Lights in the tips or the leading edges?

[xblueh2o]

Kicking around landing lights and where to mount them. Searched the forums and got a few posts that sort of had what I was looking for but hoping for more specific info.
I am doing an 8 but figured best to post in the general section to get the widest possible return of info. I am considering an Aero LED package with tip mounted Sunbeams. I would love to hear from anybody who has tip mounted Sunbeams. How did they fit, do you like them, what would you do differently if you were going to do it all over again?

From the leading edge folks, same general set of questions.

I was looking at how to tip mount a light and how to get it aimed inwards towards the runway or taxiway instead of aimed away. I have a few ideas in mind that would work.
For the tip mounted folks. Show me your mounts, especially if you incorporated an adjustment feature. Again, I have ideas but it's always nice to see what others are doing to spur your own creativity along.

[Andy Hill]

We've just fitted Aveo Atlas LEDs in the tips. For air display reasons they are angled out about 7deg but no reason why not angle in/down.

My preference (not advice!) for tip lights is:

1. You do not have to take a saw to your Wing LE
2. Vans produce a kit that fits in the 715-1 tips well
3. That kit is easily adaptable to your chosen lights
4. Access is easier
5. If you want to change / modify your light setup, just propduce a new backplate / mount and in it goes (as I did for the Vans kit to the Atlas)

[crabandy]

I went through the same senario last year, I really wanted to put in the wingtip lights but ended up putting the leading edge lights in.

I didn't want to put the leading edge lights in becase:
1. didn't want to cut the leading edge

I put leading edge lights in because:
1. I plan on my lights being very usable at night, the wingtip versions seem dim but adequate
2. Ability to aim the lights, especially for a taildragger
3. Cutting the leading edge was easy and looks good when done.
4. HID wingtip lighting was a good $$ for the lumen

[Ironflight]

Of our three RV's, the one with the most useable night lighting and that appears brightest in a head-on pass has the Aerosun 1600's in Duckwork mounts in the leading edge. The worst? HID's in the tip cavities. The middle ground has leading edge incandescent lights. I did the tip lights on the RV-8 because I didn't want to cut holes in my QB wings. This turned out to be a simple, easy task when we did it on the -3....shouldn't have worried about it.

[Ron RV8]

I went with the Z-Tron lights primarily because of cost and the fact that I rarely land at night and mostly practice with the landing lights off when I do... Primary function will be wig-wag... These shots show my mounting to make em adjustable. Principle should be adaptable to other types. Not flying yet so I can't comment on how well / badly they work...

[xblueh2o]

Excellent data points, keep them coming.

[N941WR]

I first saw a picture of the wing tip lights the day after I cut a hole in my first wing. At the time I thought I had made a major mistake because the wing tip lights look so cool!

Then I started reading the posts on this forum regarding the inability to aim the wing tip lights and realized I the choice to cut the wing was the correct one.

I have 100W halogen bulbs in both wings and they are BRIGHT! My hope is that once the cost of LED lights come down I will replace the 100W halogens.

That said, the halogens can light up the runway from 500' and only cost about $3.50 to replace when they burn out, which is about once every four years.

BTW, my -9 is a tail dragger so being able to aim the lights is a big deal.

[Neal@F14]

My friend's RV-8 has 75W round halogen lights in the wingtips. They're bright but useless for landing in the dark.... I call them "pin spots"since they light up only pencil-thin beams and never shine where you need them to.

My RV-6 has leading edge lights (55W rectangular halogen) and they're much better, but I still wish they were brighter. They fill a much greater area of the runway with light than the "pin spots". With only a 40 amp alternator, I'm not sure I want to put the 100W bulbs in them. Maybe someday I can upgrade them to HID.

[Dean_aeroleds]

AeroLEDs is working on a new wingtip light kit for the RV. I can't go into any details about it in this post, but it will be a very high performing LED light set that is custom designed for the Van's RV wingtips (any with the clear wingtip covers and the notch). We are looking for about 20 initial installs at a special price point to get some field service feedback on the installation and performance of the lights. They will come as a complete kit for left/right with all mounting hardware and templates included. If you are interested, PM me and I will send you some additional information.

[rhill]

I'm in. PM sent. Please put me on the list.
R.Hill