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wing tip landing lights

I went with the AeroLeds products Suntail and Pulsar in Vans Catalog
Find them here:
http://www.vansaircraft.com/cgi-bin...1444-174-483&browse=lighting&product=AeroLEDs

More pricey than the original stock Whelans but no power pack required, less weight, longer life, smaller wire size required, and a very quality product to boot.
I expect them to outlast the airplane with no maintenance.

I have mounted them and test fired them but still have a long ways to go before airborne.

Jim
RV9A
 
I used the Creativair combo landing light & LED position light + strobe light, all in each wingtip.

I guess now it has changed name in WhiskeyVictor or something similar.
 
lights

Here is what i did. Mine are whelen LED nav/strobe and aeroleds microsun
My%20RV7A%20Construction%20649.jpg
microsun
My%20RV7A%20Construction%20792.jpg

My%20RV7A%20Construction%20651.jpg
 
thanks

thanks for the comments.. I am definitely looking to have everything mounted in the tips, I dont feel like cutting the leading edge..

as far as budget I am open to what makes the most sense.. just wanted to get some ideas, and as always there are multiples..

thanks again
 
Mounting Pics of Microsun

Here is what i did. Mine are whelen LED nav/strobe and aeroleds microsun
My%20RV7A%20Construction%20649.jpg
microsun
My%20RV7A%20Construction%20792.jpg

My%20RV7A%20Construction%20651.jpg

How did you mount the Microsuns?
I am using the same ones and would like to see a pic of the inside mount of the landing light if possible.
I am using the Ztron Nav/Strobe lights along with them.

Thanks.
 
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ztron

Have a look at Ztron labs landing and nav/strobe, tail lights. I am going with them. Have them mounted in wingtips. Will get some pics up soon on my kitlog.

bird
 
anyone have suggestions for wingtip Landing/NAV/Strobes on a 9A?

I wouldn't mount them in the wing tip unless you are planning on using them only for collision avoidance. For night landing ... the winf tip blocks a LOT of the light from getting directly in front of the aircraft where you really want it...:eek:
 
Regarding wingtip landing lights?

I have heard that aiming the lights mounted in the wingtips is a challenge. Could someone else comment on that?

My 100W Halogen lights are mounted in the leading edges of my wings. They are easy to aim and in my tail dragger, the left light is a taxi light and is aimed straight out, when the tail is down. When the tail is up, it is pointed down. The light in the right wing is point straight out, when the tail is up. They are on different switches because the landing light could blind a 747 captain because with the tail down, it is pointing up in the air.

On landing, those 100W halogen lights work great and light up the runway much better than I could have hoped for.
 
I'm using the Killacycle COmbo Nav Light;
http://www.killacycle.com/Lights.htm
For the landing light, I'm using the LED superbright flashlight for Seoul Semiconductor. It shines right thru the position light.
http://www.acriche.com/en/product/prd/zpowerLEDp7.asp
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/ssc-p7-c-bin-led-emitter-with-21mm-heat-sink-base-3-6v-3-7v-12721
The strobe I'm using is from GS aire:
https://ssl.perfora.net/www.gs-air.com/sess/utn;jsessionid=154c9074964f00f/shopdata/index.shopscript
It's a NOVA XPAK 604 HR..the same as the AVIPAK
I think my set up is a little dated, but you have to start somewhere. LED strobes are all the rage now, and without the heavy strobe driver/ power supply, it's the Go-To set up.
Getting away from HID power supplies and high power draws with the resulting heat in the lens is why I went for the LED postion and landing lights.
The Nova Strobe pak is probably the cheapest still.
 
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I have heard that aiming the lights mounted in the wingtips is a challenge. Could someone else comment on that?

My 100W Halogen lights are mounted in the leading edges of my wings. They are easy to aim and in my tail dragger, the left light is a taxi light and is aimed straight out, when the tail is down. When the tail is up, it is pointed down. The light in the right wing is point straight out, when the tail is up. They are on different switches because the landing light could blind a 747 captain because with the tail down, it is pointing up in the air.

