Morgans wrote:

"Cy Galley" wrote

The wattage listed in only an indicator of the current used. HID
doesn't use much current but the light output is awesome.


Yeah, Cy, I know that, but the link the guy gay a few posts back had a
website that had 12 volt sealed bulbs. I read them to be quartz halogen
(filament) lights, commonly used in landscaping, fountains, pools, ect.
I doubt that they have enough output to be used as taxi lights, let
alone landing lights.
Cy,

My comment about wattage was in response to the prior post that ignored
exactly the data point you make. He maintained (and apparently does it
again above) that 75 watts isn't enough, based solely on wattage. He
hinted that 600 watts is needed, then advocated a lamp at 35 watts.
Obviously, what counts is adequate light output & proper light pattern,
at reasonable power consumption & for most of us, a tolerable
cost/benefit ratio. This applies to the tractor lights (can you say
'landscaping?') used on most factory planes, just like any other lamp.

The single page of info I sent showed 4 bulbs, from 20 watt to 75 watt.
Again:

http://www.1000bulbs.com/category.php?category=391

If you do a little digging you will find that there are literally dozens
of models available in this form factor. This type lamp is currently
being used in some aftermarket automotive driving lights. Note that 55 &
75 watts are the typical power levels for aftermarket halogen driving
lights.

Here's a link to a landing light kit available for homebuilts at a very
reasonable price. (Complete with LED position lights, it's about 1/2 the
cost of the HID light advocated in earlier posts.)

http://www.creativair.com/cva/

Follow the links on the left side of the page to see the landing light
kits he has available.

I certainly wouldn't fault anyone for using HID's; the company above
even sells a kit of 35W HID landing lights. I was just trying to offer a
much more reasonably priced 'good enough' alternative for those of us
who recognize that the most expensive isn't always the best compromise.
Everything is a compromise in aviation, right?

Charlie
(no financial or personal connection to Creativair)