Alphabeam LED's installed.

[stratobee]

I was going to go with the Whelens as I had put them on my old plane. But you either had to chose a taxi or a landing light and I was unsure of what would have been best in the tight bay of the Aerostar. Also, they're about to release the brighter Plus series at Whelen, but they're not quite out yet. All this combined made me look at the Alphabeams instead. In fact, the sales guy pointed me towards them. I remember reading about them, but had forgotten they came out.

They're brighter than the current Whelens, and because they have little small fresnel lenses built in, will both act as a landing and taxi light in one. Very bright even in daylight with 170.000 Candelas. Fully PMA'd. Installation was as simple as can be - drop in. They can handle from 10-30V, so should fit just about any aircraft. Doesn't matter what polarity you attach either - the lamp figures it out. Haven't used them at night yet, so perhaps this posting is a bit premature, but just wanted to share how easy they were to install.

The most depressing thing about the whole thing was that now I realised just how cracked my acrylic light cover was… New one on order.

 

[Ted]

Have you used them at night yet? We just bought the nacelle landing lights for the 310, to be installed soon. I was figuring on waiting until the Whelen Plus came out since that's what I have in the other pods, but I like the idea of something that can be both a taxi and landing, since one of the goals of the nacelle lights is for recognition lighting.

 

[stratobee]

Haven't tried them at night yet, so it's a bit premature. Hopefully I'll get a chance tomorrow night. Hoping they'll have a nice bright yet wide throw as promised. Cost is about $290 a piece, which is about $50 more than the regular Whelens, but on par with the upcoming Whelen Plus.

 

[iflyvfr]

I have two Alphas in the left wing of my 172. I've landed at night recently and they are impressively bright relative to my old 4509's. I used to flare late and bump it on and my last several have been much improved because I can see the environment so much better.

 

[bnt83]

I have two Alphas in the left wing of my 172. I've landed at night recently and they are impressively bright relative to my old 4509's. I used to flare late and bump it on and my last several have been much improved because I can see the environment so much better.

Heck I was impressed with a new 4509 when I replaced an old old 4509 which had the reflector in the back of the bulb burned away from service.

 

[stratobee]

Yep. Just tried them tonight and they lit up the rwy like a chistmans tree.

 

[iflyvfr]

Nice, I'm jealous you got to fly. I'm watching fireworks going off up and down the Fla. Keys coast tonight but my plane is in the shop at home getting a new paint feature added to her tail feathers. I hope to see the work (and fly her home) sometime Sunday.

 

[Dav8or]

IIRC, another advantage of the Alphabeams is they can be set up to wig-wag along with their other lights for collision avoidance. To me, this is the main reason to get LED landing lights, you can leave them on all the time with no worries. I didn't want to wait for the Alphabeams to get certified, so I got a Whelen, but if I were shopping now, it would be a no brainer for me.

 

[Ted]

IIRC, another advantage of the Alphabeams is they can be set up to wig-wag along with their other lights for collision avoidance. To me, this is the main reason to get LED landing lights, you can leave them on all the time with no worries. I didn't want to wait for the Alphabeams to get certified, so I got a Whelen, but if I were shopping now, it would be a no brainer for me.

One friend of mine has this policy, even though he mostly flies in the flight levels. Turns the wig-wags on as he takes the runway for takeoff, turns them off as he departs the runway following landing. I'll be doing the same, but I don't go to the flight levels.

 

[Dav8or]

One friend of mine has this policy, even though he mostly flies in the flight levels. Turns the wig-wags on as he takes the runway for takeoff, turns them off as he departs the runway following landing. I'll be doing the same, but I don't go to the flight levels.

My policy too. I don't have wig-wag (yet), but I do turn on the landing light as I take the runway and don't turn it off until leaving the runway. It can't hurt and can only help. LEDs allow us to do this.