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Landing Lights

CharlieWaffles

Well Known Member
I noticed that while the wing is the same as the RV10 they realized how bad the landing light is in the wingtip. The prototype appears to have Duckworth or a reasonable facsimile in the leading edges of both wings. Factory option now?
 
Wing tip lights

i did the AEROLED wing tip lights. A couple thoughts:
1: great CO., visited them in Boise. Stand behind products.
2. Great products
3. Downside: must rebuild wing tip fiberglass with their kit. Time!
4. Must add wire to harness.
5. I placed Autozone strob where landing lights were.
Bottom line: very cool but extra build time against flight time
 
I noticed that while the wing is the same as the RV10 they realized how bad the landing light is in the wingtip. The prototype appears to have Duckworth or a reasonable facsimile in the leading edges of both wings. Factory option now?

The -14 wing kit comes with the landing light cutouts in the outboard leading edge of both wings and includes the plexiglass lenses and an aluminum mount with a round hole in it. The wire harness also has wiring for the landing lights, but the lights themselves are not included so you can go with something cheap (incandescent) or pricey (AeroLEDs or otherwise).

I agree it's a much better arrangement than putting the landing lights in the wingtip and provides better wig-wag visibility too.
 
The mount is designed for the standard PAR36 light. I sell a lot of these cover plates to 14 drivers as the kit does not come with a provision for securing what ever light you choose.

LightRetainingBracket-300x300.jpg



The downside to the mount that comes with the 14 kit is that it is fixed in position with no provision for adjusting the angle. I have had several 14 drivers also buy my landing light mount kit and did away with the vans mount for that reason. You can order that kit without the lens since you already have one.
 
The real downside is current RV-14 landing light options are grossly overpriced. Unfortunally the RV-14 kit has the holes already cut out of the wing so the only option is to make your own lights. I recommend builders pre-wire but defer dumping a pile of cash on the actual lights until you want to fly at night. Perhaps someone will offer a more value based option.

While I agree that the RV-10 landing lights are not the best, they do everything I need them to do, like light up the glide slope boards at VA42 and taxi back to the hangar through the woods. With replacement bulbs less than $2 each, I'll save the rest for avg as.

Carl
 
Lights

I have not yet started the wings (on order), but I am researching lighting options. I like the looks of the Aero Leds Aero Sun VX in the wing tips. Like others mentioned though, cost and extra build time are definitely factors to consider. This builder did a nice write-up and and a great job installing the Aero Suns..http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=126967
However, if these lights perform as good as they look, I don't see the need for the wing leading edge lights. Unfortunately, the cut outs for the wing lights come pre-cut from the factory. I like the non wing light look like on the RV10. So, just after I ordered my wing kit I sent Vans an email asking if they could delete the pre-cut holes on the leading edges. Didn't expect a yes, but couldn't hurt to ask. As expected, they replied negative.
My next thought was to possibly cover the hole. Maybe fabricate a piece of aluminum that would fill the hole (from the inside) of the the factory cut out. I would then need to use some type of filler to smooth the leading edge.
Sounds like a lot of extra work, and given that I have not yet had the pleasure of working with fiberglass/filler, this idea may be far fetched and not even a viable option.
So, my question for those more experienced....would filling the hole be possible, and any ideas on how do do it.
Thanks.
 
Filling the leading edge hole.

I thought about ways to fill the hole as well. While there are various fiberglass or carbon options, I think the easiest way would be to buy anther RV-10 or RV-14 leading edge an make both a backing ring and insert for the hole. I can only assume there are damaged leading edges out there that you can buy for shipping cost. Cut out a section bigger than the hole, this will be the backing ring. Now cut a section that fits the hole. Some rivets and you are done. If you want you can put a single layer of glass then over the whole thing then fair it in to make it look like the hole was never there.

