provided the LED light unit has an STC.
Do you by any chance mean ETSO?
If it has an EASA STC then it qualifies for a Major mod and you don’t need the CS-STAN concession.
@mh or @wigglyamp should know the details.
I confirm the long life… mine have been in for years and are run 100% of the time, and I do about 150hrs/year. They also draw 1/3 of the current so the fitting gets much less hot.
I was talking to Whelen at AERO and there is going to be a new, better lamp STC’d very soon. I forget the technology, but it’s not LED. Maybe HID? Sorry, I can’t remember, but they sounded well worth waiting for.
Peter wrote:
Do you by any chance mean ETSO?
The Standard Change requires that LED’s for position and anti-collision lights be “authorised in accordance with” the appropriate ETSO “or equivalent”. For LED landing and taxi lights there are no such requirements at all — only that the LED has the same light distribution as the original light.
I think this has already been discussed once, but let me reiterate: believe it or not, but unlike position and anti-collision lights, landing lights are not subject to certification, whether ETSO or otherwise.
https://www.goodiesforpilots.com/par-36-copy
These are ones I want to try
https://www.goodiesforpilots.com/par-36-copy
These are ones I want to try
Feel free, if you are N-reg, as can be seen by the link on the site to Paul Bertorellis comment on the FAA. The EASA is more clear on it, disallows the owner to change to LED on himself and hands the decision over to the guy doing the official sign off. Their ‘we cannot know and the one doing the job must be qualified and decides‘ has some appeal, but puts the liability down there, which may cause other symptoms of fear.
Peter
A slip of the finger ……. ETSO is what I should have written.
WilliamF wrote:
https://www.goodiesforpilots.com/par-36-copyThese are ones I want to try
@WilliamF, I do have one of these in the landing version, and I bench-tested it side by side with GE 4509. It’s certainly not bad for the price I paid on Aliexpress (it was only about $35 or so, not $150), and the workmanship is quite good as well. However, it has four shortcomings:
- The beam is about 2.5 times wider than GE 4509
- Instead of the advertised Osram LEDs, it uses no-name ones with a lower luminous efficiency
- The LEDs are driven significantly below the rated current, allegedly for longevity
- The leads are unterminated wires rather than screw terminals apparently they fixed this one.
I spoke to someone at the factory, and they are theoretically willing to make a narrower beam, put the right LEDs and drive them with the right current. In that case it will probably exceed the 4509. However, I have not yet asked them how big an order should be for them to do it and what price they will charge. I am hoping they will be able to keep the price below $50, and my idea is to get a “hybrid” light: 15-16 LEDs out of 18 with a narrow beam and 2-3 with a wide one. This way it can be used for both landing and taxiing, which will be quite convenient for the aircraft without a separate taxi light.
the ACAM is the Gestapo of our CAA. They do raids at airfields , elsewhere called ramp checks. But more in depth controls by them, mainly checking paper records. We had a few emails flying between them and us but just that, no checks at the aircraft. We suspect a revenge act from a certain federal aviation department officer who could not down our maintenance company – but in the end it has given back certifications due to no more nerves to deal with him. The owner is in his seventies , so no, thanks , he is no longer willing to continue this game.
As to ACAM, ramp checks are a bit rare in our country compared to other EU states it seems – great.
ACAM = Aircraft Continous Airworthiness Monitoring
Each country is supposed to have such task force to monitor their aircrafts. One part is ramp checks, the other is the frequent check of all papers – they should do this on a frequent basis for each, but luckily they are digging papers seldom. It is a two bladed sword, but I tend to welcome the idea of an independent authority checking what the owner and maintenance shops do in the field. Unfortunately there are too many out there doing bullshity things and we all know names immediately not earning trust, pilots, owners and shops, aren‘t we? The German incarnation is just one which sometimes feels to be based on old Nazi or Stasi tradition.
