LED Landing and Taxi Lights

[interstellardust]

After reading through many, many pages here discussing landing/taxi lights, I'm left wondering if recent developments have changed owners opinions about LED lights.

I have always used the GE incandescent light bulbs but since one of mine burned out I started looking at alternatives. I don't fly at night very often but find I am turning on my light more and more for recognition purposes. Longer bulb life would be desirable.

I have visited the AeroLED and WAT web sites, and being a nickel nose, as my wife puts it, I order a pair of PAR36 landing and taxi lights made by Handxen from Amazon for about $80 that seemed comparable. They do not have the standard screw mount electrical connecting but do fit in my 170B brackets.

I fudged a temporary connection to see what they looked like. They are bright white in appearance but when I point them at the inside of the hangar door, they both project a broader pattern than the GE4509 and the 4509 more concentrated beam is obviously brighter than the LED. I should have taken a photo but did not.

Since this subject has been discussed in the Hangar, both WAT and AeroLED have come out with what they claim are 40% brighter bulbs so I'm wondering if anyone has installed them and how they like them. AvWeb's comparison video from 2017 predates advancements in both products.

I also note there appears to be no way to purchase Goodies For Pilot's LEDs, which some have installed, on their web site. Are they still in business?

[GAHorn]

When LED (and other non-incandescent) Land/Taxi lights first appeared on the market a decade or so ago… I was not impressed because of the light/color-temperature of the ones approved. The price was (an is) breathtaking.

After time passed there appeared some PAR36 LED lamps which seemed better…but were not “approved”… and I ordered a few to test. I was still unimpressed with their lack of “luminosity”…. they did not have the same “scatter” effect…. while they were “OK” in their center-of-focus… objects to the side and in one’s peripheral vision were not sufficiently illuminated.

A few years ago, I ran another test of “Aero Lites” brand. They offer two versions: A Land/10-degree-Spot (claim 2100 lumens) and a “Flood” taxi lamp. They were priced around $85 ea., so I ordered three sets/pairs. My 170 has dual land/taxi, and I feel the taxi lamps are excellent for high-visibility in the traffic areas…. but less effective for taxi lamps….adequate (barely) in the Dual-set-up we have while taxying in the 170… but Fine for recognition. They simply spread the light too “thinly”. (Keep in-mind that Cessna originally used 4509 Spot-lamps for both services.)

In our 172 (which has the standard pair on the left wing only) I installed one “Flood” for Taxiing…and one “SPOT” for Landing. In my opinion:
Don’t bother with the “Flood” Taxi LED lamps….. if you go this route…. Select Two “SPOT” LED lamps (which is what 4509s were)
When we operate the 172 in the pattern, we certainly use the “Flood”/Taxi lamp…. but when actually taxying around …. we keep BOTH ON…just to have adequate lighting. Remembering that Cessna used two SPOT 4509s… I plan to replace the Flood/Taxi lamp at some point on the 172 with another SPOT lamp.

These lamps utilize the standardized PAR36 screw-terminals similar to the original 4509 lamps… HOWEVER they ARE “polarized”… in that they must be connected +/- correctly…or will not work. (No harm done if you do it reversed…they simply won’t light up.)

The Dual pairs installed on the 170 are fine, however.

In this link, one is allowed to “Select” which lamp you desire:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N4 ... =UTF8&th=1

In these second-links, the price has increased a bit, but are Spot lamps only:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076C ... =UTF8&th=1