Van's Air Force
Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.
landing taxi lights
- Thread starter simatos
- Start date
johngoodman
Well Known Member
They are probably pretty good lights, but they seem to be very large. Four and a half inches square. Where would you put them?
John
John
bullojm1
Well Known Member
I was easily able to mount the Baja Designs Squadron light in my wingtip. After 2+ years they are still going great!
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=105248&highlight=led+landing+light
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=105248&highlight=led+landing+light
Canadian_JOY
Well Known Member
John - not sure which light you're looking at, but the Squadron lights are the ones Mike (bullojm1) chose. I have followed in his footsteps. These are good lights and are quite a bit smaller than 4.5" square. I've pasted the specs below. For those who want to be able to fry insects and small critters at night with the beam of their landing lights, this same physical package is now available in a 9000 lumen rating. Ok, not cheap, but that's a huge amount of light. The Squadron Pro's at 4300 lumens are plenty.
Specs for the Squadron Pro series of lights from bajadesigns.com website:
Specifications:
Lumens: 4,300 Utilizing 4 Cree XM-L2 LEDs
Wattage/Amps: 42W / 3.5A
Dimensions: 3.07" x 2.77" x 3.07"
Weight: 12 ounces
LED Life Expectancy: 49,930 Hours
Front Lens: Hard Coated Polycarbonate
Housing: Hard Anodized & Powder Coated Cast Aluminum
Bezel: Billet Machined Aluminum
Hardware & Bracket Material: Stainless Steel
Exceeds MIL-STD810G (Mil-Spec Testing)
Built-In Overvoltage Protection
IP69K (Waterproof, Submersible to 9ft)
IK10 Compliant (Mechanical Impact Testing)
Canadian_JOY
Well Known Member
I should have added that they have good "spill", so they don't produce that terribly uneven beam that we have grown accustomed to with 4509's. The light temperature is quite white and until you actually see it, you don't realize how much of an advantage it is over the yellow light from a 4509.
I'll paste here a review of these lights which I posted on another type club site (I'm building a Glasair Sportsman, hence the cross post).
=====================================================
Last night I tried out the new lights and thought I would give some test data here for your consideration. This test is totally unscientific, but then again, so is our perception of how crappy the single 4509 bulb is when we're landing a rental Cessna!
The test was conducted at 10pm, so we still had a wee bit of twilight in the western sky. Our road is a standard 66-foot right-of-way gravel country road with forest on both sides, right up to the line fences. Our power poles are located at 100 metre intervals down the road (my, how handy!). Our neighbor's mailboxes are located about 120m distant (silver box) and about 350m distant (black box on a cedar post - hard to see in the best of light). The lights came pre-wired with a harness intended to be installed in a car so I hooked up the lights to that harness and powered them from a 12V battery. The lights were held about 8' apart and about 3.5' above ground as a result of the limitations imposed by the supplied wiring harness.
The closest mailbox was clearly visible - pretty much like it was in broad daylight. The furthest mailbox was clearly visible, with a marked demarcation between the black mailbox and the cedar post to which it is mounted. This surprised me as I thought the black mailbox would just fade into the background as it does with the headlights of our cars. Additionally, the next power pole was visible, although not clearly enough to discern detail (although I don't know how much detail I would expect to be able to see at better than 400m distance). The beam from these two lights completely filled and in fact over-filled the road right-of-way at that distance.
In other measurements, the beam width of a single SPOT beam was measured to be approximately 6' wide when the light was placed 30' from a wall. Current drain for the two lights combined was 5.75amps at 12.4Vdc. The rear portion of the lights is machined to form a series of large heat sink fins. I held the lights in my hands for 5 minutes and could feel them warming up but they were not uncomfortable to hold; warm, not hot.
Before making the purchase I asked Baja Designs if they would warranty the lights if I ran them on a solid state wig-wag circuit (from Perihelion Designs). The rep from Baja indicated this would not be a problem.
The lights come with 2-pin automotive-style weather sealed electrical connectors. They are designed for automotive and off-road use, thus are weather-tight. In fact, they are very popular with those with dirt bikes and ATVs.
After this test I'm having second thoughts about installing a third landing light in the engine cowl as these two lights in the wingtips look like they will provide all the light that we would need. They have more than sufficient "spill" to allow them to work well as taxi lights, too. The beam is very smooth, not "hot in the core, dark everywhere else" like a 4509.
