Best landing light suggestions

[helitim]

Last night during my first night operation since buying this plane, I noticed the landing light beam appears to be fairly narrow compared with other aircraft I have flown. Looking at how the bulb is recessed into the cowling fairly deep, it is not surprising to see the narrow field of light.

Does anyone have a suggestion of a better bulb (LED?) or, a way to modify the light fixture to increase the lateral broadcast of light?

[aaronk25]

Do a search on this for for landing lights it's got slot of info and good lights available. Some cool HID lights, I got one, but there difficult to get field approved if the mfg doesn't have a STC.

[Hector]

I have the Whelen Parmetheus PAR 46 LED landing light and I like it.

[orionflt]

I have the Whelen Parmetheus PAR 46 LED landing light and I like it.

+1 for the parmetheus, good light distribution, brighter then the incandescent, and about the cheapest LED or HID style light you will find. The best thing is it is plug and play with nothing but a normal log book entry, no STC or field approval needed.

Brian

[mikesalman]

I also have the Whelen PAR  46 LED and I also like it. The flight school like it so much now they are replacing their landing lights with Whelen LED as they go out.   

[Hector]

[Hector]

Another big advantage is that I now routinely use my landing light in congested airspace as it has little effect in my current draw. Not so with the 200 watt incandescent bulb.

[ArtVandelay]

Do all models use the same bulb for the landing light? I have taxi lights that I would like to replace someday as well

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[helitim]

It appears the Whelen PAR 46 is the favorite. My web search showed the average list price just a few dollars under $300.

I realize now why my first search returned no results. I did not have the search dates set properly.

Thanks, Tim

[Marauder]

Another vote for the Whelen. Been installed for a year, big improvement over the incandescent bulb.

[laytonl]

I wonder if anyone has used the Grote LED lamp. It's a lot cheaper than the whelen. Their primary market is tractors, but they have narrow beam (landing light) and wide beam (taxi light) versions.

http://www.grote.com/product.php?product_number=63821-5

Lee

[Guest]

Are you sure it has the correct light bulb? It should be bright, it's 250 watts.

Clarence

[Hank]

I wonder if anyone has used the Grote LED lamp. It's a lot cheaper than the whelen. Their primary market is tractors, but they have narrow beam (landing light) and wide beam (taxi light) versions.

http://www.grote.com/product.php?product_number=63821-5

Lee

 

That looks interesting, Lee, but while they sell lamp-only versions in PAR 36, the only PAR 46's that I see include a ready-to-mount steel, rubber or chrome housing. Wonder what those folks do for replacement bulbs? They carry PAR 26,36, 46 and 56, which would probably be neat for the Experimental world. Don't think the Feds would be too happy if I mounted some PAR 26 landing lights to my gear for that "airliner" look. But it's a thought!

[bumper]

The Whelen Parmetheus PAR 46 costs $300 and is a 36.4 watt LED lamp. The AeroLed SunSpot LX46 costs double that ($595) and is a 70 watt LED. What do you get for twice the price? AeroLed is upfront with their specs and ratings, the LX46 puts out more than 5000 lumens. Whelen is a little tougher to quantify as they don't seem to rate their lamps "up front". 

 

Energy (watts) consumed can be used as only an approximate guide line, as LEDs give something on the order of 60 to well over 100 lumens per watt (with at least one manufacturer claiming 200+ lumens per watt). 

 

Is it worth double the cost to get double (or more) light output?

 

I have 4 AeroLeds on my Husky . . . in a direct eyeball comparison to a Whelen equipped Husky, SunSpot blows away Parmetheus.

 

bumper

[carusoam]

Primary market "being tractors" seems to me to be a bit misleading....

Unregulated tractor parts probably won't go on my O.

On further investigation, the Grote company is an American light manufacturer for automotive / truck / off-road and farm vehicles...

They have a picture of a tractor on their home page...

A Kenworth type tractor, not the John Deere type tractor...

My bad,

-a-

[Hector]

The Whelen Parmetheus PAR 46 costs $300 and is a 36.4 watt LED lamp. The AeroLed SunSpot LX46 costs double that ($595) and is a 70 watt LED. What do you get for twice the price? AeroLed is upfront with their specs and ratings, the LX46 puts out more than 5000 lumens. Whelen is a little tougher to quantify as they don't seem to rate their lamps "up front".

Energy (watts) consumed can be used as only an approximate guide line, as LEDs give something on the order of 60 to well over 100 lumens per watt (with at least one manufacturer claiming 200+ lumens per watt).

Is it worth double the cost to get double (or more) light output?

I have 4 AeroLeds on my Husky . . . in a direct eyeball comparison to a Whelen equipped Husky, SunSpot blows away Parmetheus.

bumper

During a Sun N Fun last year the AeroLed folks showed as side-by-side comparison with the Whelen light by aiming them both at the ceiling of the hangar.

I have to say the AeroLed appeared to be quite a bit brighter. I'm happy with the Whelen I have though and given that I try to avoid flying at night as much as possible the lower cost was icing on the cake. If you routinely fly at night (or just want the brighter light) I would definitely take a closer look at the AeroLed

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Glenn]

I have been using the LoPresti Boom Beam for about 3 years. I leave it turned on any time I am below 3,000 feet.  It is bright, hasn't burned out, and draws little current.

[N601RX]

I talked to Aeroleds in December before buying the Whelen and Aeroleds still does not have PMA approval on the Par 46 bulb. The 36 bulb is approved.

[Oscar Avalle]

I have been using the LoPresti Boom Beam for about 3 years. I leave it turned on any time I am below 3,000 feet.  It is bright, hasn't burned out, and draws little current.

 

I have the same light and love it.

[philiplane]

The Teledyne Alphabeam has more depth penetration than the Whelen, by about 30-50 percent. It also has the same spread, so you get the best overall lighting available without going to an HID. I've done field approvals for cowl and wing mounted XeVision HID lights in Mooneys. They are a good solution if you want the most light available for the money. 

[helitim]

Teledyne's website says the PAR 46 is "Coming Summer 2014". No price listed as yet. Aircraft Spruce has the PAR 36 listed for $275. I ordered a PAR 46 Whelen from Knots2U for $266. At this point I suspect most anything would be better than what it currently installed.

[JohnB]

I installed four Whelen PAR36's on my Bravo (two taxi, two landing), and the brightness and clarity, and no appreciable current drain, I would Never go back to using incandescents. I believe the Whelan's are the only LEDs that currently have an STC for our Mooneys.

[jetdriven]

The Teledyne Alphabeam has more depth penetration than the Whelen, by about 30-50 percent. It also has the same spread, so you get the best overall lighting available without going to an HID. I've done field approvals for cowl and wing mounted XeVision HID lights in Mooneys. They are a good solution if you want the most light available for the money.

Not anymore. The FAA specifically banned EFIS and HID landing lights without an STC

[PTK]

Not anymore. The FAA specifically banned EFIS and HID landing lights without an STC

I wonder why they object. Is it something about them that's inherently more "dangerous" than other lights?

[Hank]

Probably because halogen bulbs get HOT during use, and must be properly wired and grounded. A landing light that explodes during use isn't much good.