New LED landing light = WOW

Indiana_Pilot

Indiana_Pilot

Line Up and Wait
Joined
Nov 2, 2013
Messages
802
Location
Connersville, IN
Display Name
Flying "B"
Home Airfield
KCEV
If anyone has any doubts about purchasing one of these.. I would say DO IT! I just thought I would pass my thoughts along..

I purchased the Teledyne AlphaBeam for my 66' 180C and it dramatically increased the visibility of the ground and runway at night on approach. The beam is also much wider so a lot more is illuminated.... This makes me want to change everything over to LED.. even the strobes on the tail and belly...
:D

IMG_0727%202_zpsseojsfdo.jpg


IMG_0723%201_zpsxvuyhc24.jpg


IMG_0721_zps8ubykdmc.jpg
 
Nice,and it has a low power draw.
 
Best decisions I ever made was to switch over to LED. Much less draw, brighter, safer for visibility and for heat generated.
 
... and little to no chance it will ever burn out.
 
Where did you buy yours? I'm seriously considering putting one in myself.
 
I put two in. One in each wingtip.
 
Have three LEDs in each wingtip and a big Lopresti Boombeam HID in the front cowling and it lights everything up pretty damn well. Much better than any other small GA plane I have seen. That said it is still not up to a modern german sedan in overall illumination.
 
our club plane has a Whelan LED landing light and it's fantastic. I keep pushing them to swap the strobes, beacon and nav but no luck yet.

I swapped all my lighting on my boat to LED, the amp draw is reason enough along but then there is heat, visibility, etc.
 
Random question....can these lights be installed by anyone? Or does one need to be ordained by the FAA in some way?
 
The Whelen Parmetheus is approved for many / most planes. Check their website for yours. I printed the page and added it to my logbook just because I'm anal.
 
LEDs are definitely the way to go. They pull less power, produce more light, and last a LOT longer. I just put 3 LED lights on the front of my SUV - it's like a flame thrower!
 
vkhosid said:
Random question....can these lights be installed by anyone? Or does one need to be ordained by the FAA in some way?
Click to expand...

Not by anyone, but see 43.3 and appendix A to part 43. Short answer, for part 23 certified aircraft, the holder of a pilot cert issued under part 61 may replace bulbs of existing landing lights in an aircraft that the pilot owns or operates as long as it's not operated under parts 121, 129, or 135.

------------------------------------------

§ 43.3 Persons authorized to perform maintenance, preventive maintenance, rebuilding, and alterations

(a) Except as provided in this section and § 43.17, no person may maintain, rebuild, alter, or perform preventive maintenance on an aircraft, airframe, aircraft engine, propeller, appliance, or component part to which this part applies. Those items, the performance of which is a major alteration, a major repair, or preventive maintenance, are listed in appendix A.

(g) Except for holders of a sport pilot certificate, the holder of a pilot certificate issued under part 61 may perform preventive maintenance on any aircraft owned or operated by that pilot which is not used under part 121, 129, or 135 of this chapter. The holder of a sport pilot certificate may perform preventive maintenance on an aircraft owned or operated by that pilot and issued a special airworthiness certificate in the light-sport category.


Appendix A to Part 43—Major Alterations, Major Repairs, and Preventive Maintenance:

(c) Preventive maintenance. Preventive maintenance is limited to the following work, provided it does not involve complex assembly operations:
(16) Trouble shooting and repairing broken circuits in landing light wiring circuits.

(17) Replacing bulbs, reflectors, and lenses of position and landing ligh
 
weirdjim said:
Are you not replacing bulbs, reflectors, and lenses of the landing light when you install the LED assembly?

Jim
Click to expand...

Of course you are. That's why I quoted the relevant sections of 43. However, the answer remains the same, not just anyone can do the work. If you aren't a certified mechanic or operating under the supervision of such, you have to own or operate the plane , and you have to be a pilot.

So, you can't change the bulbs on a rental, because you aren't the owner or operator. An owner or operator who's not a pilot (a student pilot, for example), also can't change the bulbs. You also can't change the bulbs on a friend's plane even though you're a pilot, because you aren't the owner of the friend's plane.

I'll quote from my post above again:

Short answer, for part 23 certified aircraft, the holder of a pilot cert issued under part 61 may replace bulbs of existing landing lights in an aircraft that the pilot owns or operates as long as it's not operated under parts 121, 129, or 135.​

In this case, the regs are pretty straightforward.

Now, experimental planes are in a different bucket altogether...
 
Last edited:
Put two on my Aerostar and they are great.

There's however the silliest nitpicking going on with the FAA - even if it's TSO'd doesn't mean it's approved for your type. If the aircraft is not on the AML list of the manufacturer, you can legally not put in on. There's a long article about it in Aviation Consumer, how technically you might need a field approval to put a friggin' bulb on. And a mechanic can refuse to put it on without one. I mean, it's beyond silly. But that's the FAA law and I'm just bringing you the legalese. Nobody's going to check and if they do, you can get a field approval then.
 
Last edited:
Put a Whelen Landing and Taxi light on my 182. Love it. You'll replace an incandescent light 10-15x before you replace one of the LED units (nominal 5000 hour life IIRC - that's more than I would fly in a lifetime most likely).

Low amps, low heat and long life = willingness to leave it ON longer = extra visibility = safer.

Eventually I'll do the Nav and Strobes too. Those things burn out all the time too.
 
I leave mine on all the time now. I figure the extra vis is worth it alone. But the LED beacon and the LED tail position light are stupid bright. So I'm pretty good in the LED dept and think it's worth it.
 
I think combined my Alphabeams were about 1/2 an AMU, so cheap! ;) I do love them and especially you guys with cowl-mounted lights should REALLY love them.
 
jimhorner said:
Of course you are. That's why I quoted the relevant sections of 43. However, the answer remains the same, not just anyone can do the work. If you aren't a certified mechanic or operating under the supervision of such, you have to own or operate the plane , and you have to be a pilot.

So, you can't change the bulbs on a rental, because you aren't the owner or operator. An owner or operator who's not a pilot (a student pilot, for example), also can't change the bulbs. You also can't change the bulbs on a friend's plane even though you're a pilot, because you aren't the owner of the friend's plane.

I'll quote from my post above again:

Short answer, for part 23 certified aircraft, the holder of a pilot cert issued under part 61 may replace bulbs of existing landing lights in an aircraft that the pilot owns or operates as long as it's not operated under parts 121, 129, or 135.​

In this case, the regs are pretty straightforward.

Now, experimental planes are in a different bucket altogether...
Click to expand...


Isn't a renter "operating" the rental aircraft?
:dunno:
 
Bought a Teledyne Alphabeam for a landing light but haven't installed it yet. I'm going to order another to replace the taxi light and install both at the same time. Been hoping for an Aircraft Spruce discount code before ordering the second one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top