Carl
 
I thought about ways to fill the hole as well. While there are various fiberglass or carbon options, I think the easiest way would be to buy anther RV-10 or RV-14 leading edge an make both a backing ring and insert for the hole. I can only assume there are damaged leading edges out there that you can buy for shipping cost. Cut out a section bigger than the hole, this will be the backing ring. Now cut a section that fits the hole. Some rivets and you are done. If you want you can put a single layer of glass then over the whole thing then fair it in to make it look like the hole was never there.

Carl

Looking for a damaged leading edge sounds like good idea. I may check with Van's and see what they've got. I'll only need a small portion so several builders could use one leading edge.
Maybe someone will give this a try before me. I'm not sure I'm the best candidate to blaze this trail:).
Thanks for the idea Carl!
 
There are good reasons to keep landing lights separate from strobes & nav lights

Before you go to all the work to patch the landing light cutouts (which will probably never look quite right), here's some food for thought. I've observed both an RV-7A and RV-10 at night with the landing lights integrated into the wingtip, and there were two things I did not like about them:

1) With the landing lights on, the nav lights become much less distinct...I noticed the red light in particular ended up looking sort of a pale pink color. There's just so much light being output by the landing light, including a fair amount of internal reflection off the plexiglass lense, that the nav light gets overwhelmed by all the white light. The strobes also looked less distinct.

2) The wig-wags are less distinct when blended in with the nav lights and strobes, and they are also effective over a narrower angle ahead of the aircraft. This is because when the landing light is in the wingtip, a portion of the tip protrudes ahead of the light and reduces the angle at which it's visible in the direction inboard from the light.

Bottom line is if you keep the landing lights in the leading edge cutouts as designed, you'll save yourself some work, your aircraft will be more visible to other aircraft due to the more distinct wig-wag effect, the wig-wags will be visible over a wider swath of airspace reducing chances of collision from your left or right, the strobes will be more visible, and the nav lights will be more effective in communicating the orientation & direction of travel (as intended) to other pilots.

FWIW...
 
Good points

Before you go to all the work to patch the landing light cutouts (which will probably never look quite right), here's some food for thought. I've observed both an RV-7A and RV-10 at night with the landing lights integrated into the wingtip, and there were two things I did not like about them:

1) With the landing lights on, the nav lights become much less distinct...I noticed the red light in particular ended up looking sort of a pale pink color. There's just so much light being output by the landing light, including a fair amount of internal reflection off the plexiglass lense, that the nav light gets overwhelmed by all the white light. The strobes also looked less distinct.

2) The wig-wags are less distinct when blended in with the nav lights and strobes, and they are also effective over a narrower angle ahead of the aircraft. This is because when the landing light is in the wingtip, a portion of the tip protrudes ahead of the light and reduces the angle at which it's visible in the direction inboard from the light.

Bottom line is if you keep the landing lights in the leading edge cutouts as designed, you'll save yourself some work, your aircraft will be more visible to other aircraft due to the more distinct wig-wag effect, the wig-wags will be visible over a wider swath of airspace reducing chances of collision from your left or right, the strobes will be more visible, and the nav lights will be more effective in communicating the orientation & direction of travel (as intended) to other pilots.

FWIW...

Very good points Mark. Also, you are probably correct that my patch job would "probably never look quite right".
Thanks for the advice.
Shawn
 
Landing Lights on Existing RV7A

I flew the RV7A that I purchased from the original builder at night for the first time this week to get night currency and check things out for night time flying. My RV has halogen bulbs in the wing tips along with the position lights and strobes. My first two night landings were terrible! Didn't see the runway surface coming up at me until I was on the runway (two rather firm landings). Compensating on the third landing I flared early and landed long. My wing tip lights obviously need adjusting (upward and more centered) but I am thinking that the amount of light being projected is also insufficient.

Does anyone have a recommendation for increasing the amount of projected forward lighting? Would LED lights improve the amount of projected light? I'm concerned about heat generation inside the wing tip if I went to a higher output halogen (already have one lens with a hole melted in it). How hard are retro fit LED lights and how expensive.