On landing, those 100W halogen lights work great and light up the runway much better than I could have hoped for.

How about self leveling lights that automatically dip and continue to point at the runway as the tail goes down. I know it would add complexity and is another thing to go wrong but some builders might want to incorporate this feature into their plane and it would certainly save the 747 pilots eyesight should you forget to turn off the upward pointing light. Just another idea to kick around.
 
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I installed Aerled sunrays in my 9A tips. They are the original 800 lumen version and was going to upgrade to the higher power units but after flying for close to two years and a fair amount of night landings have decided these are good enough. The light comes to the center about 40' (haven't actually measured it) in front of the plane but just hasn't been an issue simply because I am looking much farther ahead than 40' in front of me. Taxiing at night hasn't been an issue either but that is just my opinion, everyones preferences are different.
 
How about self leveling lights that automatically dip and continue to point at the runway as the tail goes down. I know it would add complexity and is another thing to go wrong but some builders might want to incorporate this feature into their plane and it would certainly save the 747 pilots eyesight should you forget to turn off the upward pointing light. Just another idea to kick around.

Interesting idea. Only, the added weight and complexity, especially way out in the wing where it will slow the roll rate concerns me. ie. Something else to maintain.

On a side-by-side RV, that really doesn?t do you much good because the taxi light in the left wing gives you plenty of light ahead.

Not to mention the added benefit of having one light aimed up and one down, you continue to illuminate the runway when in the flair.
 
Interesting idea. Only, the added weight and complexity, especially way out in the wing where it will slow the roll rate concerns me. ie. Something else to maintain.

On a side-by-side RV, that really doesn’t do you much good because the taxi light in the left wing gives you plenty of light ahead.

Not to mention the added benefit of having one light aimed up and one down, you continue to illuminate the runway when in the flair.

True Bill, on all three points you make. I did mention the added complexity.

Really only only the right light needs to be dippable and the movement rate could possibly adjusted so that the rate of movement is slower than the descending tail. This would mean the light would point further ahead while the tail is in transition down. The right light could be made to stop while still pointing further down the runway than the left light. As for added weight, what is the weight of a small servo motor and control box to control this? Surely under a lb? I do realise that the extra weight situated on the wing tip will increase inertia but the aileron is mounted close to there also, so the moments are not that great.

Personally, I am not going to do this but I am sure someone will like this idea.

I have just realised, that this and my last post could be constituted as a thread drift by the moderators. Apologies for this. I will take the gist of my last two posts an open a new thread in the General Discussions area.
 
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adjustment

My wingtip ztron lights are adjusted for one to look straight ahead and one angled down when my 8 is sitting on the ground with tail down, like others. Not flying yet so I will fine tune them when test flying. I used the springs that van's has for their light system. Works good for me, I am happy, the lights are 1350 lumens each.

bird
 
What are those?

No regrets here.



img0974o.jpg



Dave Casey
RV-8 QB
Dave,

What are those landing lights? Tell us more about them?
I'm currently working on an LED system that will put out over 3000 lumens per side, and should cost around about $150 for the whole system
 
Dave,

What are those landing lights? Tell us more about them?
I'm currently working on an LED system that will put out over 3000 lumens per side, and should cost around about $150 for the whole system

We are too... Care to share?
 
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While many of you may want to do a roll your own LED light, some of you may prefer to go with something off the shelf. This is a new light that we have just started production on that will fit the RV tip and puts out a lot of light in a very tight beam (uses two 12Watt LEDs):

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=80918

We just built the first production run of 10 lights, and will be ramping up in the next couple of weeks. This light is comparable to a 35W HID.
 
So.... any news on these new lights?

Got my nav lights and am researching landing/taxi lights so I can button up my tips.


Thanks.
 
Richard,

Will that fit in the W-715 wing tips (2005-vintage curved trailing edge) with the smaller tip cut-out?
 
Z-Tron landing lights

Has anyone besides Bird mounted the Z-Tron landing lights in the wingtips?

