ibjet Posted July 7, 2019 Report Share Posted July 7, 2019 I went to my CT parts Wearhouse (back bedroom book case, upper shelf, ha ha) and dug out the 2 landing lights that I have: 1). Soraa 00957. This is a single LED MR16 bulb rated 9W actual, 3000k color, 25 degree light cone, the box does not state lumens (odd). 2). GreenCreative 57978. This is a 5 LED MR16 bulb rated 8.5W actual, 3000k color, 15 degree light cone, 580 lumens. I think I must have a Soraa installed in my CT right now because I definitely have the single LED bulb. If I ever do burn it out, I think I will make a little mount in my garage, open up the garage door at night and see which one puts out the best light (maybe even take it out in the street, ha ha). Attaching pic of the 2 boxes I have and of my mount which was installed by my mechanic when I bought the CT (a guy back at the Riverside Airport in Tulsa). Nothing is bonded with silicon. There are 4 threaded studs installed in metal receptacles that were molded into the lower cowling by his fiberglass guy. I had to install longer studs and get longer springs so that I could adjust the aiming of the light. At night I turn on everything and I do not have any problem with generator light coming on. I have 2 interior LED lights, but I only use one of them (both are very low draw LED lights). I also have a lighted vertical card compass now, and an AvMap EFIS. I replace the Garmin GPS with a small tablet (I found a short USB cord and just plugged it into the 12V outlet via a 2 port USB adapter. I normally have all of these on for night flying, with no power problem. I did a little searching on Amazon and by chance found out that I got my Soraa bulbs from them, ha ha. But, their source was 1000Bulbs! I think I got a better price thru Amazon (and free shipping). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGray Posted July 7, 2019 Report Share Posted July 7, 2019 Great information, thanks ibjet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted July 8, 2019 Report Share Posted July 8, 2019 When you install the LED bulb you remove the lens, otherwise the installation is the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGray Posted July 8, 2019 Report Share Posted July 8, 2019 Thanks Tom, makes sense looking at the replacement LED. If anyone needs a spare lens let me know, I'll never likely go back to halogen at this point. Thanks again for the help guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibjet Posted July 8, 2019 Report Share Posted July 8, 2019 This looks like the best deal on Amazon if you want to use them: They don't actually sell it by the part number that I noted earlier. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TPONL76/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It does claim 590 lumins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animosity2k Posted July 12, 2019 Report Share Posted July 12, 2019 On 7/8/2019 at 12:09 AM, ibjet said: This looks like the best deal on Amazon if you want to use them: They don't actually sell it by the part number that I noted earlier. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TPONL76/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It does claim 590 lumins. can you legally just put new non factory bulbs in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGray Posted July 12, 2019 Report Share Posted July 12, 2019 Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted July 12, 2019 Report Share Posted July 12, 2019 15 hours ago, Animosity2k said: can you legally just put new non factory bulbs in? Not all parts have to come from the factory. If they have a part number other than Flight Design's, or a specification you can source from anywhere. Changing from the halogen bulb to LED requires an approval, once you have changed you can replace the bulb with one of the same model from any source. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animosity2k Posted July 13, 2019 Report Share Posted July 13, 2019 4 hours ago, Tom Baker said: Not all parts have to come from the factory. If they have a part number other than Flight Design's, or a specification you can source from anywhere. Changing from the halogen bulb to LED requires an approval, once you have changed you can replace the bulb with one of the same model from any source. Tom, how do I go about getting the approval to switch from Halogen to LED? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted July 13, 2019 Report Share Posted July 13, 2019 Contact Flight Design USA, and they can provide the light and MRA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibjet Posted July 13, 2019 Report Share Posted July 13, 2019 I wanted to clarify a bit possibly: the 00957 number is an NAED number (National Association of Electrical Distributors). The number that Amazon stocks it under, SM16-09-25D-830-03, is more of a spec number. If you order the one from Amazon, it will have the 00957 number on the box also (and I"m pretty sure it's on the bulb, mine is in my airplane). But, hey, I've got good news, ha ha: I just did a search and typed in "NAED 00957" and got a hit on eBay for less cost! Let me give you that link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-SORAA-Brilliant-00957-MR16-9W-3000k-25-SM16-09-25D-830-03-Lamp-Light-Bulb-/331637894091 I still have to go thru what you will go thru with Flight Design, I do not have my landing light documented yet. I have several things I did to enable night flying, and I will attempt to lump them all together. Just putting off doing the "paperwork', gotta get with it! I have had pretty good luck dealing with Arian Foldan at Flight Design. I will provide a full documentation package to him along with my MRA. But, for your documentation, it sounds like you would just contact Arian and ask him to issue the standard MRA regarding the LED us to you (and there will be a fee I have been told). By the way Arian's email is: Arian Foldan <topservice@flightdesignusa.com> PS: That deal was so good that I bought one to have a spare, ha ha. They got me when they said I had earned a $5 discount!!! It's just eBay wanting me to do more business with them! ET Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogogo888 Posted October 18, 2019 Report Share Posted October 18, 2019 Do you use silicon to caulk and seal these holds on the side of the LED? