Pawnee PA-25 Landing Light

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JohnWF

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Aug 5, 2012
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John at Salida
A friend of mine who owns a Pawnee and uses it as a glider tow plane wants to replace the conventional landing light (located below the prop) with an LED unit.

Does anyone know if there is a 'drop-in' LED available that he could purchase?

I know nothing about Pawnee planes; just asking for him. thanks for any info
 
JohnWF said:
A friend of mine who owns a Pawnee and uses it as a glider tow plane wants to replace the conventional landing light (located below the prop) with an LED unit.

Does anyone know if there is a 'drop-in' LED available that he could purchase?

I know nothing about Pawnee planes; just asking for him. thanks for any info
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Go here:

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/menus/el/landinglights_whelen.html

Approvals for those lights here:

http://www.whelen.com/_AVIATION/literature/litpma.php

Worth every penny. They last a long time and draw very little power.

Dan
 
:yeahthat:

We love our Whelen LEDs on the Skylane. Impossible to cost-justify with how cheap the regular bulbs are, but after you have 'em, you won't want to go back.
 
If you shop at the local truck stop for items like this they are very cost effective.
 
I'm not a fan of LED landing lights personally. They just don't seem to illuminate the surface as well.
 
One advantage to the LED lights is that you can leave them on during the day if you want. I find it is much easier to spot a plane with a landing light on.

The conventional bulbs draw too much power and don't last long enough for that.
 
CBeaulieu said:
I'm not a fan of LED landing lights personally. They just don't seem to illuminate the surface as well.
Click to expand...

I've noticed that too, but they illuminate reflective white paint far far better. So if you're operating out of unimproved strips at night, or poorly maintained ones, that might be a factor.

Haven't had the "joy" of seeing how they behave reflecting off of snow yet, but since snow reflects everything...
 
denverpilot said:
:yeahthat:

Impossible to cost-justify with how cheap the regular bulbs are...
Click to expand...

Depends on the operating environment. In the flight school we had the lights on anytime we were around the airport to help avoid collisions. Since the "cheap" incandescents only have a 25-hour nominal life (had some that lasted four hours) and if they're in the cowling the engine vibration shortens the filament life, we were constantly replacing them and losing night flights to burned-out bulbs. Labor and loss of revenue have to be added to the bulb's cost.

The LEDs impressed the instructors and the vibration didn't bother them at all.

AS LED technology improves we'll see much better bulbs. The current units have a bunch of smaller LEDs; I think we'll someday see a unit with one huge well-focused LED that will scorch the pavement. LED flashlights have come a long way and landing lights and headlights will, too.

Dan
 
Dan Thomas said:
Depends on the operating environment. In the flight school we had the lights on anytime we were around the airport to help avoid collisions. Since the "cheap" incandescents only have a 25-hour nominal life (had some that lasted four hours) and if they're in the cowling the engine vibration shortens the filament life, we were constantly replacing them and losing night flights to burned-out bulbs. Labor and loss of revenue have to be added to the bulb's cost.
Click to expand...

We had the same problem. Still required YEARS of ROI to make up the difference. Didn't matter, we wanted them. But cost-justify? No. Couldn't be done at current Whelen prices and certainly not by their warranty, which is fairly short.
 
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