Need a new landing lifht

[jetdriven]

Byron, so does any PAR 46 could be installed on a Mooney? Something like the H5001 halogen car sealbeams around $12 and 4 amps current. This is pretty cheap and would do the job right!

Yves

If you pull the spec sheet and the new bulb exceeds the specs for the bulb in the parts catalog then you may have a case.

[N601RX]

Stupid question, and I recall it being discussed somewhere on here but I couldn't find it: Is changing out a GE halogen for a Whelen LED considered preventive maintenance (ie owner permitted under Part 43 App A) or an alteration? If an alteration presumably it is Minor....

It's a pma part that is approved for the Mooney airframe. Installing a pma part that list your airframe in the AML in not considered a alteration.

I put one in a few weeks ago after loosing the standard bulb on takeoff. I believed the par 46 version is a little brighter than a standard bulb.

[Awqward]

That's what I think too.... Just as well really as I've already installed it!

[N201MKTurbo]

Just change the light out. If some inspector down the road gives you grief just go buy the standard PAR and put it in. After he signs off the plane put the LED back in.

 

I'm going to burn in FAA hell....

[bumper]

AeroLeds SunSpot 46, at 70 watts*, consumes *double* the electrical power than Whelen's Parmetheus, at only 36 watts - - and the SunSpot costs twice as much too! However, if you are into having as much light output as possible, truly an astonishing amount, AeroLeds really shines (pun intended), putting out over 5000 lumens..

 

*Even at 70 watts, still well below the max 200 watts (and at best 2000 lumens) from an incandescent.

 

bumper

[MB65E]

Sweet, Did aero LED PMA their PAR 46 lamp yet?

That's enough alphabets for the morning...

[N601RX]

Sweet, Did aero LED PMA their PAR 46 lamp yet?

That's enough alphabets for the morning...

No, I asked them about 2 weeks ago.

[bumper]

Oh . . . . darn.

 

Wurf waiting for.

 

Have 'em (4 of the Par 36) on my Husky . . . 2 taxi and 2 landing. On "wig-wag" or "landing lights", they ALL come on. Impressive*.

 

*Disclaimer, I impress easily.

 

bumper

[unicom]

Hi all,

Any return of experience from the latest Whelen Parmetheous PLUS Super LED PAR46 ?

http://www.whelen.com/aviation/product.php?head_id=13&prod_id=198

Whelen claims that the PLUS is 80% brighter than the initial Parmetheous...

...or 40% on this brochure.

http://www.whelen.com/pb/Aviation/Catalog%20Price%20Lists%20and%20Manuals/Parmetheus%20Plus%20Brochure_Email.pdf

Cheers,

 

Philippe

 

 

Edited January 11, 2016 by unicom

[Hank]

I like my original Parmetheus. Brighter would be even better. It's been in the plane since April '14 and only turned off twice  (annual and, after the first hour, pitot static & transponder check).

[NotarPilot]

 

Hi all,

Any return of experience from the latest Whelen Parmetheous PLUS Super LED PAR46 ?

http://www.whelen.com/aviation/product.php?head_id=13&prod_id=198

Whelen claims that the PLUS is 80% brighter than the initial Parmetheous...

...or 40% on this brochure.

http://www.whelen.com/pb/Aviation/Catalog%20Price%20Lists%20and%20Manuals/Parmetheus%20Plus%20Brochure_Email.pdf

Cheers,

 

Philippe

 

 

Unicom,

I am probably one of the few people who have owned both, the original Whelen PAR46 Parmetheus as well as the newer updated Parmetheus Plus. I bought my original Parmetheus in late 2012 and flew a couple hundred hours with it never turning it off except for start ups and shut downs.  It definitely helps with being visible to other aircraft even during the day and I think LED lights are much more visible during the day time than incandescents. 

When I heard Whelen came out with a brighter Parmetheus I was intrigued. I fly a lot at night so much runway illumination is important to me. I read and was told that the new light was about 40% brighter than the original. I decided to try it and picked one up for cheap at Airvemture last year.  Using a 12V power supply I did a side by side comparison in my hangar with the original Parmetheus mounted on my plane and the new Plus right out of the box. The Plus is definitely brighter but the beam also seemed a little narrower and I remember wondering if maybe Whelen didn't just focus the light a little tighter. 

