MONTY THE ANSWER MAN ARCHIVE LANDING LIGHTS
LANDING LIGHTS...(6699) Joe Ranson at Swift has most of the necessary parts to make up the original Temco wing mounted landing lights. He and I were talking about them at the "Natl" last month. They are expensive and require some work, but there is legit paperwork to go with them. -- Steve Wilson <SteveWlson@aol.com> Yves: LANDING LIGHTS...
(010300) Steve: GE BRINGS GOOD THINGS
TO LIGHT... Steve, They originally came with GE-4509 and that is what I use, although it probably does not matter much. One nice thing is that they can be purchased at NAPA or Farm and Fleet at quite a savings over "aviation" prices. Good luck... Steve Wilson Thanks Steve. I suppose if I want to raise the wattage to 200 watt lamps, I'd have to calculate wire diameter and breaker amps. Determining wire diameter is sometimes not easy because some of my wire has been spliced old/new.Guess I will go with the GE-4509's. Are your lamps "cross-eyed"? Focal point seems to be not far ahead of ship - perhaps 10 feet? Guess some thought went into that -- I would figure a more forward facing lamp would show runway better at night. I have not yet done night landings as PIC. Been waiting unti my daytime landing ability improved. I am ready to try it now. One of the old/new wire splices (butt splice) drove me crazy last week. Left gear green light would not come on (my ship is modified to have L & R lights) so I tried microswitches, adjustments, suspect bad lamp socket, bad bulb, etc. It worked up on jacks but quite working when on ground. Turned out that a butt splice between new/old wire was poorly crimped. It was physically together but electrically intermittent. Frustrating three hours! I hate butt splices - prefer solder/shrink tubing. Thanks for the help. Steve Roth LANDING LIGHT TWO
SWITCH SET-UP... Bill, On N77753, there is only one light in the left wheel well. It is more psychological than of any real help landing. It is a little help in taxiing, but not great. The leading edge lights are really the best. Joe had most of the parts for them in stock the last time I was in Athens. I think with a little help someone could make up a set, BUT it is a little more work than I want to tackle with the limited night flying I do anyhow. With all the new electronic gadgets, still the weakest link in electronics are the connectors. Always have been, and I suppose always will be. I got instructions one time with some electronic gizmo that said, "No ground, no workie; poor ground, still no workie!" That's become kinda my motto when working with electronics... Steve Wilson FURTHER LANDING
LIGHT DISCUSSIONS... I guess I need to experiment with what I have (two lights in wheel wells that are "cross eyed") then determine if they could be refocused or divided into landing/taxi. Appreciate the discussion. Steve Roth Early on, I considered the leading edge ligfhts but the more I looked at my Swift and others the more reluctant I was to cut into the wing to do it. I had the same on my '59 C-172 and they indeed worked great (when adjusted properly). I'll work with what I have then make another decision. I don't expect to fly at night, unless I get caught out somewhere.; You are right, it IS psychological. Thanks for the help. Steve Roth On N2334B I had the "Coda" wheel well mounted landing lights. These are ajustable thru a wide range, and if they are "crosseyed" they are way out of ajustment. I had mine set up so one was focused for taxi, and the other to illuminate the runway on short final. I always thought they were just about perfect and gave as good a view as any airplane I've been in. Jim Montague Monty: I was told that I have "original", factory installed landing lights. One never knows what is/was original. Since I had no details on the "Coda" lights, I thought I had Coda lights. Guess I don't. Next time I can look at other Swifts I'll check out what is "original". I have not seen any in any of the on-line photos. Each mounts in the outside aft corner of each wheel well on a bracket. Each light points inward, probably focusing about 10-20 ft in front of the ship (I have never tested them for focus point). There is no way to adjust the lights except to change the mounting brackets. Steve Roth I beleive I have original "CODA" lights also. Not mounted in the plane but appear to have adjustability. With the two switches I plan to use one light at a time to reduce electrical load.Any problem with this idea? Bill Doty I'll have to do some research on what CODA lights are. I have come to the conclusion that my lights are just "add ons". My lights are not adjustable. Assuming you have at least a 35 Amp generator, load should not be an issue (as long as your engine is above 1100 RPM or so). If you have a generator, reduce the load at low RPM (like when you taxi around an airport with lights on) to reduce battery drain. In that regard, individual switched lights perhaps good idea. If you have an alternator, load and RPM should not be a factor. Steve Roth No problem at all with 2
switches, Bill, as a matter of fact the original installation drawing
calls for 2 switches. Sorry, I don't have one anymore. Jim Montague |