Converting to wing lights isn't an option because the airplane is already nicely painted and color matching I've already discovered is next to impossible.
 
I flew the RV7A that I purchased from the original builder at night for the first time this week to get night currency and check things out for night time flying. My RV has halogen bulbs in the wing tips along with the position lights and strobes. My first two night landings were terrible! Didn't see the runway surface coming up at me until I was on the runway (two rather firm landings). Compensating on the third landing I flared early and landed long. My wing tip lights obviously need adjusting (upward and more centered) but I am thinking that the amount of light being projected is also insufficient.

Does anyone have a recommendation for increasing the amount of projected forward lighting? Would LED lights improve the amount of projected light? I'm concerned about heat generation inside the wing tip if I went to a higher output halogen (already have one lens with a hole melted in it). How hard are retro fit LED lights and how expensive.

Converting to wing lights isn't an option because the airplane is already nicely painted and color matching I've already discovered is next to impossible.

That is exactly what this kit was designed for. Low cost, reasonable solution. And yes, it is more light than what you have, much lower heat.

p10-300x300.jpg
 
Tankerpilot75;1127169My wing tip lights obviously need adjusting (upward and more centered) but I am thinking that the amount of light being projected is also insufficient. [/QUOTE said:
Interesting. I used the cheap Duckworks lights before switching to Kahuna's.

My night landings are often better than my day landings even though neither throws a tremendous amount of light down the runway.

My theory? The moment when the light DOES illuminate the runway, is a great visual cue to use in my landings. And it's always going to be EXACTLY the same from one landing to the next... it tells me exactly where I am above the runway an what I need to do the rest of the way.

Now, if there's a moose on the runway, well, that a whole 'nother story.
 
RV-14 Lens

Anyone producing a lens with routered edges to take care of the aluminum gap around the edges? Having a mismatch between the lens and aluminum does not look good.
 
The PAR36 light bulb that goes in the 14 leading edge assembly is a very common size and you can pick up PAR36 LED spotlight bulb on Amazon for example for under $50 that seem to be working out on some people's builds. I bought the RV-14 LED landing light assembly kit from Vans and deleted the LEDs themselves and got all of the brackets and hardware needed to fit the PAR36 bulbs.
 
Landing light

My RV6A has the original leading edge light, not nearly bright enough for me. What are some replacement ideas for the rectangular light? I would like to do it without to much modification.
Thanks!
 
In my RV7, I installed a couple of Trustfire flash light (11000 Lumen) each and they worked really great. The price of each were about $50 and they looked really cool too. These were in the wing tip and now I am thinking of same process for my 14 which is in progress but in the leading edge.
 
Is anyone making a wing-leading edge combination taxi/landing light? I'd like as much illumination as I can get, and am additionally considering a 'traditional' set up on the cowling.

Suggestions?
 
Lighting options

I see everyone using different makes and types of nav and landing lights for our RVs, but according to 91.205 to be legal for night or IFR flights don't we have to use TSO'd lights?
Allen
 
I see everyone using different makes and types of nav and landing lights for our RVs, but according to 91.205 to be legal for night or IFR flights don't we have to use TSO'd lights?
Allen

The FAR actually says "approved" lights. Most interpret that to mean a light that meets the FAA's specifications (brightness, angular coverage, color, etc) but not necessarily TSO'd. It is clear that Christmas tree bulbs are not "approved"!
This is for nav and anti-collision lighting. There is no requirement for landing lights, at all. You do not even need to have them, if you so choose.
 
Originally Posted by BobTurner
The FAR actually says "approved" lights. Most interpret that to mean a light that meets the FAA's specifications (brightness, angular coverage, color, etc) but not necessarily TSO'd. It is clear that Christmas tree bulbs are not "approved"!
This is for nav and anti-collision lighting. There is no requirement for landing lights, at all. You do not even need to have them, if you so choose.

Bob didn't mean to interfere with the landing light discussion...going to continue this in the General Discussion Thread section.

Allen
RV-7A slow build
 
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