Later, I installed and flew the Plus. I can say it was noticeably brighter than the original but not by leaps and bounds. I'd say 40% is an honest and accurate improvement in brightness from my experience. I'm glad I made the switch. I sold my old Parmetheus to offset the cost of buying the Plus. If you're upgrading to the Parmetheus from an incandescent I'd say spend the extra money and get the Plus. If you're an original Parmetheus owner and asking about upgrading I would say, only if you fly a lot at night and brightness is really that important to you. Otherwise I'd say, save your money. I hope this helps.

Steve

[unicom]

Thank you for your detailed feedback :-) ... It is on its way from aircraftspruce. Any difficulties to mount it ?

[NotarPilot]

On January 14, 2016 at 0:35 AM, unicom said:

Thank you for your detailed feedback :-) ... It is on its way from aircraftspruce. Any difficulties to mount it ?

None whatsoever. It's a pretty easy job assuming you know how you operate a screwdriver.

[PTK]

Speaking of landing lights I have a question also. I really believe a major advantage of led is leaving them on during the day. Going one step further it'd be great to flash them on and off during the day. I'll go with the Whelen parmetheus plus when my GE goes and if I can do this. Does any one know if there's a flasher box to do this with that doesn't cost more than the light?

Whelen has one but don't know if I can legaly install it.

http://www.whelen.com/aviation/product.php?head_id=13&prod_id=194

(I'm aware of the aeroleds sunspot but prefer the Whelen bulb.)

[StevenL757]

On May 30, 2012 at 1:00 PM, Seth said:

That's too bad to hear.  I had heard good things about Whelen.  Anyone happy with their Whelen landing lights?

Yes, on the Ovation, you get two light positions in each wing root...one for landing and one for taxi.  With the forward-looking recognition lights on the wing tips to provide edge lighting, I opted for 4 of the newer Parmetheus Plus...and went with the landing light variety in all four positions.  40% brighter than the original Parmetheus, they work well for me in all WX conditions, and provide plenty of forward visibility.

[MB65E]

Aircraft spruce sells a controller from MAX Dim I believe. It has multiple positions and is approved. Whelen does sell their controller but it's single function and lower amps( AKA Nav lights I believe) and I'd rather have the max dim with more functions and higher amperage. These units are approved for the regular GE lamps so you know they'll have no problem with the amperage on an LED. One could grab a bosch flashing unit and install a simple toggle switch to remove voltage from the power side of the lamp and have it go thru to the flasher instead. Bosch makes great products. PSA offers a flashing unit that is rated to 15a. This unit could work but some will argue about the Bosch and PSA units not being legal. However they both are simple, standard, well made electronics.... I have tested the PSA unit on the bench with 12v with 3 Nav lights hooked to it. The Nav lights drew almost 8 amps! That's 2x the amperage of an new LED landing light. And about half of what the circuit was raised for at 15a. The unit had no measurable heat increase from ambient. 

Finally, if you want an easy no fuss install, the Aero LED with the flashing units are awesome! (Run the PAR 46 in the CJ) Little more than the other brands, but I think it's a way better lamp, with a built in flashing unit. 

Or for $1500 Percise flight has a flashing unit that does the exact same things everyone else does. 

So once again, there is no great, easy, CB, solution. 

-Matt

 

[ArtVandelay]

The precise flight 1210/2405 flashing unit is $400, not $1500 and makes a nice solution to those with recognition lights that melt the plastic covers.

[MB65E]

20 minutes ago, teejayevans said:

The precise flight 1210/2405 flashing unit is $400, not $1500 and makes a nice solution to those with recognition lights that melt the plastic covers.

Sorry bout that, that was the installed price on another machine I was involved in. It was tied to the Transponder and came on when there was a target.  That $1500 put a bad taste in the mouth for what it does. For the recog position lights I guess that makes sense. 

