Fly Away Destination: Sedona, AZ (KSEZ)

Landing Light Replacement

ByAndrew Robinson November 2, 2015November 5, 2015

One evening this summer, my wife and I were flying down the southern shore of Long Island in my father’s E33 Bonanza. We enjoyed the sunset as we flew westbound and our plan was to fly the New York Hudson corridor, where we would arrive just after dark. As we approached New York’s airspace, two voices in my head started having a debate.

The first voice said: “You should turn on your landing light when you get to New York to make the airplane more visible.”

The other voice said: “That’s true, but I bet you’ll burn the landing light out”

Well, as it turned out, both voices were right. My landing light fired right up when I needed it to fly the Hudson, but when it came time to land back home I had no such luck. Unfortunately, this was not the first time that I had been given the chance to practice my blackout landings. This Bonanza model has only one landing/ taxi light which is mounted in the lower cowling behind the propeller. This location is less than ideal because the filament in the bulb is fragile and can be damaged by engine vibration.

We landed uneventfully and after putting the airplane away, I decided it was time to look into upgrading the lighting to something a little more modern. I was unsure of my options, but seeing as the airplane needed a replacement bulb regardless, it seemed like a good opportunity to make a change.

After doing a little reading, I learned that HID or LED landing lights would be the best solution to my problem. I was familiar with LED aircraft lights, but had never heard of HID before.

Here is what I learned:

HID Landing Lights

HID, or High Intensity Discharge landing lights, create light by arcing electricity through a sealed gas capsule. They are brighter than LED and traditional incandescent, and the light created more closely resembles the look and feel of sunlight. HID installations require a ballast to carefully regulate the flow of electricity to the gas capsule and also require a “warm up” period after being turned on in order to reach their full brightness.

Fitting an aircraft with HID landing lights tends to be more expensive and time consuming than installing an LED light and would likely require involvement by an A&P/ IA. However, if you want the brightest light available, HID is probably the best bet.

Pros

• Brighter, more natural looking light
• Draws less power than standard bulbs
• Long bulb life
• Does not generate much heat

Cons

• More expensive than other lighting options
• Lights must “warm up” after being turned on
• Cannot be pulsed easily
• Cost/complexity of installations

LED Landing Lights

LED, or Light Emitting Diode landing lights, have no filament and work by moving electricity through diodes which are connected into a circuit. These lights have become very popular for many uses due to their simplicity, low cost, and brightness.

While not as bright as HID light, the LED lights require no “warm up period” and can be easily pulsed. LED lights draw much less power from the aircraft’s electrical system than traditional bulbs and boast incredible life length. LED bulb installation is very simple and can often serve as a direct replacement for the original lights.

Pros

• Instant light (no warm up)
• Incredible life length (>5,000 hours)
• Low Cost
• Simplicity of installation
• Can be pulsed easily
• Low power draw

Cons

• Not as bright as HID lighting

 

After weighing the options, I decided to replace the incandescent bulb in the Bonanza with an LED bulb. I read the reviews online and talked to some of my friends who work in aviation and eventually decided on the Lycoming Alphabeam. The Alphabeam is FAA/PMA approved and is available through Aircraft Spruce and other aviation parts vendors. The bulb cost around 250-300 dollars and I was able to install it as a direct replacement for our old light. All I had to do was take the old one out, put the new one in, and make a logbook entry.

Below are some pictures of the installation:

Last weekend I finally had an opportunity to take the airplane out after dark and see how the new light compared to the old one. I am pleased to say that it did a wonderful job and exceeded my expectations.

If you are interested in seeing a side by side comparison of the different lighting options, a quick Google search should provide what you are looking for. In my own experience, I would say that the LED light was brighter than the old light and did a very good job illuminating the taxiway and runway. It was extremely nice not to be concerned that my light wouldn’t work as I was setting up for landing at an unfamiliar field after dark. I also enjoyed feeling that I had the option to leave it on during climb and cruise in order to increase my visibility to other aircraft.

Many models of aircraft have multiple landing/ taxi lights installed which greatly reduces the likelihood of having to land without one. In our case, spending the extra money to upgrade to the LED bulb made sense because of the desire for increased reliability. If you are looking for a relatively inexpensive way to upgrade your airplane, LED or HID lighting may be something to consider.

Andrew Robinson is a 135 Charter Pilot and flight instructor who lives with his wife and 2 daughters in Pennsylvania.  He flies Pilatus PC-12s and instructs in Beechcraft Bonanzas.

L-3 Lynx Transponder Line

ByHank Gibson July 25, 2015August 1, 2015

L-3 has jumped into the ADS-B transponder game with their Lynx line of products.  Aircraft owners have a myriad of options with the Lynx line, from simply becoming ADS-B compliant with the NGT-1000 ($2,100, with ADS-B out that works with the GTX 327 and GTX 330), or going all in with the NGT-9000 touch screen transponder complete with ADS-B In, a traffic screen and NEXRAD ($6,800).

The NGT 1000/2000/2500 line works with the existing transponder in the airplane (as long as it’s a Garmin GTX 327 or 330).  The 2000 gives ADS-B In capability, allowing the pilot to access NEXRAD and traffic, plus has a Wifi source to broadcast all the information to an iPad.  The 2500 includes all of that, plus gives the pilot MFD capability as well.  An optional control panel is available if the airplane is not equipped with one of the aforementioned Garmin transponders.

