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RV-7 Landing Lights By Vans

R

RudysRV7

Member
I am nearing the completion of riveting on my wings. I am considering the purchase of the landing light kit from vans aircraft. The wire that goes from the landing lights to the fuselage, is this included in the kits?

If not, do I need special aviation wire? Where do I get it?

R
 
Rudy,

Welcome to the VAF forums.

To answer your question, no, the wire is not included.

You can buy the wire from Van's, Aircraft Spruce, Stein, or a number of other places. When buying wire, buy a LOT of it, more than you think you will need. (It has been so long, I can't remember how much I used but it seemed like I was always ordering more wire.)

Depending on the strobes you are going to use, you might want order that wire and the wire required for your position lights, pitot heat, autopilot servo, etc. while you are at it. Oh, and leave a pull string in your conduit for anything you might have left off.

Also, leave the wire extra long so once you install the wings, you can pull it into the fuselage and run it where you need.
 
aviation wire is made from "tefzel" which has special properties if burned, won't make you pass out, etc

civillian planes are typically white wires only, so you label them well....if you outsource your wiring, you can get colored harnesses made up, and the military does this or used to do this by default

i have no idea what i'm talking about, this is just what i've learned via reading the forums, someone chime in if i'm wrong
 
The landing light kit comes with 4-75 watt bulbs. Do the two lights on each wing work together? In other words, is the electrical load of both carried by one wire? Or do I run a separate wire to each one?

If I run one wire to both lights, I calculated 150 watts (12.5 amps), with a wire length of approx. 15 feet. I was planning on running a 12 ga wire.

If I run individual wires to each light, then I was planning on running 2-16 ga wires.

My initial thought is that the 2-75 watt bulbs work in unison.

Any input?
 
Okay, so after looking at van's website...I am not sure my last post makes complete sense. Vans does not even sell 12 ga. wire. So either they are making 14 ga wire work for the two lights combined; or they are expecting you to route two separate 16 ga wires for each light. I will call them tomorrow.

R
 
O one more thing....Any shop hints on how to manufacturer the 12 spacers for the screws(lighting kit)? each one is so small, not sure how to create the 70 degree angle. maybe I am making it more complicated than it should be....sometimes the easiest things kick me in the butt.

R
 
RudysRV7 said:
O one more thing....Any shop hints on how to manufacturer the 12 spacers for the screws(lighting kit)? each one is so small, not sure how to create the 70 degree angle. maybe I am making it more complicated than it should be....sometimes the easiest things kick me in the butt.

R
Click to expand...

Just use a piece of small aluminum tubing, start long and file to make the fit... a lot easier than fumbling around with washers. :)
 
When I need to make alluminum spacers from tubes, I cut them slightly long on the band saw then chuck it lightly in my drill press and drill it onto a file or a sand paper block until the length is just right. Easy, gets it 90 degrees, and is fairly quick.
 
I just did mine this weekend. Used bench top disk sander with miter for 70? angle and small tubing cutter for 90? cut. The tube was difficult to hold so I finally chucked the end of the tube in my rechargeable drill and turned it slowly, worked great.
 
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