 

Cheers,

Matt

[Jsavage3]

On April 26, 2013 at 4:46 AM, bumper said:

The picture is of an experiment using two 20 watt LED wing tip recognition lights that can replace the existing 25 watt lights (that melt the lens!). Radiated heat is significantly reduced with no possibility of melting plastic (temperature rise after 3 minutes is 70 degrees F with the halogen bulb and only 10 degrees with LEDs - measured on plexi lens). My plan is to donate the design to Lake Aero Styling, so if they accept, it may be available in the future.

I'm interested in a cooler operating LED replacement for my existing very hot running wingtip recog lights. Is the info you posted here PMA'd? Part numbers? Any clarifying information would be appreciated. Thanks!

[bumper]

I apologize for not checking private mail in so long.

No, there's no PMA or approvals of any type. I didn't move the project forward, mostly due to too many other projects and not enough time. It's a one off test, made from components, soldered and mounting the 20 watt LEDs (similar to these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-5-10-Pcs-High-Power-10W-30W-50W-100W-Watt-LED-Chip-Lamp-Bulb-Light-900-9000-LM-/322148749705?var=&hash=item4b018fd189:m:mBtMQXeZTdacoTofPixJB8w

mounted with heat conducting paste to aluminum heat sinks, and then the assemblies driven by buck/boost LED drivers. 

The system worked very well, far brighter than the halogens, bright enough they could have been used as landing lights! But, not enough time and too much hassle to get approved. Besides, LED technology advances so fast that anything approved today would be obsolete (but still functional of course) in a few months.

all the best,

bumper

 

[DonMuncy]

Is this something you could post the diagram, parts sources, etc., for hangar elves to duplicate, or could you assemble and make available. I know you don't have a PMA, but perhaps I could use it to illuminate my hangar at night.

[jrwilson]

On May 31, 2012 at 4:32 AM, Seth said:

You know, I was thinking about that, but then I got worried as to the uneven draw on the circut and didn't want to creat other potnetial electrical problems.  Also, the heat from one lamp, would be bothersome.  Also, I don't want to open up the lighting area cover, to only replace one bulb instead of two, and then have to go through that process again. 

 

I figure if I go ahead and put in LEDs, I'll replace both. 

 

 

Does anyone see the price of the Par36 Whelen lights falling any more in the next year or so? Or if anything, do you see a price hike coming?  I know they have dropped a good $40 the past year or so (just from memory, didn't check, coudl be wrong).

 

 

-Seth

 

I have a GE and whelen together.  The mechanic said to just put the whelen last in the series.

[Seth]

1 hour ago, jrwilson said:

I have a GE and whelen together.  The mechanic said to just put the whelen last in the series.

Good to know.  I ended up replacing both and put a separate circut for the landing and taxi light.  The landing light is on off and the taxi light is a three way on off pulse.

I used the AeroLEDs HX and LX and the pulse feature was built in and simply a third wire.

I purchased them with an Oshkosh discount in 2014, so that's already two years ago.  There may be brighter or better bulbs now, but at the time AeroLEDs were the brightest.  This was backed up by aviation consumer in 2015.  Which again, was a year ago now.

-Seth

[Seth]

On January 23, 2016 at 9:58 AM, PTK said:

Speaking of landing lights I have a question also. I really believe a major advantage of led is leaving them on during the day. Going one step further it'd be great to flash them on and off during the day. I'll go with the Whelen parmetheus plus when my GE goes and if I can do this. Does any one know if there's a flasher box to do this with that doesn't cost more than the light?

Whelen has one but don't know if I can legaly install it.

http://www.whelen.com/aviation/product.php?head_id=13&prod_id=194

(I'm aware of the aeroleds sunspot but prefer the Whelen bulb.)

AeroLEDs already has it built in and it's been PMA'd since 2014 when I got mine.  

Edit: PMA'ed for the PAR36 size.  I do not know the status for the PAR46 size.  Call the factory and ask.  They are VERY responsive to customers.

-Seth

[Raptor05121]

I've got the AeroLEDs PAR46 on my wishlist. Its pricey, but from a comparison I did at SnF, its the only LED model that's brighter AND wider than the regular GE halogen