LED Landing Light Video

[Dean_aeroleds]

I made a video to demonstrate the difference between a 100 Watt GE4509 with a 120,000 candela beam center intensity vs. a 30 Watt Sunspot 36 (narrow lens) with a 30,000 candela beam center intensity to show the difference between a very narrow beam incandescent landing light, and a slightly wider beam LED landing light. This demonstrates that a very narrow beam is not necessarily better when two lights produce roughly the same total lumens of light. The Sunspot 36 is more like a GE4594 in terms of its beam angle and intensity.

The perspective shown in this video is meant to represent the sight picture seen by a pilot on final just before touchdown (6 to 10 feet above the runway).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE9qURJJrE4

Dean Wilkinson
CTO, AeroLEDs LLC

[craigvince]

Very cool, Dean. Thanks for posting.

By the way, we'll have our AeroLED display at the Golden West Fly-In in a couple weeks, in case anybody in NorCal wants to see these in person. I'm constantly amazed at just how bright these lights really are!

[sstellarv10]

Quite a difference but I'd like to see the difference between the LED and the 55 watt HID's from Vans.

[JonJay]

There are many different beam spreads avialable for the GE lamp. At least show one in the same ball park if you are doing a side by side comparison.

[RickWoodall]

I have always wanted full LED set up including landing and taxi system.
I have looked at everyones products and its very frustrating. Why, when folks are asking us to shell out upwards of $1000 or more per plane cant someone (one of the manufacturers) do some quality real tests and publish honest real, detailed analysis.

I like the offerings but when we are excited to hear a supplier finally filmed a video with the light on a ladder on a dirt road...well, thats not the kind of real test that works for me.

Just saying, if you products are good, spend a few with two planes outfitted differently and video the heck out of it. Would make a GREAT sales tool if it was done right and wouldnt cost much. Why is this so difficult? If your stuff is good, SHOW US.

[Dan Blumel]

Originally Posted by sstellarv10

Quite a difference but I'd like to see the difference between the LED and the 55 watt HID's from Vans.

Those Chinese HID's Vans is selling are NOT 55 watt output to the bulb like true Automotive (Factory) are 35watt HID and are rated based on wattage to the bulb. That is the industry std to rate HID systems on bulb wattage (bulb input).

The Chinese use ballast input wattage to rate their systems in order to inflate the numbers. I have tested the 55 watt Chinese ballasts. They are usually about 53-54 watts input to the ballast. They typically output 42-45 watts and are usually about 80% to 83% efficient. This compared to high quality HID at over 90% efficient with much less heat from the ballast to manage for long ballast life.

[Dean_aeroleds]

I was intentionally trying to show that narrow beam lights with high candela numbers tend to exaggerate their performance and are not necessarily better for visibility on touchdown.

For instance, if you have a light that produces a beam that contains a total of 1500 lumens, here are the Candela values you will get if those lumens are uniformly distributed into the following angular cones (total angle):

2 degrees = 630,000 candela
4 degrees = 240,000 candela
6 degrees = 130,000 candela
8 degrees = 77,000 candela
10 degrees = 52,000 candela
12 degrees = 37,000 candela
14 degrees = 28,000 candela
16 degrees = 21,500 candela


So as you can see, as the angular range goes toward zero, the candela goes toward infinity (inverse square function).

Dean Wilkinson
CTO, AeroLEDs LLC