Led lighting (merged)

Peter wrote:

A huge amount of concern / FUD about their legality, assisted by disinformation and supported by some EASA21 firms having obtained STCs for specific types which give the impression that an installation not supported by an STC is illegal

It won’t help you personally as your aircraft is N-reg, but for EASA aircraft it is certainly legal without a STC as it is a “Standard Change” according to CS-STAN. With a planned revision to CS-STAN it will also be legal to replace interior and panel lights with LED.

Airborne_Again wrote:

It won’t help you personally as your aircraft is N-reg, but for EASA aircraft it is certainly legal without a STC as it is a “Standard Change” according to CS-STAN. With a planned revision to CS-STAN it will also be legal to replace interior and panel lights with LED.

I installed the Whelan Parmetheus LED landing light in my N reg with just an A&P logbook entry…a 337 is not required.

What about Wig-wag landing lights? The strobe effect would make an aircraft much more highly conspicuous…..I’m not sure if that is considered a Major Alteration (thus requiring an STC or Field Approval for N reg), but many US aircraft seem to have them….

The position on this varies according to how anal someone is, whether they are making money out of it, and how pragmatic their maintenance arrangement is.

The Q on any aircraft reg is whether it is a Major Alteration.

The lights have to conform to certain requirements. For example for wingtip lights there are specified viewing angles which need to be complied with. I don’t know about landing or taxi lights. @Pilot_DAR may know about this.

If you can find a PMA replacement for your light then by definition that is OK to install, and it is a logbook entry like any other non-Major repair. PMA means “same as”. But EASA does not recognise the FAA PMA system, although in private GA this is disregarded and has to be otherwise the whole scene would grind to a halt.

Otherwise it is debatable… On N-reg:

If you need to go for a Field Approval then you have to demonstrate compliance with the emission patterns of the originally certified light(s). That is going to be a lot of work.

The only gold plated route which everybody will be happy with is an airframe specific STC, or a PMA approval. Everything below that, somebody will potentially argue about, due to the need to demonstrate the light emission patterns.

And that is true in the USA and in Europe.

I know a pilot in Germany who installed the LED landing lights and then got really worried about whether somebody will report him to the police (because they are quite visible – way brighter than the old lamps) and eventually he bought a signoff from a big German avionics shop. He said he had to do this before his next Annual.

I installed the LED lamps a few years ago, as detailed in the thread linked earlier. At low level (OCAS) they stay on all the time.

Peter wrote:

Higher cost – about 10x to 20x more than the normal lamps

The maintenance guy in our club was tired of having to change them all the time. Although his time is free, not pissing him off is worth the money. Visibility and availability are definitely added benefits.

Peter wrote:

A huge amount of concern / FUD about their legality,

We changed on the club’s both planes, it’s a standard change, our (very picky) CAMO didn’t raise an eyebrow.

I think landing/taxi lights are relatively uncontroversial. It is the others e.g. wingtip lights – see earlier posts in this thread.

Peter wrote:

The only gold plated route which everybody will be happy with is an airframe specific STC, or a PMA approval. Everything below that, somebody will potentially argue about, due to the need to demonstrate the light emission patterns.

And that is true in the USA and in Europe.

I really don’t see why that should be the case in Europe, CS-STAN is quite clear.

I know a pilot in Germany who installed the LED landing lights and then got really worried about whether somebody will report him to the police (because they are quite visible – way brighter than the old lamps) and eventually he bought a signoff from a big German avionics shop. He said he had to do this before his next Annual.

Well, he isn’t allowed to do it himself, so he had reason to be worried. But I can’t see why he should be worried if he let a shop do it in accordance with CS-STAN.

Peter wrote:

But EASA does not recognise the FAA PMA system

This is not true, Most (not all) PMA parts are acceptable to EASA.
The lack of an European PMA approval in PMA is a big fail of EASA, as the European aviation industie would benefit from this. Difference between FAA and EASA are for sure much smaller then you suggest.

What about Wig-wag landing lights? The strobe effect would make an aircraft much more highly conspicuous…..I’m not sure if that is considered a Major Alteration (thus requiring an STC or Field Approval for N reg), but many US aircraft seem to have them….

I’v been looking for some time for LED replacement for GE1940 14V, 50W bulb. So far no luck. Does anybody use an old the Whalen rotating beacon with LED light?

Well, he isn’t allowed to do it himself, so he had reason to be worried

A pilot is not authorised to change a light bulb, under pilot maintenance privileges?

What about Wig-wag landing lights?

No idea (a google on the topic of LED lights digs out 1000 US sites where pilots debate this huge grey area of non-STC non-PMA LED lamps) but note that you need to run a “sync” wire from one wingtip to the other, which could take quite a bit of time to do properly.

I’v been looking for some time for LED replacement for GE1940 14V, 50W bulb. So far no luck. Does anybody use an old the Whalen rotating beacon with LED light?

A lot of others are looking for that also.

It seems trivial to do a DIY job using something like this (a 12V version) but it would involve a modification of the fitting, and a certification path to be legal.