I've yearned for years for HID (high intensity discharge) landing lights on my RV. While I really don't fly at night, I wanted HID for daylight recognition lights--I want to leave them on all the time as a simple safety factor. Plus, I wanted wig-wag flashing capability, which human eyes perceptually seem to really notice.
There have been other lengthy discussions regarding HID and LED so I won't get into that, suffice to say that HID is still far and away the most powerful lighting option for our little planes. Comparing them to halogens, a 55watt HID bulb puts out about 4400 lumens while a 55watt halogen puts out about 900 lumens. Also, the HID bulb will last about 2000-3000 hours versus maybe 50 hours on a halogen bulb. For LED, while this technology has made vast strides over the years in lumen output, they still do not come close to what HID's can do. But who knows, maybe in a few years?...
A few years ago, when I checked into this, the cost for (2) 35watt HID landing lights and flasher for my leading edge reflectors came to over $1300, ouch.
So when I researched it again a month ago, I was pleasantly surprised to find how much prices have dropped. I took a chance on some H3 form factor automotive HID's and the CreativAir electronic flasher. The set-up has worked extremely well.
I chose H3 bulbs because these fit right into my existing Duckworks reflector, with no modifications. All I had to do was mount the ballasts on a wing rib and give them 12v power. The ballasts produce the 25,000 volts needed for the HID bulbs. I chose the 5000K bulbs, extremely white and blindingly bright light. Cost for 2 bulbs and ballasts: $160. I purchased them from an ebay vendor, very responsive to queries, and he claims a lifetime warranty on everything. I was pleasantly surprised by the high quality of his product. Click here for those lights.
I bought the flasher from CreativAir.com for $60. There was some question as to whether or not it would work for HID, however, with about 3 hours on mine, it appears to work just fine. Click here for that flasher.
So there you have it, recognition lights that can be seen for miles, maybe 4 amps draw while flashing, all for $220. That's good technology.
There have been other lengthy discussions regarding HID and LED so I won't get into that, suffice to say that HID is still far and away the most powerful lighting option for our little planes. Comparing them to halogens, a 55watt HID bulb puts out about 4400 lumens while a 55watt halogen puts out about 900 lumens. Also, the HID bulb will last about 2000-3000 hours versus maybe 50 hours on a halogen bulb. For LED, while this technology has made vast strides over the years in lumen output, they still do not come close to what HID's can do. But who knows, maybe in a few years?...
A few years ago, when I checked into this, the cost for (2) 35watt HID landing lights and flasher for my leading edge reflectors came to over $1300, ouch.
So when I researched it again a month ago, I was pleasantly surprised to find how much prices have dropped. I took a chance on some H3 form factor automotive HID's and the CreativAir electronic flasher. The set-up has worked extremely well.
I chose H3 bulbs because these fit right into my existing Duckworks reflector, with no modifications. All I had to do was mount the ballasts on a wing rib and give them 12v power. The ballasts produce the 25,000 volts needed for the HID bulbs. I chose the 5000K bulbs, extremely white and blindingly bright light. Cost for 2 bulbs and ballasts: $160. I purchased them from an ebay vendor, very responsive to queries, and he claims a lifetime warranty on everything. I was pleasantly surprised by the high quality of his product. Click here for those lights.
I bought the flasher from CreativAir.com for $60. There was some question as to whether or not it would work for HID, however, with about 3 hours on mine, it appears to work just fine. Click here for that flasher.
So there you have it, recognition lights that can be seen for miles, maybe 4 amps draw while flashing, all for $220. That's good technology.