HID landing lights?

[Dayton Murdock]

Has any one had any luck putting together an HID landing light system?
I have been researching par 36 HID bulbs and ballast on line with no luck
There are kits available but the price is out of my range. If you have any information please share.

[AX-O]

I researched that for about a month. I finally just bought the DW round lights. That will allow the upgrade to HID later on. HID are way too much money for me at this point of the build.

[RV_7A]

Pete Howell did it for about 1/2 price.

He emailed me this...

"Xenarc D1S driving lights can be had for $378 a pair. OSRAM
Sylvania hardware."

Give em more details Pete.

-Jeff

[petehowell]

I found some Audi A4 ballasts and D1S HID bulbs on ebay after looking at the setup in my neighbors car. I used the DW 100W kit as the start and then added the ballast and made an adapter for the bulb. Photos can be seen here.

Pete's HID Upgrade

I was able to get 2 ballasts, 2 bulbs and the 2 sets of wiring for ~$250. I did need to do some fabrication on the bulb mount, but you are building an airplane, right?

Amp draw is much less than the 100W halogen once the unit has started. I get a slight whine on startup, but no noise after that.

This thing really lights up the night.

[lostpilot28]

I have a set of rectangular offroad HID lights that I want to mount in the wings, too. The Duckworks kit looks simple enough to duplicate, so I'll probably go that route. Does anyone have an "electronic" version of the cutout template for the leading edges they could post? Or maybe at least the dimensions of the hole to cut? I don't want to reinvent the wheel.

I plan on doing this in the next week-or-two, so i'll take plenty of pictures for anyone who wants to follow my lead. I don't think it'll be too hard, but if anyone has any tips, I'd really appreciate it.

Sorry for going on a slight tangent for this topic.

[Dayton Murdock]

Hey lostpilot28
It's all good!
Please update your signature so I know your name.