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  #1  
Old 05-14-2011, 02:13 PM
Tim Fitzpatrick's Avatar
Tim Fitzpatrick Tim Fitzpatrick is offline
 
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Location: Wauseon, Ohio
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Default It is dark out there

I have installed in my wingtips (2 each wing) 4 MR-16 Halogen lamps (12V 75W), as sold by Vans and was taxing around the other night at dusk and they did not seem very bright. As it got darker I expected them to be more visible however that was not the case. I thought I had them focused fairly well, however that may not be the case. Has anyone else run into this? As always thanks for everyone?s help, take care
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  #2  
Old 05-14-2011, 07:45 PM
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DakotaHawk DakotaHawk is offline
 
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If you've got two 75W halogens in each wing, you've got a lot of candlepower! You should be lighting up the runway while on a one-mile final approach!

What size wire did you use? For 150W, you should have at least #12 wire (maybe even #10) running from the switch to the lamps, and then back to battery ground. Since your switch is running four 75W lamps, you should have #8 wire from the battery (+) to the switch. If your wire is sized too small, then it's heating up due to internal resistance (I2R losses) and costing you candlepower!
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  #3  
Old 05-14-2011, 08:54 PM
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Ironflight Ironflight is offline
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Default

I always described the Halogen lights in the Val as "Adequate...barely". Fortunately, I can land pretty well at night on a lighted runway without landing lights (thanks to a persistent primary instructor decades ago). When I replaced them with HID's, I upped that to "OK". Don't expect extraordinarily good results with the tip light locations and MR16's was my take-away.

We went with AeroLED lamps in Duckworks mounts for the -3.

Paul
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  #4  
Old 05-15-2011, 03:42 AM
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Andy Hill Andy Hill is offline
 
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In Daylight displays, with my colleague having the LE Landing lights, the extra brightness of the wingtip 75W halogens is frequently commented on

However, they are, I would think, "inclined" somewhat upwards for use as Landing Lights, and if that is what you want them for, need to be aimed considerably "down", esp on a taildragger.
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  #5  
Old 05-15-2011, 09:17 AM
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Tim Fitzpatrick Tim Fitzpatrick is offline
 
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Default Thanks

Thanks for the advice fella?s, I have #10 wire running out to the wingtips, however I am not real sure if the lights are focused where I want them. I have a set of ANVIS-9 NVG?s for my regular job and will put them on some night and see where the lights are really pointing on the ground. Is there such an animal as a ?spot? and ?flood? MR-16. Just wondering if maybe I have the wrong type of bulb. I have the ones that came with the kit so I bet they are the correct type, but thought maybe this was a possibility, thanks again.
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  #6  
Old 05-16-2011, 01:17 PM
scsmith scsmith is offline
 
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Default upgrade to HID's

I found the standard 75W MR-16's just about useless. I was carefull about aiming. With two in each tip, I aimed one each for landing light and taxi light.

They are essentially useless as landing lights in my view. So, fortunately, there are at least two suppliers of HID retrofits for the MR-16 bulb mounts. These are only 50W or 55W or something like that, so less power req'd, and MUCH brighter. Actually bright enough to be useful as landing lights.

You have to mount a small power supply on the wing rib. Bob Kuykendall posted a picture of how we installed the power supplies in an earlier thread.

I don't know how to link old threads, but if you search for Duckworks power supply mounting, and look at the third post in the thread, there is a good picture.
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  #7  
Old 05-16-2011, 02:18 PM
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Neal@F14 Neal@F14 is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by scsmith View Post
I found the standard 75W MR-16's just about useless.
Me too. The RV-8 in my avatar has a single 75W MR-16 in each wingtip, and I've only tried landing it after dark... once. That was enough for me.

I swear the plain old incandescent GE4509 single 100W lamp in the nose of my old Cherokee did a much better job of lighting up the end of the runway for landing than those two 75W halogen lamps in the RV-8's wingtips do. They're mostly what I'd call "pinspots".
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  #8  
Old 05-16-2011, 04:01 PM
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Tim Fitzpatrick Tim Fitzpatrick is offline
 
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Location: Wauseon, Ohio
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Thumbs up Thanks!!!

Steve,

Thanks for the information. I ordered a set of 2 and will try them out on one side. Take care,
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ATP-H, C MEL/SEL, CFII Helo/SEL, ATC Spec, D-6779
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  #9  
Old 05-17-2011, 12:44 PM
Pilottonny Pilottonny is offline
 
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Location: Belgium
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Default 2 X 100 W

I have two 100W landing lights from Van's in the leading edges of the wings. We are not allowed night flying, but I noticed when landing at around sunset that the lights are certainly lighting the runway and will do fine in an emergency night landing if it would ever come to that.

I get commented that my wig-wag lights are very well visible on final, (during daytime) well before anything else is visible (strobes or the plane itself).

Regards, Tonny
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  #10  
Old 05-17-2011, 01:00 PM
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n5lp n5lp is offline
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Default

I have a single halogen, 45W I think. It isn't great but I noticed right away it was better than the factory dual light system in my previous airplane, a Piper Pacer.
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