The L-3 Lynx NGT-9000 is an actual transponder replacement.  It is a touch screen device that has a multitude of ADS-B features that, quite frankly, are really cool on a transponder.  The ADS-B traffic is displayed on the unit itself and can also be sent, via the optional Wifi connection, to an iPad on the WingXPro or SkyRadar apps.  The optional L-3 NextGen Active Traffic can also be installed to receive traffic callouts (this does not include resolution advisories).  Already have SkyWatch?  The L-3 Lynx can use the equipment.

The L-3 Lynx NGT-9000 is also capable of displaying NEXRAD as well as METARs, TAFs, NOTAMs, and TFRs and a myriad of other weather products, all on it’s moving map.  It seems that L-3 has taken the transponder and turned it into something awesome.

To read more about the L-3 Lynx line of transponders, you can visit their website.

Redbird Migration at HYI

ByHank Gibson October 17, 2016

Redbird Skyport at the San Marcos Regional Airport will be hosting it’s 6th Annual Redbird Migration Flight Training Conference.  The event is focused on flight training and flight training providers.  Past speakers have included the president of Hartnell Propellers, the CEO of Big Red, and various Redbird Executives.

The list of speakers for this year’s Migration has yet to be released, but it promises to be a good lineup.  Attendees every year always compliment Redbird on the event and the speakers they bring in.

If you are a CFI or flight school owner interested in attending, check out Redbird’s event page to request an invitation.

 

Jet A Fueling Mismanagement

ByHank Gibson April 29, 2015May 1, 2015

I’m sure at this point, most pilots in Texas have heard about the Cessna 421 that went down two weeks ago in Lufkin.  The Golden Eagle suffered a dual engine failure (the pilot lost the first at 2300 feet, then the second at 1700 feet) in IMC on climb out.  He broke out at 1,000 AGL miraculously lined up with US 59, south of the Lufkin airport.  The pilot had to dodge a car as he was attempting his landing, stalled the airplane, sheared off the landing gear, then slid into the median.  No one died, but lots of bumps and bruises.  All were airlifted to Houston.

The cause was a lineman at LFK put Jet A in the 421, which is a piston airplane and takes 100LL Avgas.  The story that I saw said the pilot and two passengers were returning to Houston from Kansas City and diverted to LFK due to weather.  They landed in driving rain and spent the night.  I have not seen any reports saying whether the pilot sumped the tanks or not the following morning.

There were several factors that led to this accident.  If you take one factor out, the accident probably wouldn’t have happened.  Let’s take a look at the sequence of events.

The 421 arrived in a driving rain storm, so the pilot and passengers probably disembarked quickly to get out of the weather.  Factor number 1 presents itself here.  We don’t know whether or not the pilot told the lineman to put Avgas in it or not (he may have just said fill it up), so we’ll leave that aside.

Understandably, the pilot dashed inside to get out of the rain, but they neglected to monitor the fueling.  Whether or not the fueling took place that night or the next morning, we can’t say.  I have started to greatly encourage my customers to monitor the fueling of their airplanes, especially when it’s a fuselage that can either have Avgas piston engines or Jet A turboprops, as is the case with the Cessna 421.

Factor number 2, we already know about.  The lineman messed up and put the wrong fuel in.  If their was uncertainty about what type of fuel, he would have been prudent to await the return of the pilot to ask, even if that meant delaying the pilot’s departure.

Factor number 3 is the matter of sumping the fuel.  We don’t know if the pilot sumped the fuel or not. The tricky thing about sumping is Jet A doesn’t settle out of Avgas like water does unless it sits for a long, long time.  The two ways to determine if you have Jet A in your Avgas airplane are to smell it, as Jet A has a very strong diesel smell, or do the paper towel test.  The paper towel test consists of dumping a fuel sample onto a paper towel, then let the Avgas evaporate.  If you are left with a nasty, oily residue, you’ve got Jet A in your tanks (not to mention it will smell like diesel).

To prevent misfueling of your airplane, take the following steps:

• Be specific in telling the lineman what type of fuel you want, not just “fill ‘er up”
• Monitor the fueling and watch which truck pulls up to your airplane
  • This is especially important with fuselages that can have either Pistons or Turbo-Prop engines, like the PA-46 line or the Twin Cessna line
• Always sump your fuel, definitely smell it, and if there are any doubts, try a paper towel test

Cirrus SR22 Owner Completes First Solo

ByHank Gibson July 31, 2014

 

Congratulations to Monte James who, on July 31, 2014, completed his first solo flight!  Monte is the owner of N565TV, a 2007 Turbonormalized Cirrus SR22.  N565TV is a G3 model with an Avidyne panel.  Monte was very excited to complete his solo flight.  He reported very good landings during the flight (he even said the last landing, which was probably his best yet, caused him to break into laughter!).  Texas Top Aviation’s Hank Gibson, Monte’s instructor, took pictures and continued the tradition of cutting Monte’s shirt tail to commemorate the flight.

Congratulations to Monte!