Landing light

[Titanium Cranium]

After my first night flight in my recently purchased Waiex, I realized that the landing light in the right wing was worthless. For any decent reference to the runway, I have to look mostly out the left side of my canopy. With the landing light on the right wing, it was already set up for failure. Plus, with the nose-high landing attitude of the Waiex/Sonex aircraft, the landing light just pointed up during flare. It was barely enough to taxi with. No matter how bright I could get the landing light, it would still be pointless because it was on the wrong side and it would point up during landing. I chose to experiment a little. I picked up a simple LED strip fog light from the auto parts store for $69. It is 1200 lumens, weatherproof, has 55,000 hour life LEDs, and has an adjustable angle. I made a reinforcing bracket from simple angle aluminum that bolts to the airframe below the rudder pedals and then riveted the light to the belly of the plane and into the bracket, and wired it up. I figured it might create a little more drag and take away a couple mph, but it turns out to create no measurable difference in my airspeed. It produces about as much drag as a GoPro camera attached to the outside, I suppose. The results were fantastic and the light was incredibly effective. I figured I'd post a few photos for you all to see in case anyone else might be looking for better landing light solutions.

[pfhoeycfi]

Great idea. Curious, will you still turn the wing mounted light on or just the new LED unit?

Peter H

[Titanium Cranium]

I completely disconnected the wing landing light. It actually drew more power than the LED light, which was a bit too much for the 10 amp alternator my Aerovee was built with.

[daleandee]

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[onex28]

Great idea Tom. I've been looking for a way to put a light on my Onex and this looks like the answer. What auto parts store and do you have a part #? Thanks.

David

[Titanium Cranium]

I bought it at advance auto parts. The brand is Brite LED and it's the 7 led strip. I'll try to get a part number this weekend for you.

[gammaxy]

Thanks for sharing. This seems like a great idea. My enthusiasm for cutting into my wing is low.

[Titanium Cranium]

Here's the light that I installed on my Waiex in case anyone is looking for one. I bought it at Advance Auto Parts, but I've seen the same one at Auto Zone and other parts stores.