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When rebuilding my panel I also took the opportunity to replace all the lighting on the plane. The first time I flew the plane at night I realized that the stock lights were terrible. I replaced them with all Team Aerodynamics lights and flew for the first time in the dark last night. I have to say I'm really happy with the results. My 14 year old daughter had a lot of fun helping on this one. The only step I wouldn't let her do is cut the holes in the wings themselves.
First Step was to mark the correct location
Second was to cut out the hole. Per the instructions I cut a rough hole then snuck up to the line.
My daughter built the assemblies and installed them (Not only did she learn how to rivet, but she also go to learn how to de-rivet!)
We built the cover assembly and attached. I made a mistake on this one as it cracked after several hours of flying. The other one is still perfect so obviously I didn't relief sand the plexi correctly. Practice makes perfect! You can also see in this pic the position/strobe light. It is very bright and all three sync perfectly.
This was after the sun set but you can still see. I flew over to a local airport and approach and Taxi were great. I can finally see what is in front of me!
One thing I was surprised with is that the strobe, even on LED lights pulls quite a few amps momentarily. If using with a VPX make sure you put them on a 15amp line. I think they only take 10 for fractions of a second, but it is enough to spoof the VPX into thinking you have a short. That one took me a while to figure out. The wing wag feature of the vpx is really cool.
First Step was to mark the correct location
Second was to cut out the hole. Per the instructions I cut a rough hole then snuck up to the line.
My daughter built the assemblies and installed them (Not only did she learn how to rivet, but she also go to learn how to de-rivet!)
We built the cover assembly and attached. I made a mistake on this one as it cracked after several hours of flying. The other one is still perfect so obviously I didn't relief sand the plexi correctly. Practice makes perfect! You can also see in this pic the position/strobe light. It is very bright and all three sync perfectly.
This was after the sun set but you can still see. I flew over to a local airport and approach and Taxi were great. I can finally see what is in front of me!
One thing I was surprised with is that the strobe, even on LED lights pulls quite a few amps momentarily. If using with a VPX make sure you put them on a 15amp line. I think they only take 10 for fractions of a second, but it is enough to spoof the VPX into thinking you have a short. That one took me a while to figure out. The wing wag feature of the vpx is really cool.
I get a lot of concerned buyers about paint issues and making the dreaded cut into the leading edge. Many have done it. I have done quite a few. I have never had a problem as long as you follow the instructions as Richard did. Great that even his daughter chipped in on the cutting process with no chipped paint
