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dweyant

Well Known Member
Working on putting the VS together, and the plans make reference to allowing for lights in the tail, but of course doesn't say what to do.

I'm planning on building a night/IFR plane. What do I need to consider at this point in the build for tail lighting? Just a hole for the strobe wire? If so, how big of a hole should I drill?

THanks,

-Dan
 
I just finished mine up and had been wondering the same thing. All I did was rune some string from top to bottom through the VS just in case. However, from the design it appears that a light would probably be mounted on the rudder itself. I just had a ride in a tailwheel RV-9 today (AWESOME) that had an AeroLEDS setup that had the light on the bottom of the rudder. Not sure if this is common or not, or how the wiring runs from the VS to rudder, but I figure I have enough else to worry about for now!

Chris
 
VS lights

First you should check the FARs to see what the legal requirements are. I'll be equipping my RV-9A with Van's (old) Whelen System 6 which has the left, right and tail (mounted in the fairing at the bottom end of the rudder) with co-located strobes.

A tail mounted beacon or strobe is very distracting in a low wing aircraft when flown at night. I had to put a shield at the front of my tail strobe on my Cessna 150 so I didn't get light splashing on the struts and through the rear window.
 
terrye said:
First you should check the FARs to see what the legal requirements are. I'll be equipping my RV-9A with Van's (old) Whelen System 6 which has the left, right and tail (mounted in the fairing at the bottom end of the rudder) with co-located strobes.
Click to expand...

Same here. Put the tail lights in the bottom rudder fairing.
 
A rudder light/strobe is essential ...

...since the wing strobes/pos'n lites cannot be seen from aft of the aircraft.

I drilled about a 3/8" hole or so in the aft fuse bulkheads, and then put in grommets with a 1/4" opening. That was plenty for the 3 strobe wires, the nav light wire, and a ground. The tricky part is transitioning into the rudder bottom from the aft-most fuse bulkhead, since it must accomodate full L-R rudder movement.
 
Don't do anything just yet. You can drill the hole for the wires once you mate it to your fuselage.

As for the position of the position light/strobe, check the rudder bottom. There is a fairing there to mount it.

I suggest you use #6 screws to secure the rudder bottom. Just remember to offset the trailing plate nuts as they will touch each other.
 
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