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted October 18, 2019 Report Share Posted October 18, 2019 No, it needs the airflow for cooling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndianaCTSW Posted December 24, 2019 Report Share Posted December 24, 2019 I know this is an old thread but didn’t want to start a new one. Lol I just wanted to share my landing light upgrade for anyone looking for ideas. It’s from aeroLED and is a nice option because it gets held in with bolts so there is no need for a bracket. I did need to modify the cowling but well worth it for anyone in the experimental category Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibjet Posted December 24, 2019 Report Share Posted December 24, 2019 Wow! That is a lot of light! What is the lumens output? The single LED I'm using is 9 watts and 830 lumens. Even though that's an upgrade from the original stock landing light I couldn't help but compare it to my mountain bike light with 1500 lumens! I cannot see my landing light on the runway until short final, but I'm used to it and it is very noticeable to other traffic. I'm also very happy that I can have everything on and don't get a red alternator light even at idle. That's a beautiful installation! Was the cowling mod part of the light kit? I mean, did they provide the fairing and you fit it up to your cowling? Thx! ET Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndianaCTSW Posted December 24, 2019 Report Share Posted December 24, 2019 5 hours ago, ibjet said: Wow! That is a lot of light! What is the lumens output? The single LED I'm using is 9 watts and 830 lumens. Even though that's an upgrade from the original stock landing light I couldn't help but compare it to my mountain bike light with 1500 lumens! I cannot see my landing light on the runway until short final, but I'm used to it and it is very noticeable to other traffic. I'm also very happy that I can have everything on and don't get a red alternator light even at idle. That's a beautiful installation! Was the cowling mod part of the light kit? I mean, did they provide the fairing and you fit it up to your cowling? Thx! ET Thanks. I had to do the cowling mod myself. I just used a wood mold and laid up a few layers of carbon fiber. The light is the new version from what they have on the website. They haven’t updated the info yet. It’s 3300 lumen and I believe 80,000 candela. It lights up really far away. Lol The voltage drop was one of the biggest reasons I decided to do it as well. I tested the stock light. I believe it was 7 amp at 14 volt and I believe this one is 1.5 at 14 volts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WmInce Posted December 25, 2019 Report Share Posted December 25, 2019 That's a beautiful job. Any possibility you could post some additional pictures (both sides) and a web link to the light? Would sure appreciate it. How much labor did you invest in it. Does the light have a provision for angular aim adjustment? Again . . . a really nice installation for Experimental's. That's the best I've seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndianaCTSW Posted December 25, 2019 Report Share Posted December 25, 2019 11 hours ago, WmInce said: That's a beautiful job. Any possibility you could post some additional pictures (both sides) and a web link to the light? Would sure appreciate it. How much labor did you invest in it. Does the light have a provision for angular aim adjustment? Again . . . a really nice installation for Experimental's. That's the best I've seen. Thanks a lot. I appreciate that. The website is https://aeroleds.com/products/sunbeam/ if you call them they have really good customer service. I was debating between this light and another one they have and they emailed me all the info they could on both lights. There is no adjustment for the angle of the light. So with that being said I had a decent amount of labor involved. It was well worth it though. I made a wood mold. Covered that with carbon. That part was the part the light got mounted into. Then I cut the hole in the front cowling and was able to use the hard surface of the pod the light was going to mount to in order to make sure it was going to be square. I took all my measurements with the plane parked in the same spot that way as I took the cowling on and off i knew it got back where I wanted it. The stock light was angled 8 degrees down. I didn’t get that quite perfect. The new one ended up about 6 degrees down. But it honestly ended up in a really spot. I was happy I got the side to side correct. I figured that was the most important. Lol If someone had some experience with doing fiberglass or carbon fiber work then I think they would make quick work of it, but this was my first project. I just made a couple small pieces to practice before I started. I don’t think I have any pics of the back side. But I can try to get some next time I’m out there. I will post what I do have. I highly recommend this light. I can not believe how much of a difference it made!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Downs Posted December 25, 2019 Report Share Posted December 25, 2019 What kind of paint did you paint it with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndianaCTSW Posted December 25, 2019 Report Share Posted December 25, 2019 1 hour ago, Al Downs said: What kind of paint did you paint it with? I did not do the paint myself. I had that done. I really have no clue what was used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGLyme Posted December 26, 2019 Report Share Posted December 26, 2019 Im impressed as hell... good work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WmInce Posted December 26, 2019 Report Share Posted December 26, 2019 Thank you very much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted December 26, 2019 Report Share Posted December 26, 2019 Now that you have it done someone could pull a mold off of your cowling to make them for others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndianaCTSW Posted December 26, 2019 Report Share Posted December 26, 2019 36 minutes ago, Tom Baker said: Now that you have it done someone could pull a mold off of your cowling to make them for others. I honestly didn’t even think about that. That’s a good idea. Would be easy enough to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WmInce Posted December 26, 2019 Report Share Posted December 26, 2019 That could turn into a good 3-D printing project for someone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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