I'll paste here a review of these lights which I posted on another type club site (I'm building a Glasair Sportsman, hence the cross post).
=====================================================
Last night I tried out the new lights and thought I would give some test data here for your consideration. This test is totally unscientific, but then again, so is our perception of how crappy the single 4509 bulb is when we're landing a rental Cessna!
The test was conducted at 10pm, so we still had a wee bit of twilight in the western sky. Our road is a standard 66-foot right-of-way gravel country road with forest on both sides, right up to the line fences. Our power poles are located at 100 metre intervals down the road (my, how handy!). Our neighbor's mailboxes are located about 120m distant (silver box) and about 350m distant (black box on a cedar post - hard to see in the best of light). The lights came pre-wired with a harness intended to be installed in a car so I hooked up the lights to that harness and powered them from a 12V battery. The lights were held about 8' apart and about 3.5' above ground as a result of the limitations imposed by the supplied wiring harness.
The closest mailbox was clearly visible - pretty much like it was in broad daylight. The furthest mailbox was clearly visible, with a marked demarcation between the black mailbox and the cedar post to which it is mounted. This surprised me as I thought the black mailbox would just fade into the background as it does with the headlights of our cars. Additionally, the next power pole was visible, although not clearly enough to discern detail (although I don't know how much detail I would expect to be able to see at better than 400m distance). The beam from these two lights completely filled and in fact over-filled the road right-of-way at that distance.
In other measurements, the beam width of a single SPOT beam was measured to be approximately 6' wide when the light was placed 30' from a wall. Current drain for the two lights combined was 5.75amps at 12.4Vdc. The rear portion of the lights is machined to form a series of large heat sink fins. I held the lights in my hands for 5 minutes and could feel them warming up but they were not uncomfortable to hold; warm, not hot.
Before making the purchase I asked Baja Designs if they would warranty the lights if I ran them on a solid state wig-wag circuit (from Perihelion Designs). The rep from Baja indicated this would not be a problem.
The lights come with 2-pin automotive-style weather sealed electrical connectors. They are designed for automotive and off-road use, thus are weather-tight. In fact, they are very popular with those with dirt bikes and ATVs.
After this test I'm having second thoughts about installing a third landing light in the engine cowl as these two lights in the wingtips look like they will provide all the light that we would need. They have more than sufficient "spill" to allow them to work well as taxi lights, too. The beam is very smooth, not "hot in the core, dark everywhere else" like a 4509.
Canadian_JOY
Well Known Member
Ah now I see where the larger dimension is coming from... Those are the XL80 lights, which are rated at 9500 lumens. I hadn't noted previously that they are in a larger form factor than the Squadron Pro's.
Just for clarification, my posts above refer to the Squadron Pro lights.
Just for clarification, my posts above refer to the Squadron Pro lights.
Future RV 9 Flyer
Active Member
Baka design lights
Does anyone know if the Baja lights will fit in the rv9's wing tips or. Would I need to buy Aeroleds larger recess and glass that in?
Does anyone know if the Baja lights will fit in the rv9's wing tips or. Would I need to buy Aeroleds larger recess and glass that in?
Captain_John
Well Known Member
Gary,
I too have the same lights as Mikey. They are incredible!
I fly a fair amount at night and they work great!
I too have the same lights as Mikey. They are incredible!
I fly a fair amount at night and they work great!
johngoodman
Well Known Member
They look pretty incredible - what version of the light works best? Driving or Spot?
John
John
Captain_John
Well Known Member
I got spots but the spillover is great for taxi.
CJ
CJ
maniago
Well Known Member
I used these in my Mustang II center section, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J4HLNC4?refRID=556BRE8X83VAQFKZWM13&ref_=pd_bia_yo_t_2
which a few folks have also used here on VAF. One spot on the pilot side as a landing and one driver's on the copilot side as a taxi (cut into the gray sections on my avatar pic). Probably overkill, but the specs and the price was right. Unfort all these led lights are made in China so figure that when you price from a US supplier.....
which a few folks have also used here on VAF. One spot on the pilot side as a landing and one driver's on the copilot side as a taxi (cut into the gray sections on my avatar pic). Probably overkill, but the specs and the price was right. Unfort all these led lights are made in China so figure that when you price from a US supplier.....
Last edited:
