What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

RV-10 Lighting

B

Bart

Well Known Member
Whats the general concensus for RV10's on exterior lighting...Vans sells the SYSTEM 6: Includes position lights, wingtip strobes and a combination tail light/strobe.

1ea A650-PG-14 Green position light & strobe
1ea A650-PR-14 Red position light & strobe
1ea A413A-HDA-CF-14 Comet flash power supply
1ea HD-60-1 Installation package
1ea A441-3 3-pin connector
1ea A442-3 3-pin socket
1ea A500-14 Combination tail light/strobe

All for $850...is that what most builders of the RV10 are doing? I like the LED's but don't want to spend too many brain bytes on lighting I just want to move on...any suggestions to quick, good kits, or defaults to system 6 out there?
 
Welcome!!

Bart, first of all, welcome aboard.

You have come to the right place for you RV questions.

I bought a partially completed project, it had the strobes already in it. It has a central power supply, and runs the high tension leads out to the wing tips, and tail.

A good friend, has a 10, with individal power supplies at each strobe.

IMHO, his system is better.

In addition to the high tension lines issue, my plane came with the AHRS, and Magnetometers mounted in the tail cone, right over the strobe power supply-----and the possibility of interference.

If you do choose a centeral power supply strobe, give consideration to the total aircraft when mounting things.

Good luck.
 
Hi Bart.....WELCOME ABOARD! The items on your list will work just fine and Van has good prices. You may be able to save a little money with the Aeroflash units...you can find them in your Spruce Catalog (I think they advertise on Doug's front page as well). Without getting into strobe intensity issues, one difference would be that the Aeroflash units that I've used in the past require individual power units. Most folks opt to put one in each wingtip and one in the tailcone by the battery. A lot cheaper to replace one unit if it goes bad :).

You didn't mention landing lights....Vans lights worked very well on my RV10 and were a snap to intall. I personally don't care fo the LED's but I know they are becoming more popular.

Like Mike said....you came to the right place....you'll find answers to ANY and ALL of your RV10 questions right here (friendly answers too :D)!

Bart said:
Whats the general concensus for RV10's on exterior lighting...Vans sells the SYSTEM 6: Includes position lights, wingtip strobes and a combination tail light/strobe.

1ea A650-PG-14 Green position light & strobe
1ea A650-PR-14 Red position light & strobe
1ea A413A-HDA-CF-14 Comet flash power supply
1ea HD-60-1 Installation package
1ea A441-3 3-pin connector
1ea A442-3 3-pin socket
1ea A500-14 Combination tail light/strobe

All for $850...is that what most builders of the RV10 are doing? I like the LED's but don't want to spend too many brain bytes on lighting I just want to move on...any suggestions to quick, good kits, or defaults to system 6 out there?
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
RV-10 exterior lighting

I went with LED'S in the wing tips, Van's wingtip landing/taxi lights in the wing tips, Aeroflash individual strobe power supplies in each wingtip and one for the tail next to the battary. Individual stobe heads, combination white nav/stobe in tail.

Having had to take off the wing tips with all those #6 screws multiple times, if I had it to do over again I would have put in a single stobe power supply, and gone with the duckworks wing leading edge landing taxi lights. Van's wingtip landing taxi lights do not give enough light directly in front of the RV-10.
 
Exterior Lighting

Thanks for the welcome and the info on the lights. I like the duckwork leading edge landing/taxi light for sure. The Strobe/Tips were my main source of frustration. You folks brought up the multiple power supplies, something I hadn't thought of yet...if I understood the thoughts there are two basic plans: 1 for each postion (2 wing 1 tail) and 1 for all. Are the power supplies basically universal or are they specific to each lighting system?

By the way we are just about finished with the empennage and the QB wings and fuse should be up here in Maine by the end of the month. We started in Sept and have had the usual ups and downs (meaning mistakes) and lost ground speed to headwinds (meaning life) but are still hopefull we are moving ahead. Thanks again for the info and please pass more if you think of it.
 
dav1111 said:
Having had to take off the wing tips with all those #6 screws multiple times, if I had it to do over again I would have put in a single stobe power supply, and gone with the duckworks wing leading edge landing taxi lights. Van's wingtip landing taxi lights do not give enough light directly in front of the RV-10.
Click to expand...

