Landing Light SOP

90% of the wear on a bulb is the inrush current when you turn it on. A
landing light flasher without an inrush current limiter is an excellent way
to burn out bulbs faster. None of the commercially available flashers I am
aware of use ICLs.

Jim



My preference would be to get a flasher for the landing lights so I can
have the best of both worlds--longer bulb life and enhanced visibility
to others.

RST Engineering wrote:
90% of the wear on a bulb is the inrush current when you turn it on. A
landing light flasher without an inrush current limiter is an excellent way
to burn out bulbs faster. None of the commercially available flashers I am
aware of use ICLs.

Hey Jim -- If you can stand looking at this horrible website for a
minute, what do you think of the Pulsar?

http://www.avtek2.com/pulsar_info.htm

Mike (the owner) is very active on the Cherokee Pilots Association, and
several folks who have this flashing unit say that their bulbs last
damn-near forever. Does that mean they use ICLs?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I really can't tell. He claims to have "five stages of filtering" whatever
that means. He also says that the filament never really turns off, so there
is no thermal shock to the filament in the on-mode. But a dimming scheme
such as this is probably using some sort of pulse width modulation in the
"off" mode to dim the filament without heat buildup. I'd call it a dimmer
rather than a flasher -- dim, bright, dim, bright, and so on.

Seems to me that with any form of filtering there is going to be an
unavoidable heat loss in the inductors; that area under the curve is power,
and if the area goes down that power had to go somewhere. If it's not
light, it's heat.

It is an interesting product, but if I had to deal with that gawdawful web
page more than five minutes, I'd download it and read it in the original
html.

If you can get Mike to come on over here and discuss the internal
mechanisms, I'd be interested in finding out if my guess is correct. Of
course, five minutes with the product and an oscilloscope would be all it
would take also.

Jim




"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ups.com...

Hey Jim -- If you can stand looking at this horrible website for a
minute, what do you think of the Pulsar?

http://www.avtek2.com/pulsar_info.htm

Mike (the owner) is very active on the Cherokee Pilots Association, and
several folks who have this flashing unit say that their bulbs last
damn-near forever. Does that mean they use ICLs?

("RST Engineering" wrote)
Hey Jim -- If you can stand looking at this horrible website for a
minute, what do you think of the Pulsar?

http://www.avtek2.com/pulsar_info.htm


It is an interesting product, but if I had to deal with that gawdawful web
page more than five minutes, I'd download it and read it in the original
html.


Found this testimonial (w/mid-air pictures) on the Halloween site from Hell.

http://www.avtek2.com/Mid-Air%20Collision.htm

"Hi Mike,
I bought your pulsar unit several weeks ago, and I am still very pleased.

As for the mid-air, which occurred 11-26-00 over Katy Texas,
I was asleep in the right seat of my 172 and a pilot friend was flying.

A 150 collided with us, his right wing broke free and he was fatally injured
as his plane fell onto Interstate 10. His right wing pulled my right landing
gear out of my plane and his propeller cut the outer 7 feet of my right wing
loose and it buckled under. The impact was like turbulence, and not very
loud. The ensuing spin was more dramatic to me.

I awoke and flew. 3 spins and 14 minutes later we landed. My 172 was not
totaled and is probably flying again now. 2 hunters were in a field below us
and they were making a video of their bird hunting and looked up. I have
that 7 foot piece of wing in my hanger now and I look at it before every
flight.

I hope my thoughts help you to be an even better pilot, Ed Oppermann
(This is my "pulsar equipped" plane !!)"


Montblack

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I've been wanting to learn more about what is out there for the various
flasher products for landing lights. So, ther eis Pulsar, but I'm sure
they're not the only company. Who else?

Chris



Jay Honeck wrote:
RST Engineering wrote:

90% of the wear on a bulb is the inrush current when you turn it on. A
landing light flasher without an inrush current limiter is an excellent way
to burn out bulbs faster. None of the commercially available flashers I am
aware of use ICLs.


Hey Jim -- If you can stand looking at this horrible website for a
minute, what do you think of the Pulsar?

http://www.avtek2.com/pulsar_info.htm

Mike (the owner) is very active on the Cherokee Pilots Association, and
several folks who have this flashing unit say that their bulbs last
damn-near forever. Does that mean they use ICLs?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

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"kristoffer-m20j" wrote in message
When ever possible I try to follow the same SOP as the BIG BOYS. With
that being said what is the SOP for airliners when it comes to turning
on the landing light. Is it altitude based, distance etc...

The landing lights come on when we are cleared for take-off and are
extinguished ascending through 10,000 feet. They are turned on again when
descending through 10,000 feet, if we are at 250 KIAS or less, and are
extinguished when clearing the runway.

Also, (ON A SOAPBOX HERE), The taxi light is extinguished if we are facing
landing traffic as a courtesy. The taxi light is also extinguished when not
under movement or when being directed by a marshall for parking. The strobe
lights are NEVER illuminated while on the ground unless we are on the active
runway.

D. (B-727, MD-80, A-320)