New Landing Light research

Post by **bullojm1** » Thu Sep 12, 2013 11:04 am

I originally purchased the Duckworks 50W HID landing lights for my wingtips. I was never quite 100% satisfied with them, but I had other things to work on with my RV, so I put off replacing them for a while.

I did some research and found some Cree XM-L T6 lights which were very bright, but had some overheating issues. I finally stumbled across a very nice LED made for rough environments like the airplane, and mounts nicely in the airplane. Furthermore, no electrical noise issues! And they run $100+ less per unit than aviation specific landing lights.

So here are the results. All pictures were taken from a Digital SLR on a tripod, all with the same settings. From left to right we have:
1) No Lights.
2) Duckworks 50W HID
3) Cree XM-L T6 (triple LED)
4) My new LED find!

Who's interested in details on my new find?????

clreding · Post by **clreding** » Thu Sep 12, 2013 11:14 am

ME!!
I got the Duckworks HID lights a couple of years ago when I was building the wings. Now with the new technologies i want to cut down on some current load

If what you found would be a drop in replacement for the PAR36 bulb that would really make me happy

Brantel · Post by **Brantel** » Thu Sep 12, 2013 2:31 pm

Me me pick me!

Post by **bullojm1** » Thu Sep 12, 2013 6:05 pm

The LED landing lights I found are made by a company called Baja Designs (http://www.bajadesigns.com). Specifically the ones I purchased are the Squadron spot light model (specs: http://www.bajadesigns.com/ProductDetai ... ber=490003).

The features/specs of them looked fantastic. If these lights are designed to survive in the Baja racing circuit, the RV environment should be a walk in the park!

Features:

Available in four configurations. Combo, Spot, Wide-Cornering, and Flood/Work using precision in house designed optics
Weight: 12oz
IP69K (Waterproof, Submersible to 9ft)
IK10 Compliant (Mechanical Impact Testing)
Vibration Rating: 7.7Grms
Operating Temperature: -40 Celsius to +80 Celsius
Hard coated polycarbonate lens
Lifetime Warranty

Specifications:

Total Lumens: 4300
Stainless steel fasteners and mounts.
Front Lens: Hard coated Polycarbonate
Power Consumption: 42 watts
Uses four T6 Bin Cree XM-L2 LEDs at 5000K
49,930 hour LED life expectancy
Reverse battery & Transient Voltage Suppressor (TVS) protection

Exceeds MIL-STD810G requirements

Low Temperature Test
High Temperature Test
Temperature & Humidity Test
Thermal Shock Cycling Test
Dust Test
Random Vibration Test
Mechanical Shock Test
Low Pressure Test
Drip Box Water Test

MSRP these LED's go for $300, but if you look hard enough, you can find them for $270 with free shipping. The isolux chart shows a very impressive range of 984'! I can attest to how bright these suckers are - they blew away anything else I compared them next to. The other important factor I was looking at in LED lights besides a better price than a set of $438 AeroLED's was something I could easily mount in the wingtips. These fit the bill for that application perfectly.

Post by **bullojm1** » Thu Sep 12, 2013 6:16 pm

Right out of the box, the light feels solid. Very rugged anodized aluminum body with a huge heatsink. Here are a few pics of it right out of the box.

The weight of the lights is negligible - 0.72 lbs. This is a 0.04 lb weight savings over the set of HID's I had (weight of HID's included ballast).

Mounting them in the wingtips took an afternoon of getting the bracket right. I was able to use the 4 screws which hold the front lens onto the light to mount to my wingtip bracket. These things look mean!

The inside mount is very clean.

I don't have many hours on this light - perhaps 3 total. And I also don't have any time at night, yet. But I am very impressed with what I have seen! I dont detect any electrical noise in my COM or NAV radios (either with the light on, or switching on and off). My GPS signal strength does not change when the lights are on. As far as I can tell, these lights are very RV friendly.

I currently only have one installed. I wanted to make sure it would work well with the RV before I purchased a second one. I have another one on the way and will be quickly retrofitting my other wingtip.

Since I have a taildragger, I am considering getting Baja Design's "SII" 2-LED version of the Squadron as a taxi light.

