HID landing light

[rv9aviator]

What would you do? My left wing is finished and am at the point of needing to cut the hole for the Duckworth landing light in the right wing if I am going to do it before the leading edge is riveted. I would rather not have the hole in the leading edge at all. If HID lights are not susceptible to vibration why would it not be reasonable to install an HID landing light in the cowl. I've never flown a Piper or any plane that had a nose mounted landing light but it seems like a good idea. I know Duckworth is offering alternate lights for their wing mount and I'm considering installing it and just wait and see what the future holds. It will be at least a year before I'm flying.

I've decided against wing tip landing lights because of the shape of the cut-out in the wing tip on the RV-9A. I don't think you could get a good coverage toward the center line of the runway.

I've been back and forth a hundred times on this issue an need some advice.

[1911pilot]

My club has cowl mounted HID "Boom Beams" in 5 Cessnas and an Arrow. These are the best landing lights I've ever used. Suppossedly they will outlast the engine. (4k Hours I think) Pretty expensive but worth it.

[mburch]

I guess I don't see the need to install the landing light before riveting the leading edge skins. Us quickbuilders don't get a choice, and I didn't find installing the landing lights in a (nearly) completed wing to be all that difficult. If you're unsure, why not just run some spare wires for future use and decide about the landing light later?

mcb

[rv9aviator]

I think I'll wait after hearing about the Cessna's with HID lights.