Landing Lights

[Butch Pannell]

I am a new member and have a PA 24-260 with the stock landing lights. Any ideas and suggestions on what to purchase to up date these to something a lot brighter and that will last longer? Thanks!

[MULEFLY]

Butch... it depends on how far you want to take this... You can replace the standard GE's with a halogen bulb ... same part number with and H added... some say they are a bit brighter... they are more durable.

There have been some advancements in using LED lights... my own opinion is that for the most part... this is still be sorted out in the market place. The LEDs are definitely brighter than the stock bulbs... but the pricing that folks are charging for "airplane leds" are bull crap...I have a nose gear mounted LED on my twin.. the bulb should last forever... but at $290 for the lamp alone, it damn well should!

A brighter solution (but yes it does cost more) is the use of HIDs... (one example is Xevision.com)... Several years ago, I did bite the bullet and install them on my twinco (with a 337) and placed them in each wing tip. I installed the 50W system in each wing (LoPresti and other have 35W systems readily available)... they are very, very bright... far brighter than the LED that I have on the nose. I'd love to see how bright in reality that their 75W systems are. I'd imagine that they would be awesome.

Jim

[N3322G]

Hi Butch,

Welcome to the Comanche Forum.

There have been so many posts on this subject that searching in the upper right corner for landing light is too common of a search a parameter. I went the easy way and just swapped the landing lights with the Whelen LEDs. With 2,000 hour service life we leave them on during all flights for visibility reasons. We are based under the busy Class B around DFW and it seems to help. Also got the LED beacon after seeing it on Kristin Winter's Twin - saw the light 10 miles out but didn't see the plane until she was much closer.

Hope this helps.

[Butch Pannell]

Thanks for all the info and will let you know what I install and how they work.

[Butch Pannell]

Welcome to the Comanche Forum.

There have been so many posts on this subject that searching in the upper right corner for landing light is too common of a search a parameter. I went the easy way and just swapped the landing lights with the Whelen LEDs. With 2,000 hour service life we leave them on during all flights for visibility reasons. We are based under the busy Class B around DFW and it seems to help. Also got the LED beacon after seeing it on Kristin Winter's Twin - saw the light 10 miles out but didn't see the plane until she was much close.

[N3322G]

Yes, the Whelen LEDs are a lot brighter and easy to swap assuming you get the right ones. Ours went easy for the landing lights on the twin, the beacon housing was a hassle but eventually got the correct one - so it fit w/o creating a moat where water could collect.

[Zach Grant L1011jock]

Butch,
If you are looking for the Whelen LED landing lights, here is a link to the best price I have found yet.

https://www.2aps.com/products/led-landing-lights/

The ones you want are:
PAR-36 LED Landing Light, 12v
PNO: 01-0771424-10

These are FAA-PMA approved and drop in to the existing mount and connect to the existing ring terminals. They are polarized so if at first they do not work, check to make sure the +/- are connected correctly. Also, the mounting tabs may need to be tweaked in or out for security of the bulb, and many times a layer of electrical tape or some very thin wheather stripping will help the bulb not shake in the mount. It has been my experience that although these ate PAR-36 standard size, the thickness at the housing edge varies some from the incandecent 4509 and "Q"4509 bulbs.

-Zach

[Jeff]

Thanks Zak, I have the 4509s in my PA30, just inboard of the tip tanks. From your post the Whelen LEDs are not exact plug & play for the 4509s? How long would you say it took you to replace them? Jeff

[Pat Elliott]

While we're on the topic of landing lights. Has anyone put a light on the nose gear of a single like the one installed on a twin.

[MULEFLY]

Pat... a twinco light won't fit on the nose of a single... gear door... placement of gear, fat bottomed engine etc. That being said, if you want more light on the nose of a single, (I agree that I like "nose" light as well as brighter bulbs in the wing tips) -- Stay tuned. I do know of one solution that is about to become public.

All the best!
Jim

[Michael Duncan]

Mulefly,
When you find about the nose light please share. Would love to get some light on the nose of our 260B.

Mike

[Pat Elliott]

[quote="MULEFLY"] -- Stay tuned. I do know of one solution that is about to become public.
[/quote]

So is that "about to" = in the next few weeks? or months? maybe before 2017?

[Kelly W Kober]

I put a Whelen LED on one side of my 260B and have compared it with the old GE on the other wing.

cons = Price!
Pros - I leave the LED on all the time - current draw is very small, lasts thousands of hours and there is no "whine" in my headsets compared to the GE light. Better landing awareness - see below.
Semi pro - the LED light is brighter, but not as much as I thought

About the brightness - one effect I've noticed - when you are landing, the cones of light from each wingtip seem to go about the same distance - maybe the LED light is 10% farther. It's very white versus the yellow GE light. The positive effect, is objects beyond the visible cones stay dark on the GE side, but "light up" on the LED side - best examples are runway light reflectors, parked airplane tails and hangers that now stand out in the dark and improve the 3D aspects of landing.

[MULEFLY]

This is basically another you get what you pay for... LEDs are better... HIDs are best. HIDs cost more than LEDs... LoPresti offers HIDs... 35 Watts... XeVision offers both 35 and 50 Watts... (read much brighter) I have these and they offer 75 Watts too.... not legal but would be fun.

All the best!
Jim