Exterior Lighting Upgrades

[Pat Schmitz]

In the quest to continue the upgrades to my Skymaster - I wanted to ask what other owners have done in this area with success.

TAXI AND LANDING LIGHTS:

My Taxi and Landing lights are dull and barely adequate considering current lighting technology... - Yet this evening, I saw an older Bonanza taxi by with the new High Intensity Lighting like you see on most new sportscars today....

Has anyone upgraded the stock lighting with Halogen and/or other types of 24v lighting?? Any suggestions???

What about Landing Flashers (Alternates the Left/Right Lights on/off..)


STROBES:

Has anyone upgraded the standard Cessna Strobes to the Newer Comet Flash style?? (3 quick flashes per side, rather than one.)

Any insight, or info is greatly appreciated.
Please list where you obtained your lighting, and any other info that may be relevant!

Thanks!

Pat

[kevin]

Pat,

I am not going to be good with specifics here, but if it helps to know that others have done it, here goes:

I upgraded my landing and taxi lights with replacement bulbs that were far brighter on the same power consumption. I learned that I could do this at an EAA show, in the bulb mfg booth. He gave me the part number for the bulb, which we ordered, and it worked great. Unfortunately, I don't have the airplane anymore, so I don't have the particulars - mfg, bulb number, etc anymore. It was a major, well know mfg - but which one I just can't remember.

We put a Pulselite system on when I bought the airplane, to make the airplane more visible during the day. It worked slick. I'd have to find Pulselite in Tradeaplace or such, I don't have their particulars either.

The flashing beacon power supply I had on the airplane failed, and was not replaceable. We installed a red strobe (multiple flashes) to replace it, it was Whelen, and it worked great.

For what little all that may be worth, there you go. My mechanic ordered all of these things for me, and he has retired now, so I can't recover the sources. Sorry.

Kevin

[Pat Schmitz]

I have found about 5 or 6 companies that have HID lighting systems ranging from $400-$700 per light... Each comes with a standard size bulb that will replace those in the landing/taxi position with the addition of a small ballast. All have a Narrow Beam option (for landing) and a wide beam for Taxi.... They put out 6x the light, on less power than the standard light... but VERY pricey for 1 bulb!!

BUT ... From Kevin's message - it still appears that there may be another option out there that does not require a retrofit/337 form.
Just can't seem to find it....


Anyone have any other suggestions?

[Richard]

I have LED nav lights and HID taxi and landing lights in my Skymaster. The HID lights are worth every penny.

[Pat Schmitz]

Thanks for the info Richard..

Which manufacturer's lights did you install?

[Richard]

www.aerovisions.com -

Good quality. Once you try, you'll never even think of going back. You can try it out by changing one light at a time. Less expensive that way too.

[Kevin McDonnell]

I had Tule River in Porterville California install the HID Landing & Taxi lights in my P337. Called the "Boom Beam", they offer this under an agreement from LoPresti.

They cost about $1,200 each (total for both ~ $2,400). There are 3 beam widths; I chose wide (55 degrees) for the taxi and narrow (10 degrees) for the landing. If you plan to only change out the landing light, there's a 17 degree lamp.

These lights have a 5,000 life - so for improved recognition, I just leave the taxi light on for most of my flights. Another (perhaps less important) benefit is that these draw less than half the amps as the original lights.

When landing at night, there is a very noticeable improvement using these lights. They claim they're 5 times brighter - but I'm not able to quantify the improvement other than to say they are definitely brighter. As Richard said, they are worth every penny (even if I did pay full retail). If you're on a budget, consider just replacing the landing light (and leave the taxi light the old style).

See their website for a nice write up about this system. Click "Products/LoPresti/Boom Beam":

http://www.tuleriveraero.com/