I am thinking this light will fit PERFECTLY in the cowl of the RV to act as a taxi light.

clreding · Post by **clreding** » Thu Sep 12, 2013 6:41 pm

Mike
Thanks, This looks pretty cool and it seems like I could retro fit it into the Duckworks housing. It also looks like it draws 3.5 Amps so that would save me a couple

captain_john · Post by **captain_john** » Fri Sep 13, 2013 2:24 pm

Mikey, very cool!

Keep us posted!!!

CJ

BSwayze · Post by **BSwayze** » Fri Sep 27, 2013 2:00 am

Mike,

This is awesome! What a great find! I'm thrilled to see this. Can't wait to see your complete installation, and how they work for you.

Like Craig, I bought the Duckworks light kits from Vans about 5 yrs ago when I was building my wings and installed the kit in each wing. I'm glad now I didn't splurge on the HID version, but I do have the PAR36 incandescent 100W bulbs that I would really like to replace with these. It's been very hard to consider spending the big bucks for the Aero LED's, and I've been hoping there was something out there more reasonably priced.

Has anyone seen an Isolux plot for the 100W bulbs, for comparison? I wonder how far they shine in comparison.

Craig, I'd be interested in seeing how we can fab up a mount for these in our Duckworks brackets. I can't imagine it would be that hard..

Post by **bullojm1** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 7:37 pm

Tonight was the night to flight test the new wingtip LED landing lights. I think the pictures speak for themselves, but it was a complete success! (full writeup is http://www.rvplane.com/?categoryid=10000&dayid=1144)

This is how I decided to aim the lights. Pretty much for landing, but there is enough bleedover to allow decent taxi illumination.

Taxiing:

Takeoff once the tail comes off the ground:

Approaching the runway. This is when the landing lights first start illuminating the runway:

Starting the flare:

Right after touchdown:

hydroguy2 · Post by **hydroguy2** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 8:10 pm

very nice

BSwayze · Post by **BSwayze** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 12:17 am

I agree, very nice! Those are great pictures, Mike!

Post by **bullojm1** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 6:19 am

Bruce,

I was quite impressed with how good the GoPro camera was taking footage at night. The video turned out a lot better than the still picture frames I grabbed from the video posted above.

It should be easy to make a PAR36 adapter for these lights. The PAR36's are 4.5" in diameter. The diagonal length of these LED lights is only 4.24" (The LED is 3" by 3" square). I don't imagine it would take more than a few hours to come up with an adapter bracket.

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Thu Oct 10, 2013 1:21 pm

Dude those are freakin awesome!! Nice find!!!

BSwayze · Post by **BSwayze** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 5:06 am

I was wondering about those dimensions, Mike. Thanks! I'm even more interested in these now. Yeah, it shouldn't take long to come up with a suitable adapter.

And I want one of those cameras, too!

captain_john · Post by **captain_john** » Fri Jun 27, 2014 9:24 pm

Sooooo Mikey,

Based upon your recommendation I ordered a pair of these bad Larrys.

As you don't know, my plane is at the airport now... Inside my hangar... With wings attached and awaiting first engine start!

I am poised for launch and need night time illumination!

I cant wait for the lights to arrive!

I will let you know how the installation goes. I expect no snags.

CJ

Post by **bullojm1** » Sun Jun 29, 2014 7:30 pm

See Jay!

Wow, sounds like you have made some awesome progress! When's first engine start scheduled? I will fly up and celebrate with you!

I am still thrilled with my landing lights - they kick butt. I constantly hear people - on the ground or in airplanes - compliment me on how bright my lights are. They have been bulletproof since I installed them last October. You will be impressed!

Vlad · Post by **Vlad** » Mon Jun 30, 2014 6:09 am

Captn make sure first engine start happens in September on a Saturday. Labor Day would be perfect timing

captain_john · Post by **captain_john** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 11:17 am

I will keep you guys posted on my first engine start. Vlad, I am sorry but I hope to start the engine before September. Actually, I hope to fly it before September!

CJ

Vlad · Post by **Vlad** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 8:21 pm

captain_john wrote:I will keep you guys posted on my first engine start. Vlad, I am sorry but I hope to start the engine before September. Actually, I hope to fly it before September!

CJ

What??? Good thing you didn't specify what September

I bet fife bux you won't....

captain_john · Post by **captain_john** » Fri Jul 04, 2014 7:50 am

Fife bux from you is like a hundred from mikey!

You got a bet!

CJ

RivetBangers.com

New Landing Light research

New Landing Light research

Success!