Russ, please enlighten us......

I'm not sure I understand why single power supplies caused you to take off the tips multiple times. Help us understand what caused you to remove the wingtips multiple times.

I think that most of us are looking at multiple strobe power supplies to minimize the risk of electrical noise. If there is something that may negate this benefit, then inquiring minds want to know.

Hijacking the thread a little......

Most of the people that I've spoke with agree that the wing tips lights causes shadows and doesn't fully illuminate the area directly in front of the nose. Clearly HIDs produce more light. But the question is, are the 35w HIDs adequate or the 50w HIDs worth the addition expense?

thanks,
bob
 
rleffler said:
Hijacking the thread a little......

Most of the people that I've spoke with agree that the wing tips lights causes shadows and doesn't fully illuminate the area directly in front of the nose. Clearly HIDs produce more light. But the question is, are the 35w HIDs adequate or the 50w HIDs worth the addition expense?

thanks,
bob
Click to expand...

Personal observation only here. I am using the factory tip landing lights for wig-wag only. I am going to install HIDs from a 05 Corvette in the leading edges, in a modified Duck Works setup, to use for landing lights.

I have a buddy flying a 10, in his, the factory lights are usable, but far from optimum.

Good luck.
 
AeroFlash still going, and going, and going.......

I've had individual Aeroflash power supplies in my -6 for 15 years. Haven't had to remove a wing-tip yet.
 
That's pretty good. I had to replace each wingtip power supply in the RV6 that I built. I guess when 'they go.....they go'......mine both 'went' within a couple weeks of each other. I'm guessing I got about 4 years out of 'em.

Yes...there are a lot of screws but it doesn't take more than 5 minutes to remove a wiingtip with a power screw driver. Best to use platenuts to secure the power units and they come off in a snap.

Also....I've installed Aeroflash separate units in 3 RV's now (including my RV10) and never had any strobe noise issues. I'm putting the same set up in the F1 as we speak. Remember, with the units in the tips and tail you only have the 12 volt power supply running through the cabin.

Mel said:
I've had individual Aeroflash power supplies in my -6 for 15 years. Haven't had to remove a wing-tip yet.
Click to expand...
 
Wingtip Strobe Power Supplies

At different times and on different positions, I have had two AeroFlash strobe power supplies and two stobes fail in 185 hours flying time in my RV-10 . The number of screws in an RV-10 wingtip is lots more than a 2 place wingtip. The wingtip is also so much bigger that the really have to be careful holding it on the wing while you remove all the wiring hookups (stobe, nav, and lights) so you can sit the wingtip down while working on the power supply or stobe removeal, and not having the wingtip want to slide off the wing.

From a trouble shooting prospective, it would be a lot easier diagnose whether it was a power supply or the stobes using a single power supply.

having to take off a wingtip, remove the power supply, put back on the wingtip, so you are not down while you send off the wingtip for repairs, taking off, reinstalling the repaired power supply, and then putting the wingtip back on is a pain. In contrast if a single power supply failes you pull it out through the access plate, send it off and then put it back in when it returns.

Likewise, if a wingtip stobe fails, after you get in the replacement stobe, you take the lens cover off, pull it, clip the wires, attach the new strobe and off you go, without pulling the wingtip.

On the RV-7 that I am building I am giving a lot of consideration to installing the wingtips using piano hinges instead of screws. If I do I will probably go with the individual power supplies in the wingtips because it will be a breeze to put the wingtips.
 
I have been planning on getting Van's SYS 6 lights package soon. But I like the idea of individual power supplies close to the stobes. However, I'm wondering if the power supply would be too close to the Archer wingtip NAV antenna I plan on installing.
Any comments?

John
 
Hi John....good question! I made the same inquiry prior to mounting my power units in the tips along with Bob's nav antenna. Bob assured me that it would be A-OK so I went ahead as planned. Absolutely no problems whatsoever with this set up in my RV10.

Good Luck!!


johngoodman said:
I have been planning on getting Van's SYS 6 lights package soon. But I like the idea of individual power supplies close to the stobes. However, I'm wondering if the power supply would be too close to the Archer wingtip NAV antenna I plan on installing.
Any comments?

John
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top