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Collin
General
Gender: Male
Location: McMinnville. Oregon
Registered: Oct 2006
Status: Offline
Posts: 711
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 Posted Saturday, November 14, 2009 @ 03:14 PM
Hello,
Has anyone used LED nav lights?
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/eplstrobes.php
http://jmhledaircraftlights.blogspot.com/
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/lednavlightsreplacement.php
JMH Innovations
LED REPLACEMENT
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Jorgen
Captain
Gender: Male
Location: Lund, Sweden
Registered: Apr 2007
Status: Offline
Posts: 834
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Posted Tuesday, November 17, 2009 @ 07:51 PM
Hi Collin,
nope I haven´t, but therer are quite a lot of options. James Hallam in the UK who I bought XST from is involved in the Silence "Twister" that sports these LED strobes embedded in resin:
Maybe not the best suited for RF 4 wing tips as they are, but cool design that maybe can be sanded to a shape that could fit a Fournier tip. http://www.silence-twister.co.uk/
May the 4´s be with you/ Jörgen
[Edit by Jorgen on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 @ 04:51 PM]
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JamesB
First Sergeant
Gender: Male
Location: Near Seattle, WA; USA
Registered: Oct 2006
Status: Offline
Posts: 257
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Posted Wednesday, November 18, 2009 @ 12:02 PM
I have been watching the development of LED's with enthusiasm....but have been waiting for a good LED solution for the strobes on the airplane combined with softening of prices. The current nav light replacements seem adequate--albeit expensive.
My motivation is that in landing with engine at idle (downwind/base/final), I don't seem to have the power to run my nav lights & strobes (on the same circuit in my airplane) and my Comm radio. With the lights on, I don't get strong transmissions from the radio.
To accomplish what I want, I think the entire system has to be replaced. Just replacing the 3 nav lights alone will probably not let my comm transmit better.
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Collin
General
Gender: Male
Location: McMinnville. Oregon
Registered: Oct 2006
Status: Offline
Posts: 711
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Posted Tuesday, December 15, 2009 @ 09:20 PM
Hello,
I found a reasonably priced LED bulbs from Aircraft Spruce. They replace the original nav light bulbs. Meets FAR 23-1391. They also only draw 158ma.
Look at the PDF below. Lower left side of page.
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/pdf/2010Individual/Cat10496.pdf
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Bob Brock
Master Sergeant
Gender: Male
Location: Portland, Oregon
Registered: Mar 2009
Status: Offline
Posts: 156
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Posted Monday, March 1, 2010 @ 11:27 PM
Greetings:
As I look at the wing rebuild, I want to install LED lights... so with some research I found:
http://www.killacycle.com/Lights.htm
and talked with the owner who makes LED kits for airplanes. As an aside, he also built the fastest motorcycle in the world.. a 500 HP electric motorcycle that goes from 0-60MPH (0-96km/h) in less than one second. Anyway, he is willing to help make the wingtip LED's but told me I needed to find something that would work for the lens. Collin sent me pictures of Alfred Scherer's RF-4D (4060) DKHWD, that appears to have build in lens covers built into the RF-4D wing tips. I am looking for the lenses and wonder if anyone, including Alfred has a mold or knows where I might get a set of clear lens covers?
I did order the LED light below shown by Collin from Aircraft Spruce along with the flashing unit for an anti-collision light... to be mounted at the top of the Horizontal Stabilizer. My goal is to rebuild the the top of the HS with the anti-collision light and also add a CCD video camera pointing forward.
I have removed the cloth from the HS and have it down to the bare wood... it will get covered with fiberglass when I do the wings. Does anyone have pictures of the HS without the wood surface (skin) as I would like to know what the HS ribs look like... are they built like the wing ribs... are they open in the middle?? (thinking of were best to string wires for the anti-collision light and video cable). Any ideas or drawings would be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
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Collin
General
Gender: Male
Location: McMinnville. Oregon
Registered: Oct 2006
Status: Offline
Posts: 711
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Posted Thursday, March 18, 2010 @ 12:23 PM
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jb92563
Second Lieutenant
Gender: Male
Location: Lake Elsinore, CA, USA
Registered: Mar 2007
Status: Offline
Posts: 583
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Posted Friday, May 28, 2010 @ 10:17 AM
FYI:
There is an article on LED lighting in the current June 2010 issue of Kitplanes
that may be helpfull .
--------------------
Ray
RF4D #4057 N-1771 Rectimo 1400cc
http://picasaweb.google.com/jb92563/FournierRF4D
http://www.touringmotorgliders.org
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JamesB
First Sergeant
Gender: Male
Location: Near Seattle, WA; USA
Registered: Oct 2006
Status: Offline
Posts: 257
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Posted Monday, May 31, 2010 @ 10:54 AM
My RF5B has strobes on the top of the vertical stabilizer & on the belly.
It will be nice if we can get some cost-effective replacements for strobes.
[Edit by JamesB on Monday, May 31, 2010 @ 10:57 AM]
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Jorgen
Captain
Gender: Male
Location: Lund, Sweden
Registered: Apr 2007
Status: Offline
Posts: 834
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Posted Monday, May 31, 2010 @ 04:44 PM
I agree James,
but I guess the high intensity of strobes might be trickier to mimic with LEDs. I think strobes are great for visual ID in murky wheather, I've got one behind the canopy on XST and one on the fin of UDI. I seem to remember reading an article about strobes that you should turn them on every month or so, something about the capacitor needing some reloading, sorry but I don't remember the details.
Just another comment to Bob: Since you're contemplating fitting a strobe (or similar) and a video to your fin- on RF 5b's, the fin is also were the com antenna is situated. On another thread, i think we reached consensus that it's a good location for it. But then again, maybe that depends on how many cables are at the same spot?
May the 4's be with you/ Jörgen
[Edit by Jorgen on Monday, May 31, 2010 @ 04:57 PM]
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JamesB
First Sergeant
Gender: Male
Location: Near Seattle, WA; USA
Registered: Oct 2006
Status: Offline
Posts: 257
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Posted Friday, June 25, 2010 @ 12:14 PM
I replaced my filament bulbs with LED's for nav and rear anti-collision lights using the LED's from Aircraft Spruce. Although I don't have hard figures, it's clear from the amp meter that the draw is dramatically less than the filament bulbs.
On my RF5B, a switch let's me choose [Off, Nav lights, or Nav w/strobes]. Up do now, if I reduced the throttle to idle on downwind, the system didn't have enough power to transmit on the radio and run the strobes. With the LED's, my radio can now transmit reasonably well with the engine on "fast idle" (windmilling -- about 1,500 rpm). Only after landing and it drops about 700 rpm do the strobes overpower the radio.
So, for me, the good news is that initially, it seems I can now have the strobes on while I'm nearing the airport and in the pattern without them interfereing with radio transmissions. Some day, I'll switch the strobes to LED's when we get some cost-effective solutions for that.
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