Leading edge light install in flying RV

60av8tor · #1 10-27-2012, 11:30 AM

Hi folks,

Title pretty much sums up my question. I'm in the process of purchasing a flying 7A. The plane almost perfectly suits my needs as is, except for lack of any landing/taxi lighting. I really want to install AeroSun 1600s in the Duckworks mounts. Is this a bridge too far in a flying plane (with a very nice paint job I might add)? Is it feasible to just respray the areas where I make the cut, install, and fly on..?

Thanks for the advice

FLY6 · #2 10-27-2012, 12:49 PM

You should not have to repaint anything except the edge of the wing skin where you cut the hole. You may have to remove the wing tip to do the work inside. When I assisted a friend we used a dremel tool to make the cut and all went smoothly, just don't let the tool get away from you..

Good luck, Al

Lemmingman · #3 10-27-2012, 01:02 PM

Very do-able, Jon. I think the kit installation was designed with retrofits in mind.

Before cutting anything, or removing the wingtip start by figuring out where the wiring is going to go and how it will be routed and secured.

Use the templates that comes with the Duckworths kit and measure 47 times before cutting anything, of course. You'll fit your arms and drill into the lightning holes at the wingtip in order to drill holes for some plate nuts. After that, the contortionist part of the act is over and its pretty straight forward.

60av8tor · #4 10-27-2012, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FLY6

You should not have to repaint anything except the edge of the wing skin where you cut the hole.

Good luck, Al

Thank you both for the replies - understand about the measuring x50. I'm definitely not thrilled about the prospect of cutting into the wings of a new-to-me plane, but need lights! I'v scoured the Internet reading up, and figure I'll give myself plenty of room between the pattern outline and my actual dremel cut.

The touching up of the edges is the part that is a bit of an enigma to me. It will be such a small surface, and I really want to keep the repaint area as small as possible - just not sure how or if it is possible to touch up just the edge without repainting/blending a larger area of the skin...?

Anyway, thanks again.

Ironflight · #5 10-27-2012, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 60av8tor

The touching up of the edges is the part that is a bit of an enigma to me. It will be such a small surface, and I really want to keep the repaint area as small as possible - just not sure how or if it is possible to touch up just the edge without repainting/blending a larger area of the skin...?
.

If you are careful and slow with your cutting, the only thing you'll end up with (that isn't painted) is the actual edge of the cut - .032" thick. You can hit this with a black sharpie if you want - or with a small touch-up brush and a color (like black). One trick is to cover the entire work area with masking tape, make your marks on that, doing the cutting with the tape in place - only remove it when you have finished the edge to it's final line. This shoudl protect your paint from accidents.

Paul

60av8tor · #6 10-27-2012, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ironflight

One trick is to cover the entire work area with masking tape, make your marks on that, doing the cutting with the tape in place - only remove it when you have finished the edge to it's final line. This shoudl protect your paint from accidents.

Paul

Paul, thanks for this tip! I've used this method before when drilling and cutting fiberglass, but didn't think of it for this application. It'll definitely help out.

RV8iator · #7 10-27-2012, 02:54 PM

One other thing to consider when you dimple the wingskins for the screws that hold the lenses in is you may heat slightly the skin to make the paint soft before you dimple for the countersunk screws. I didn't do this and my paint chipped a little bit around the holes.

I put my lights in an already flying plane. Pretty easy and straight forward. The hardest part was getting the wires out to the end of the wings. I ran a conduit thru the ribs and drilled through the fuselage side from the inside, put in rubber grommets and ran the wires. Not hard, just time consuming. If you do this, run a couple extra wires for other things like an APRS. Now's the time to plan for other things out there.

Take your time cutting the lenses.

60av8tor · #8 10-28-2012, 05:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RV8iator

One other thing to consider when you dimple the wingskins for the screws that hold the lenses in is you may heat slightly the skin to make the paint soft before you dimple for the countersunk screws. I didn't do this and my paint chipped a little bit around the holes.

Another great tip. Thanks, Jerry! Any other pointers - throw them my way. I'm feeling much better about cutting into a perfectly good wing...

BillFear · #9 10-28-2012, 08:40 AM

We were able to do it without taking the wingtips off (they are riveted on!) The most diffucult part was running the new wire thru the wing but not that bad. Cutting the hole is no problem, just nerve racking. We used the DW mounts and rolled our our 55 watt HIDs, they work great.

Like others, the dimpling for the mounting holes broke the existing paint, just touched that up with a small brush, also painted the screw heads to match the wing color.

It is slightly tricky to do all the mounting and adjusting through the single hole you cut but if you are take your time it works out fine.

This mod is well worth the time and cost. Our strip has trees at the approach end and it sure is nice to be able to see them with the landing lights from 1/2 mile out!