Sometimes I'm pushing sunset when I get back to my home airport. My close, steep approaches are unconventional at our jet-frequented airport. I'm good on the radio and my white/green plane is not terrible for visibility. But I want to BE SEEN as much as possible.
Here's an encouraging daytime video of some similar LED strobes in action: What have we done
They've got to be even more effective at dusk.
So I bought a pair of these: Whelen Blazeā¢ LED Wingtip Position / Anti-Collision Light For Experimental / Lsa | Aircraft Spruce They incorporate position (red/green), strobe, and tail lights, all on the wingtips. There are several other brands with similar offerings. From what I can tell, there is no significant difference between any of them, so I went with the Whelen's.
I researched some other installation on the site:
https://www.biplaneforum.com/threads/installing-strobes-at-wing-bow.13490/https://www.biplaneforum.com/threads/led-3-in-1-nav-strobe-positions-lights.15292/https://www.biplaneforum.com/threads/mounting-position-lights.4789/https://www.biplaneforum.com/threads/running-nav-light-and-strobe-wires.21737/https://www.biplaneforum.com/threads/strobe-wiring.20865/
These look ideal and straightforward for a pre-fabric installation. Some of those are for pre-LED lights, requiring a MUCH larger hole for the bulb assembly...an inch or more.
My plane is finished and flying, so I'm looking for a minimally-invasive installation. I'd like it to look decent, but I'm not looking for a showplane and really don't want to spend a few months doing surgery to get the most streamlined installation.
The lights need two screws and one cable. The cable is 0.300" in diameter. Ideally, I would just drill a hole big enough for the cable (and the screws) and mount it right to the wingtip bow. I don't know if that 0.300" hole is too much to take out of the bow. I measured the thickness of the bow, but don't have that number at my fingertips...it was around 3/4", if memory serves.
My conservative thought is to screw an aluminum angle to the bottom of the bow, then mount the lights to the outside of the angle. This would allow the wire to pass below the bow, instead of drilling a hole through it. I would *rather* have it centered on the wingtip, but keeping more of my wingtip intact is more compelling.
I've also considered just gluing a baseplate to the fabric, without penetrating the wood at all. Route the wire under the bow an burn a hole in the fabric.
There are enough inspection ports that I don't think I'll have too much trouble fishing the wire through. I havnen't thought too much about how to get the wires down from the wing to the fuselage, but that doesn't seem too challenging.
Does anyone have any suggestions/opinions?
Here's an encouraging daytime video of some similar LED strobes in action: What have we done
They've got to be even more effective at dusk.So I bought a pair of these: Whelen Blazeā¢ LED Wingtip Position / Anti-Collision Light For Experimental / Lsa | Aircraft Spruce They incorporate position (red/green), strobe, and tail lights, all on the wingtips. There are several other brands with similar offerings. From what I can tell, there is no significant difference between any of them, so I went with the Whelen's.
I researched some other installation on the site:
https://www.biplaneforum.com/threads/installing-strobes-at-wing-bow.13490/https://www.biplaneforum.com/threads/led-3-in-1-nav-strobe-positions-lights.15292/https://www.biplaneforum.com/threads/mounting-position-lights.4789/https://www.biplaneforum.com/threads/running-nav-light-and-strobe-wires.21737/https://www.biplaneforum.com/threads/strobe-wiring.20865/
These look ideal and straightforward for a pre-fabric installation. Some of those are for pre-LED lights, requiring a MUCH larger hole for the bulb assembly...an inch or more.
My plane is finished and flying, so I'm looking for a minimally-invasive installation. I'd like it to look decent, but I'm not looking for a showplane and really don't want to spend a few months doing surgery to get the most streamlined installation.
The lights need two screws and one cable. The cable is 0.300" in diameter. Ideally, I would just drill a hole big enough for the cable (and the screws) and mount it right to the wingtip bow. I don't know if that 0.300" hole is too much to take out of the bow. I measured the thickness of the bow, but don't have that number at my fingertips...it was around 3/4", if memory serves.
My conservative thought is to screw an aluminum angle to the bottom of the bow, then mount the lights to the outside of the angle. This would allow the wire to pass below the bow, instead of drilling a hole through it. I would *rather* have it centered on the wingtip, but keeping more of my wingtip intact is more compelling.
I've also considered just gluing a baseplate to the fabric, without penetrating the wood at all. Route the wire under the bow an burn a hole in the fabric.
There are enough inspection ports that I don't think I'll have too much trouble fishing the wire through. I havnen't thought too much about how to get the wires down from the wing to the fuselage, but that doesn't seem too challenging.
Does anyone have any suggestions/opinions?
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