Leading Edge Landing Light Whoopsie

[flyingtaran]

Hey all
I made a pretty big boo-boo cutting the landing light hole out and am looking for opinions on a fix,
I didnt like my first cut out line so i removed the template, cleaned the sharpie line off and tried again, unfortunately when i put the template back on i inadvertantly put it on upside down and cut the hole about and inch and a half too far inboard,
I was thinking i could modify the bracket to house the light further inboard so as to line up with the hole, unfortunately the plexi will only have a half inch overlap on the aluminium rather than the 5/8" recommended & i'm sure there are many other considerations i haven't thought of, has anyone else run into this problem before and/or gopt any bright ideas for a fix??
cheers

[Kahuna]

Which kit are you installing?
Obviously leave the cutout where it is. You can modify the bracket.
Or an easier solution might be to install this kit which is completely adjustable in design and would allow you to have a mount that would work just fine.
As for the lens, I would not be concerned with the 1/2" overlap, as long as at the top and bottom you have plenty of lens for the screws. If you would like to contact me directly, Id be happy to help you solve the problem without too much fuss.

[Sugar Dunkerton]

I'm assuming you're installing a Duckworks kit. Just finished this on my RV9 wing and I can't see why your install wouldn't work by just flipping the reflector bracket over. Worst case your light is off center to the cut out by 1/2 inch because both of those wing rib flanges are oriented the same way (I think). Easy fix if you order a new blank reflector piece from Duckworks and make a custom cutout.

Added:
Just looked at your log. Just occurred to me that you maybe should cut the other wing light to match. I don't see an issue with the 1/2 inch overlap but you are further along than I am.

[R. Daniels]

Taran, you made the perfect mistake. I intentionally made my cutouts wider by moving the inboard cut. There is a "black hole" in front of the plane at night. You need to project more light inboard. Don't move the light itself. Perform the same "mod" on the other side. The half inch overlap of the plexi is fine. Thats what i have. This mod also makes the lense easier to remove and install.

[flyingtaran]

Originally Posted by R. Daniels

Taran, you made the perfect mistake. I intentionally made my cutouts wider by moving the inboard cut. There is a "black hole" in front of the plane at night. You need to project more light inboard. Don't move the light itself. Perform the same "mod" on the other side. The half inch overlap of the plexi is fine. Thats what i have. This mod also makes the lense easier to remove and install.

thanks mate,
love that idea, just out of interest roughly how much wider did you cut yours out,

cheers

[Rupester]

I made a similar mistake as the OPs on my left wing. As a consequence, I was not able to install the platenut and screw in the center of the lens on the bottom; it has the two outer screws holding it in place. It has not been a problem in any way.

[Richard@Langair]

Taran,
Did you get my email? If the cutout is now too wide we can make a custom lens to accomodate the extra width. The rest of the install stays the same as it should be.

Thanks,
Richard

[WingsOnWheels]

I have to admit, I made the same mistake in one wing. I was installing the bracket for the rectangular lights in my RV-6. Going from memory, All I did was flip the bracket over and it aligned almost perfectly. The bracket came with a slight offset built in, my mistake just reversed the offset. Of course I may have modified the bracket as well. Honestly, I have to go back and look to be sure. I do know for sure is that I did not make any modifications to the cutout.