AeroLeds or Whelen

[podair]

Hi 

I am looking to replace some of the lights on my 1967 Mooney M20F. I am pretty sure I will replace the landing/taxi light (I have both a PAR46 and PAR36, retrofitted) with the Whelen Parametheus. They are PMA so it makes it much easier in Europe, where I am based and where the aircraft is registered, for the paperwork.

I am also looking to replace the (flat) wingtip navigation lights, with a nav light / strobe combo. The Whelen ones look very good and straightforward, but require a flasher unit as well.

I have come across this new company and remember someone talking about them on the forum but can't find the post

http://www.aeroleds.com/

http://www.aeroleds.com/'>It seems their wingtip/strobe combo does not require a flasher unit.  Has anyone installed them? Anyone know if they are PMA (I will email Aeroled as well).

Many thanks

 

[MooneyMitch]

Hi podair.

I do believe the Whelen PAR 46 is the correct landing light size for your F model.  We have on installed in Jolie's '65 E model.  We leave it on all the time.  Very low current draw.  Love it!

Happy Mooney flying to you! 

[Oscar Avalle]

There was a whole discussion about this issue about one or two month ago.

[podair]

Thanks!

I did find the discussion about the landing light, and I am pretty much set on the Whelen PAR46 (and the 36, I have both).

However, I am also looking to replace the wingtip nav lights, there was also a discussion about the Aeroleds strobes, and I can't find that one, and that's why I am curious if anyone has installed the Aeroled combo nav light/strobe, rather than a classic navlight/strobe/flasher.

[Hank]

I would like to do the same, replace my red/green Whelens with a red/green & blinky white light. But I have 201-style wingtips. The Whelen rep told me at Sun-n-Fun last year that approval was 12-18 months out. Maybe they'll be available at Oshkosh, but I will not be there to find out.

Any definitive word from anyone?

[Oscar Avalle]

I know, I tried to find the discussion but to no avail. However, I went ahead and replaced the nav and strobe lights with aeroleds. They look great and work just fine. For the landing light I have the Lo presti Boom Beam installed since 2004. The light is really wonderful. However, I would like to have some wingtip taxi LED lights installed too. Well, may be later.

[dean_aeroleds]

We will have a PMA PAR46 replacement with the built in pulse function available this fall.

 

Our TSOA Pulsar NSP 11-1080 lights are currently available. We have a Mooney owner who installed a set on his Mooney at Top Gun aviation in Stockton CA and he stopped by our booth at Oshkosh to let me know how much he likes them. He told me that the controllers comment about how visible the strobes are.

 

[721lp]

After 6 months with the Whelen LED Par 46 landing light, I have determined that it was and is a very good investment. Electrical draw is now negligible on all the systerm because every light on the aircraft is LED. The only protential problem was one Jolie Lucas had and that was a slight"fogging" of the left bottom corner after being on for an extended length of time. I talked to 2 engineers at Whelen, and being in electronics all my life, I was curious if this "condensation" would affect the life of a very expensove bulb. One engineer said to remove the 3 screws that hold the lens to the bulb and then run the bulb for about 15 minutes. Another more recent call revealed that this "fogging" was a non issue. Only time will tell, but I willo say it is the best light for all round use that I have ever seen. Night is brighter and I can use it the whole flight if I so choose. All around good investment, especially for the decrease in load on the electrical system. Already had to take advantage of this when about 50 miles from home at night I experienced electrical failure. Alternator not charging. I always monitor system voltage and when it dropoped to 11.8 volts, I knew I had a problem. The low draw on my electrical system allowed me to keep most all electrics on until touchdow. Oh...field wire broke off. Easy fix. End of story....

[Awful_Charlie]

I need to do something about replacing my strobes - 1 power pack went down not so long ago, and I replaced it with a second hand unit. Now a second pack has gone, so I'm guessing that as they were all original factory fit, the third one is going to cease soon. As the power packs are 300 bucks each, I'm thinking about replacing the lot with a LED solution, and gaining 5 lbs of payload at the same time.

Anyone fitted a LED strobe and navigation light solution yet - opinions?

Ben

[danb35]

I just installed the Aveo LED nav/strobe combo. It was an easy installation, removes the Whelen power supply (saving 2 lb. or so), and works great. My IA was willing to sign it of as a minor alteration, thus no 337 required. I understand they're European TSO certified already, FWIW.

[Oscar Avalle]

I did the same

[SkyPilot]

I'm going to go with the Aveo's

[Awful_Charlie]

Thanks chaps - looks like Aveos it is then (when the pay check comes in!)

[DaV8or]

We will have a PMA PAR46 replacement with the built in pulse function available this fall.

Our TSOA Pulsar NSP 11-1080 lights are currently available. We have a Mooney owner who installed a set on his Mooney at Top Gun aviation in Stockton CA and he stopped by our booth at Oshkosh to let me know how much he likes them. He told me that the controllers comment about how visible the strobes are.

Any news on when your PAR 46 will be available? I checked out your PAR 36 at AOPA Summit and I have to admit that it was superior to the Whelen unit in several ways. My interest in the landing light is really mostly about collision avoidance as I avoid flying at night as much as I can. I bought the Whelen PAR 46 as they were available in hand at the time, but when the Aero LED PAR 46 comes out, I'm trading and will try to sell my lightly used Whelen unit.

[testwest]

We have installed Aeroleds on the wings and tail as well. They are awesome. We weighed the components for the old Hoskins strobes for the wings and tail (three small strobe power supplies) and lights versus the Aeroleds. The weight savings was 6 pounds. Yes you read that correctly.

We were originally thinking about Aveo, but they only have used to have a Malaysian CAA authorization for their certificated LED position/strobe lights (looks like they did get US TSO, see below)....and you would have to cross-MIRV that into your local FAA office for approval. Also, their production schedule (i.e. when can I expect delivery) is.....well, it is was nebulous. When we called Dean at Aeroleds, we got straight answers, a [less recent] US FAA approval, and product delivered on schedule.

*Edit: got some more updated information below, thanks Dan! I always try to post accurate info, and am not afraid to correct and edit any posts I make that later turn up to be inaccurate.*

[danb35]

We were originally thinking about Aveo, but they only have a Malaysian CAA authorization for their certificated LED position/strobe lights....

This is not correct--they received FAA TSO certification about 6 weeks ago for their wingtip nav/strove lights and their red beacon. As for whether FAA TSO certification is necessary to make the installation legal, that's between you, your A&P/IA, and your local FSDO. My IA was satisfied with Aveo's statement that they meet the TSO requirements and did the installation (well, signed it off--I did the work) on a logbook entry as a minor alteration.