Skycraft Landing Light Installation Pix

http://www.alexisparkinn.com/skycraf...ing_lights.htm

The pictures don't capture all the nitty gritty details of the
installation. A couple of things to note:

1. The wiring does NOT go inside the wings, but is rather routed inside
a flexible conduit that gets attached to the wing ahead of the ailerons
and flaps. This makes the installation much easier, but take note: If
you have gap seals, removing the aileron makes the install much easier.


2. Running the wires up to the panel means taking the right side panels
out of your interior.

3. Installing the split "L/R" switch into the "bank" of switches (near
the existing landing light switch) is a real sonuvabitch. Removing
that "bank" of switches is done by removing two screws in the face of
the panel, and removing more screws that are accessible only by
removing your bottom-most radio. Once the "bank" of switches is
removed, you can more easily remove the individual switches from the
"bank".

4. We opted to relocate our seldom-used pitot heat switch out of the
"bank" and off on its own, about four inches to the right. This was a
real "Dremel-tool" special job, and requires a skilled sheet-metal guy
-- which my A&P luckily is. We then put the landing light switch where
the pitot heat switch was.

5. As with so many installations, our headphone jacks were installed
using two vacant circuit breaker holes. These needed to be relocated
so that the new landing light circuit breakers could be added. I moved
these jacks to the right of the new pitot heat switch, just to the left
of the heater controls.

6. Because of the extensive nature of this installation, we opted to do
our annual inspection at the same time, which turned out to be a good
idea.

I don't have the final bill yet, and I'll be taking some more pix to
add to the webpage later today, but hopefully this will help you guys
who are "sitting on the fence" with regards to these lights.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
http://www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

I don't have the final bill yet, and I'll be taking some more pix to
add to the webpage later today, but hopefully this will help you guys
who are "sitting on the fence" with regards to these lights.

Wow, those lights are nice. If you think of it, post a picture of the
panel switches to your website, too.

--
Peter







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On 2005-02-05, Jay Honeck wrote:
http://www.alexisparkinn.com/skycraf...ing_lights.htm

On that page you mention:

One major deficiency of the Piper Cherokee is the single, nose-mounted
landing light. [...] Really the only choice for tip tank-equipped
Cherokee owners is the Skycraft landing light kit, which cuts the
landing lights right into the leading edge of both wings, similar to
the Piper Comanche's lights.

The funny thing is that Comanche owners complain about the black hole
directly in front of the airplane, and there have been several efforts
(with varying success) to add a nose light. I think there's an active
STC for the twin but the guy working on an STC for the single gave up.

BTW, now that you have multiple lights, you might look into the different
styles of 4509 bulbs. Many Comanche owners use a Q4509 (which is more of
a spot) on the landing light.

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/

BTW, now that you have multiple lights, you might look into the
different
styles of 4509 bulbs. Many Comanche owners use a Q4509 (which is
more of
a spot) on the landing light.

Yeah, I've got the Q4509 in the nose, but Skycraft recommends using the
regular 4509s in the wings, because they provide a broader spread of
light.

I've still got to play with aiming the lights, so we'll see if I stick
with the standard 4509 over time.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Nice pics Jay.. You always do a great job of documentsinig things with
pictures. It looks like your prop is chrome in some of the pictures...
Is that just an optical illusion?

Jon Kraus
PP-ASEL-IA
'79 Mooney 201 4443H


Jay Honeck wrote:

http://www.alexisparkinn.com/skycraf...ing_lights.htm

The pictures don't capture all the nitty gritty details of the
installation. A couple of things to note:

1. The wiring does NOT go inside the wings, but is rather routed inside
a flexible conduit that gets attached to the wing ahead of the ailerons
and flaps. This makes the installation much easier, but take note: If
you have gap seals, removing the aileron makes the install much easier.


2. Running the wires up to the panel means taking the right side panels
out of your interior.

3. Installing the split "L/R" switch into the "bank" of switches (near
the existing landing light switch) is a real sonuvabitch. Removing
that "bank" of switches is done by removing two screws in the face of
the panel, and removing more screws that are accessible only by
removing your bottom-most radio. Once the "bank" of switches is
removed, you can more easily remove the individual switches from the
"bank".

4. We opted to relocate our seldom-used pitot heat switch out of the
"bank" and off on its own, about four inches to the right. This was a
real "Dremel-tool" special job, and requires a skilled sheet-metal guy
-- which my A&P luckily is. We then put the landing light switch where
the pitot heat switch was.

5. As with so many installations, our headphone jacks were installed
using two vacant circuit breaker holes. These needed to be relocated
so that the new landing light circuit breakers could be added. I moved
these jacks to the right of the new pitot heat switch, just to the left
of the heater controls.

6. Because of the extensive nature of this installation, we opted to do
our annual inspection at the same time, which turned out to be a good
idea.

I don't have the final bill yet, and I'll be taking some more pix to
add to the webpage later today, but hopefully this will help you guys
who are "sitting on the fence" with regards to these lights.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
http://www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Nice pics Jay.. You always do a great job of documentsinig things with
pictures. It looks like your prop is chrome in some of the pictures... Is
that just an optical illusion?

Nah, it's polished aluminum. We stripped and polished it a couple of years
ago, and I think it's one of the nicest cosmetic mods we've done.

Pleasantly, we've found that we can polish it maybe once a month, and it
retains that nice shine. Of course, it's got about 30 layers of polish on
it by now...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"