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docrick

Active Member
Ordering the tail feathers shortly. I definitely am going to have this bad boy lighted and was wondering when most of you folks purchase your lights?

Is this something I need to worry about right now? I've gone over the preview plans and watched the video about building the Emp. numerous times and nothing mentions lighting!

Heck I've watched the dang video so much I dream of building the dang Emp!

As always your comments are appreciated.
 
You can wait

I'm a year and half into building my RV9A. I haven't purchased a light yet. Today I am getting ready to close the bottom wing skins, so they can be fitted into the fuselage next week.

I ran electrical conduit with fish lines for wires, but I have not made final decisions on lots of things, including lights.
 
Docrick,

I just finished my -8 emp, so now I can reply to the forum questions with some personal knowledge. ( I guess I am starting down the road to becoming an expert ( X-spurt.. that is a has been past drip.) Anyways what I am doing is putting the lighting off until much later in the build. The -8 has a location for the rear light/strobe in the bottom fiberglass rudder cap. Now if you plan on placing anything in the VS you should run a string through from the bottom to the top before you close it up, this will assist in pulling the wires through later. Reason I am putting off the lighting is the same reason I will be putting off all the electronic decisions until the last minute is because everyday something new comes out with regards to electronics, and I do not want to lock myself into something now. And with the advancements in the LED light that are coming out, by the time I plan on finishing this project there should be some improvements.
 
Installing conduit while building is the way to go.

As in most things electrical/electronic, the rate of advancement is pretty amazing, and the cost often goes lower.

Look at what has happened in LED, and HID fields in the last few years.

Waiting to buy your light systems seems to be a no-brainer to me.
 
I agree with the above posts & recommend waiting too.
Running conduit in the wings is definately the thing to do.

FYI - The first lights I bought were the Duckworks landing / taxi lights because I wanted to install thim in the leading edge before they were riveted to the spar.
It's not a large expense and much easier to to.
Of course this does not apply if you don't plan on landing/taxi lights or are going the wing-tip route.

Good Luck!
Lorin D
9A Wings almost done
(N194LD reserved)
 
Don't worry about the lighting now! Just order the tail kit and dive in!

You can put off worrying about the lights until after you order your wing kit. Then, as was suggested, all you really ought to do is install the light brackets for the landing/taxi lights. (Tip: order one or two Duckworks kits along with your wing kit to avoid extra postage later.) I installed a Duckworks kit in one wing, and am fab'ing my own clone light bracket in the other wing. So, I do have one Halogen lamp on hand, but I will put off getting a lamp for the other wing, as I think I might go HID there (i.e. halogen taxi light and HID landing light).

But, I can put off the second light, as well as the nav lights/strobe for a while longer. Like the others, I have installed conduit in my wings to run wires to accept whatever I chose down the road.

One tip I learned too late: Before you rivet in the wing ribs, drill holes not only for the wing tip conduit, but also for an Angle of Attack tube that can run in parallel with the Van's pre-drilled pitot line in the left wing, and also drill holes for a conduit in the right wing for the wires for an autopilot servo. I didn't think to do that until too late, and drilling those holes now, with the top wing skin in place, is proving to be a challenge. (Might be easy for you guys with an angle drill and a short 7/16th inch 1/4-28 drill bit.) Oh, and be sure to get extra snap bushings. Van's give enough to run the pitot tube, but if you get the Safe Air AOA kit, they don't give you enough to get through all of the ribs.
 
Lights

I ordered my landing light (right wing LE) and taxi light (left wing LE) right after the wing kit arrived. I wanted to have them on hand when I built the wings but it wasn't necessary, the lights can be installed at anytime - well, at least before you paint. I also ordered the Whelen light kit through Van's when I ordered the wings. It's a bit pricey but I now have all of my lights and the fuselage is coming - some day. The navs and strobes can be bought for less if you shop around.
 
You can wait

I'm a month or so from taking the plane to the airport and I don't have my lights yet. I do have the strobe power pack and the wiring installed, but no lights yet.

Jim
 
OK - just another bit of information... Feel free to listen or ignore...

For the rear strobe... Many suggest putting it low & under the rudder as opposed to high on top. Otherwise you will need to shield the flash from coming forward through the canopy.

Lorin D
RV 9A Wings (almost done)
 
Another reason for putting the rear strobe low, at bottom of the rudder, is so you can put an XM weather antenna at the top of the vertical stabilizer. With an XM antenna mounted up there, you will always have great xm reception.

I used the combo strobe/nav light at the bottom of the rudder. We have put 246 hours on our new RV7a in the last seven months, and this worked well for me.
 
Last edited:
Lorin Dueck said:
For the rear strobe... Many suggest putting it low & under the rudder as opposed to high on top. Otherwise you will need to shield the flash from coming forward through the canopy.
Click to expand...
The reason for avoiding the top of the vertical is more because the light will reflect off the wings.
 
Tom -
Good point!
Didn't think of that before...

Mel -
I always appreciate your "down-to-earth" application (or should I say 6-7K AGL?)

Thx, Lorin
 
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