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Nav lights

climberrn

Well Known Member
Help me out here. I have the Aero LED’s on the RV and love them. On my Kitfox project, I am going to put LED nav and position lights with the intent of being more visible during the day. Won’t be doing much night flying but want the option if it arises.

I was going to pull the trigger on the Whelen lights DR posted on the home page a few days ago. When researching them, they say “For day VFR use only”. Do we need lights certified for night use on experimentals? I don’t want to pay a premium for certified lights, unless they are required for night use.
 
This has been a topic of discussion previously. From a regulatory requirement you are required to have lights for night operations under 91.209. It is pretty non-specific about any requirements with respect to the light performance. 91.205 applies to aircraft with a Standard Airworthiness certificate, and does require the lights to be approved, which typically uses Part 23 standards for the light chromaticity, luminance and angles of coverage. The FAA does have advisory material that addresses these topics also. I think for the most part, AeroLeds has tested their lights to meet the established standards.

From a practical standpoint, don’t you want to know that the lights are going to make you visible at night? At least to some minimum standard? Some of the home built kits or products I see have no idea if they will provide the coverage, brilliance or colors intended to be seen by other aviators and help avoid a collision. BTW, the standard is pretty minimal, but the certified LED light manufacturers have still struggled to get the brightness and angle of illumination requirements met.
 
Of course I want the lights to meet the standards for flight at night. That’s why I was looking to purchase the Whelen strobes. The question was about legality of Whelen LED strobes, not some home brew lighting kit.

My Dynon screens are not made to the same standards as a G1000, but that doesn’t make them unsafe.
 
Same here

Not suitable for night use, I moved on. IMHO, nav lights eg Red Green, not visible in sunlight, no real benefit. I guess this is why it is a obsolete product for Whelen.
 
For night operations, experimental amateur-built aircraft must meet §91.205 per the operating limitations. §91.205 makes no distinction between experimental and standard category aircraft. The same requirements apply to both.
 
Thanks guys. Those DR listed were a good price, but I’ll keep looking. The Rotax engines don’t put much amperage. I have some traditional Whelen strobes but was going to upgrade to something with a little less draw.
 
Check out these options. Many of them are direct replacements for FAA approved lighting. They are low energy, very bright options for aircraft exterior lighting. I replaced my wingtip Whelen certified incandescent bulbs in the Whelen fixtures, and installed their extremely bright PAR 36 landing lights, and they are quiet, low power consumption, and super easy installation. Feel free to call them about your particular installation requirements. I have friends with certified airplanes using these lights.

https://www.aero-lites.com/
 
Check out these options. Many of them are direct replacements for FAA approved lighting. They are low energy, very bright options for aircraft exterior lighting. I replaced my wingtip Whelen certified incandescent bulbs in the Whelen fixtures, and installed their extremely bright PAR 36 landing lights, and they are quiet, low power consumption, and super easy installation. Feel free to call them about your particular installation requirements. I have friends with certified airplanes using these lights.

https://www.aero-lites.com/
They offer no evidence that they meet either the luminance, chromaticity or light distribution, just a vague statement that they were designed to to same specs as the original incandescent bulbs, which can’t be true due to the colors.
 
From: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/91.209

§ 91.209 Aircraft lights.

No person may:

(a) During the period from sunset to sunrise (or, in Alaska, during the period a prominent unlighted object cannot be seen from a distance of 3 statute miles or the sun is more than 6 degrees below the horizon) -

(1) Operate an aircraft unless it has lighted position lights;

(2) Park or move an aircraft in, or in dangerous proximity to, a night flight operations area of an airport unless the aircraft -

(i) Is clearly illuminated;

(ii) Has lighted position lights; or

(iii) is in an area that is marked by obstruction lights;

(3) Anchor an aircraft unless the aircraft -

(i) Has lighted anchor lights; or

(ii) Is in an area where anchor lights are not required on vessels; or

(b) Operate an aircraft that is equipped with an anticollision light system, unless it has lighted anticollision lights. However, the anticollision lights need not be lighted when the pilot-in-command determines that, because of operating conditions, it would be in the interest of safety to turn the lights off.
[Doc. No. 27806, 61 FR 5171, Feb. 9, 1996]

The way I read this is the standard doesn't specify luminance or other stuff other than what lights and lighting positions. Whelen has lights that are certficated and lights that are non-certificated for experimental which are lower in cost. When I looked at the Whelen display board at Aircraft Spruce, and the LEDs all lit up the same, and they were very bright, much brighter than on the wingtips of the older C172.
 
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From: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/91.209

§ 91.209 Aircraft lights
When I looked at the Whelen display board at Aircraft Spruce, and the LEDs all lit up the same, and they were very bright, much brighter than on the wingtips of the older C172.

Your operating limits refer to 91.205, which says you need “approved” lights for night operations. Saying they are very bright seems a bit vague. Did you look at different angles, including up and down?
 
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