LED Landing lights

[skbenson]

Are you going to have that up at the fly in? I have held off purchasing the landing lights after following your thread. Would love to see it. Regards, Stan

[DanB]

Finally making a bit of progress on the vacuum forming of the lens. Lots of trial and error...
IMG_0346.jpg
With a little luck I may have this on the plane tomorrow. IMG_0348.jpg
IMG_0345.JPG

[Esser]

Hi Stan,

Short answer is no, unfortunately. I was initially hoping to have them ready by then but as everything in life, it takes longer than anticipated especially when I am doing this on the side.

We are entering the physical prototype phase now. Even since the last pictures I posted up, we have made several changes to make the light physically smaller and stronger but we now think we have it buttoned down.

Realistically, I don't think I will have any to have before christmas. I hope that isn't too late!

[DanB]

Got the lens on the wing tip but I think I will sit out the install on the plane until morning. It's shooting for 112 degrees F today which is probably around 120 in the hanger. If I'm lucky it will be a frosty 100 degrees in the morning. Looking forward to cooler weather in Idaho.

wingtiplens.jpg

[Paul Z]

Very nice! I guess the plastic was soft enough you didn't even need to heat it up to form it, just put it on the mold, shut the hanger door, and it's done! I'm glad it's only 100 in Dallas. Are those the stock Kitfox Wing Tips? I am contemplating wig wag lights on my plane for safety reasons.

[DanB]

Ha, thanks Paul...using the hanger for an oven is a good idea. Might try that next time.

I believe these are called the standard wing tips from the factory.

[HighWing]

Dan,
Very nice. I am really impressed and this is based on trying similar things. Did you use Acrylic or Polycarbonate.

I made lenses for the wing tips by pulling Polycarbonate over a mold plug then trimming and Hysoling to a cut out section of the wing tip. I wanted something removable as my wing tips are glued on.
Wing Tip.jpg

The smaller units were made to cover LED aft position lights, one on each side near the top of the rudder. They were formed in a unit I made that was essentially a copy of what a dentist would use to make a mouth guard.
Aft Position Light.jpg

[DesertFox4]

Dan, that looks really nice. All that hard work is paying off.

[DanB]

Lowell,
That looks so nice on the wing tips...very clean. I used the acrylic for mine.

Today I threw the wing tip on the plane to see how it looked. The only thing I think would look better is if my LED unit was smaller giving the ability to move it forward. Esser, the one you have going looks promising! I'm sure the light will help make me more visible, however, I'm curious if it will flood the runway with enough light. To be determined.

IMG_0351.JPG

[Esser]

The lights are finished and going into their first production run. I am looking for some people that might be willing to test them out in real world circumstances. PM me if you are interested.