When I contacted Z-tron after communicating with Bird, they said that they did not approve the lights for wingtip installation at this time. That was several months ago...

If I were to mount them in a wingtip similar to Bird's install and bend up some aluminium fins for cooling, what type of heat sink adhesive would be required to thermally bond them to the fins?

I realize that Aeroleds are out there, but the price difference is substantial...
 
The Duckworks wingtip LED lights will fit in the older W-715 wingtips. They only require about 2.5 inches of real estate to install.

Here is a pic

ledfront.JPG


These lights can push the light out a surprising distance, just about as good as the Duckworks 35W HID although in a more defined pinpoint pattern.

They only draw about 1 amp when running and can be flashed.

It is on the Duckworks site now too:

http://www.duckworksav.com/WTLightKits.html
 
Duckworth LED landing light

How do you wig-wag these, according to Duckworth it's not built in?
 
You can use one of the common wigwag devices such as the Maxpulse, the wigwag built in to the Vertical Power power panels, the Perehelion Designs wigwag, or even the Duckworks wigwag once it is available. They are supposed to be available either late this week or next.

It is Duckworks by the way. (kind of like Skunkworks, but Duckworks) Duckworth is a boat building company!!
 
Those lights look nice and the price is in line.

BTW, I exchanged emails with Ztron Labs a few weeks back and I wouldn't recommend these lights, based on there reply.

The issue is that you can NOT select the position and strobes independently. They are both either on or off.

Here is their reply to my query:

Ztron Labs said:
Sorry, the Nav/Position feature can not be turned off on the Wingtip lights.
We added this capability to the tail light, but have not modified the others.
Its is only a software modification, but frankly you are the first to ask wrt to wingtip lights, and we resist making changes.

Additionally the strobe only mode of the taillight is not cockpit selectable!

Thanks for the interest,
Warren
 
I dont think so

The strobes can be turned on and off anytime the nav lights are on. The strobes are also synched to each other and the tail strobe if you have one of them. So different flash patterns can be chosen. I have all three and they work great. Unless I am special and got the only ones in the world that do that.:D Happy building
I dont know why I would want my navs off and just have the strobes.??
bird
 
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Wing tip landing lights.

Richard, I like the looks of the Duck works lights, but it's not clear to me if there is any adjustment once they are mounted?

Thanks, Terry.
 
These specific lights have no adjustment once installed as they are primarily intended to be recognition lights for wigwagging.

In the instructions that come with the kit, it gives some alignment guides to get them straight ahead, but as far as adjusting once installed, these do not have that.

The adjustable version is being worked on, but slowly for now.
 
The strobes can be turned on and off anytime the nav lights are on. The strobes are also synched to each other and the tail strobe if you have one of them. So different flash patterns can be chosen. I have all three and they work great. Unless I am special and got the only ones in the world that do that.:D Happy building
I dont know why I would want my navs off and just have the strobes.??
bird

Bird, are you referring to my post above?

I can only go with what the company told me. If you know something different, please let us know.

After getting the email I quoted above, I sent a letter to clarify and didn't get a response. So, I can only go with what he wrote in the note I included in my post.
 
From the Ztron User Manual

I can only go with what the company told me. If you know something different, please let us know.

After getting the email I quoted above, I sent a letter to clarify and didn't get a response. So, I can only go with what he wrote in the note I included in my post.

From memory, this feature was introduced in a revision to the product based on customer requests.
The following is from Page 5 of Rev 2 of the Ztron User Manual for their ZL-PSLR - ZL PSRG-12 lights:
THE Sync line can also be used to switch the Strobes function off while in flight.
In order to do this, first please make sure all Sync wires connect to one another, then
connect the Sync line to a switch that switches to Ground. Do not switch the Sync line to
any power source, as this may damage the units.
(I have no connection with Ztron)
 
yes

The strobes can be turned on and off as long as the nav. lights are on. This was a request from pilots after the first few sets were made. They listened to pilot request and incorporated that feature. I am not flying yet, but I have tested them and they perform very well.

bird
 
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