before tax: $39.53
Estimated tax to be collected: $0.00
Grand Total: $39.53
 
I tried the Soraa LED's as landing lights last summer and I experienced way too much noise so went back to halogens. Guess it depends on the wiring...my builder grounded all the lights including AeroLED Pulsar nav/strobes, into the wingtip rather than shielded grounds back to the panel, so I experience some strobe feedback as well, depending on VHF frequency. Hope they work for others. Woody.
 
installed Soraa 00957 - 9 Watt

I like them. No radio noise. I had a slight humm from the halogen but not from Soraa. They are much brighter than the 50W halogens I was using. My wiring is grounded at the wing tip rib. I'll upload a photo in the next couple of weeks for comparison. The current draw initially was 0.9A but settles at 0.84A after a minute to warm. That's about 10W. It's amazing what these bulbs can do. I poked around and found some ebay version claiming 15W MR16 spotlight for $3.50 each. I ordered a couple just to verify them. 15W (quoted 6000+ lumen) is getting close the PAR36 18W light, amazing. The weight on the Soraa bulb is just 47g, that is the highest lumens to weight ratio light I have seen.
 
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IF you have PAR36s and don't mind spending a bit to have less amperage, the same if not better light than 55w halogens, no noise and dead simple install, read on.

I like the 10 degree Rigid spots. RIGID INDUSTRIES RS PAR36 LAMP 1800 LUMEN | (62110). They are $142 each. There is a 3400 lumen version which sounds overdriven. The current is halved with 1800 lumen and the same as 55w halogens with 3400 lumen.

For my 1800 lumens, the $45 KUNTZLEMAN wig wag works great.
 
some comparison

marginal photos. 50W halogen on the left, 10W LED on the right. the left side is pointed downward for taxi.

IMG_20170308_200800_zpsie7xv1g3.jpg



10W LED on the both sides. On a four mile ILS final they said they could see me fine. good enough for me.

IMG_20170308_211640_zpsrjtoygli.jpg


IMG_20170308_211628_zpszwhmfzup.jpg
 
Working for me too

I thought I'd share another success report. After seeing this posting I found some online ($18/each from TopBulb) and ordered them. I installed them last night and ... no noise. So far, so good. Now I just need to get out one night and fly with them.
 
how are they wired?

I've tried the SOra's and 2 other MR16 LED's with the wires twisted all the way thru the wing, but not shielded. I've grounded at the main ground and locally in the tip, put noise magnets on and the interference is just never acceptable.

Do you have shielded wiring?

I just replaced the 75W halogen wingtip landing/taxi lights on my -9A with the following. No noise, $22.59 for the pair on Amazon. They seem bright as the halogen without the excessive heat or power draw.

Soraa 00957 - 9 Watt - LED - MR16 - 75 Watt Equal - 3260 Candlepower - 3000 Kelvin - 80 Color Rendering - 25 Deg. Narrow Flood

Just in case anyone is interested.....
 
I've tried the SOra's and 2 other MR16 LED's with the wires twisted all the way thru the wing, but not shielded. I've grounded at the main ground and locally in the tip, put noise magnets on and the interference is just never acceptable.
Do you have shielded wiring?

Yes, my wiring through the wing is shielded.
 
LED

Has anyone found a similar LED light for the 2.25x5" rectangular light in RV-8 wing (and others, I suspect)?

Thanks.
 
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