I get the latest obsession of LED landing lights (like carbon fiber) but there's your local bone yard full of OEM Zenon and LED hedlamps of high quality and cheap. Bought my pair from a wrecked Mercedes and ley are awesome. And I can go to the local auto pars store for replacement parts. Done in a weekend and back to building.

Greg Norman

On Mon, May 11, 2020, 10:16 PM Ian Huss via groups.io <lisnion=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:

Hi Tom, 

Did you use theCrazed pilot Bullet LED PAIR - Tiny High Output Landing/Strobe Lights or LED Lights  ?

$14.00 Bullet LED PAIR - Tiny High Output Landing/Strobe Lights or LED Lights We manufacture and sell aircraft parts and accessories for general aviation pilots and airplane builders. From c...

 They look great but do you think they put out enough light for landing (250 lumens each)? I bet they're fine for taxiing, but landings too? The wigwag controller is a bonus too! Now I gotta figure out where to put yet another switch.

Thanks a bunch, I remember seeing your writeup before but couldn't remember where.

Ion

Re: LED lights From: Tom Smith Date: Mon, 11 May 2020 12:02:04 MDT Yes I sent them both ways. They are from crazedpilot.com Tom Smith  A&P/IA Long-EZ N12TS Cell-707-592-0869 KVCB KJ6PZN

Hi Tom, 

Did you use theCrazed pilot Bullet LED PAIR - Tiny High Output Landing/Strobe Lights or LED Lights  ?

$14.00 Bullet LED PAIR - Tiny High Output Landing/Strobe Lights or LED Lights We manufacture and sell aircraft parts and accessories for general aviation pilots and airplane builders. From c...

 They look great but do you think they put out enough light for landing (250 lumens each)? I bet they're fine for taxiing, but landings too? The wigwag controller is a bonus too! Now I gotta figure out where to put yet another switch.

Thanks a bunch, I remember seeing your writeup before but couldn't remember where.

Ion

Re: LED lights From: Tom Smith Date: Mon, 11 May 2020 12:02:04 MDT Yes I sent them both ways. They are from crazedpilot.com Tom Smith  A&P/IA Long-EZ N12TS Cell-707-592-0869 KVCB KJ6PZN

Del,

I agree that power consumption comparisons are interesting for LED lights but the missing link is the rapidly improving amount of light output per electrical watt consumed.

Consider how much light some of the so called headband head-light LED things put out - and the lights on push bikes.

That said, I am not sure how much reliance to place on some of the quoted Lumens figures - some LED's with relatively low numbers seem a lot brighter than those with higher claimed outputs.

     Perhaps a manufacturer honesty measure?

I would like to replace my halogen wing tip lights with push bike LED's but the clever internal switching arrangements have made that not such a simple task.

There is another clever wrinkle to these high power LED's too - the manufacturers build in heat protection circuits which actually switch the LED on and off to keep heat within limits.

Because of the persistence of the eye we do not notice this happening but it does and it introduces RF energy to the wiring.

But when it is all added up, LED's are getting better every day and are the way to go.

On Sat, 16 May 2020 at 08:35, Del Schier <cozypilot@...> wrote:

Those $14 LED’s are rated at 140 mA, only 2 watts.  The $13 LED’s I used in my Cozy are 36 watts for the pair. They are rated at  2600 Lumens so assuming the same efficiency those Crazed lights are only about 150 Lumens!  

 

The $210 PAR36 LED lights that ACS sells are rated at 14 watts and have a rating of 10,400 Luminous Flux. Not sure what to make of that rating.

 

The standard GE Halogen bulbs are 48 watts and 100,000 candlepower (converts to 7900 lumens}; go figure……….  Maybe we are comparing apples and oranges, but I think comparing LEDs by power means something.  How the beam is focused seems important also.

 

Del Schier

Cozy IV N197DL

Cannon Creek Airpark 15FL

 

 

 

From: members@canardzone.groups.io <members@canardzone.groups.io> On Behalf Of Greg Norman
Sent: Friday, May 15, 2020 9:51 AM
To: members@canardzone.groups.io
Subject: Re: [Canard Zone] LED lights

 

Read the disclaimer before wasting your time and money. Fun add-on I suppose.

 

Greg Norman

 

On Mon, May 11, 2020, 10:16 PM Ian Huss via groups.io <lisnion=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:

Hi Tom, 

 

Did you use theCrazed pilot Bullet LED PAIR - Tiny High Output Landing/Strobe Lights or LED Lights  ?

 

$14.00 Bullet LED PAIR - Tiny High Output Landing/Strobe Lights or LED Lights We manufacture and sell aircraft parts and accessories for general aviation pilots and airplane builders. From c...

 

 

 They look great but do you think they put out enough light for landing (250 lumens each)? I bet they're fine for taxiing, but landings too? The wigwag controller is a bonus too! Now I gotta figure out where to put yet another switch.

 

Thanks a bunch, I remember seeing your writeup before but couldn't remember where.

 

Ion

Re: LED lights From: Tom Smith Date: Mon, 11 May 2020 12:02:04 MDT Yes I sent them both ways. They are from crazedpilot.com     Tom Smith  A&P/IA Long-EZ N12TS Cell-707-592-0869 KVCB KJ6PZN

 

Thanks for the tip for an alternate spring breaking reason.

 

I get Century springs from Ace Hardware and haven't run into that.

 

Terry Schubert

---------- Original Message ----------
From: "Steve" <josteve100@...>
To: "members@canardzone.groups.io" <members@canardzone.groups.io>
Subject: Re: [Canard Zone] Long-Ez Speed Brake spring tension
Date: Thu, 14 May 2020 18:38:55 -0400

The spring in the pictures look like screen door return springs that are easy to get at Home Depot or Lowes.  I got one from Lowe’s last month that I was going to stretch out and wrap around the exhaust under the carb heat muff.  It broke in three places as I stretched the spring.  I then purchased one from Home Depot that was a different brand.  I was able to stretch the new one without breaking.  I don’t have the packaging anymore but it’s clear that some brands are making very brittle springs.  

 

Steve Sorenson

On Thursday, May 14, 2020, Terry Schubert <jschuber@...> wrote:

Many people set the landing brake spring tension ungodly high.  STOP that!

 

It is dangerous for the GIB when a spring breaks and hard for the pilot to open during normal operation. 

 

The brake should blow shut above 95 kts to prevent structure damage.  That closing pressure is to be controlled by length of the slot in the floor NOT by adding monster spring tension.  Study the geometry.  The push rod and the linkage should never be near straight or ever over center.

 

If your brake doesn't blow shut by itself at 95 kts then the floor slot is too long - shorten the slot so as to limit forward travel of the push rod.  That lowers the required spring pressure.  The plans spring is PLENTY strong.

 

Spring wire is sensitive to scratches and is more likely to break when scratched by pulling pliers that have slipped off the end of the spring or by folks that have attempted to reform the hook on the end.  An excessively sharp bend  increases the chance of spring failure.

 

 

Terry Schubert
retired Central States Association Newsletter Editor

Please note: message attached

From: "Filipe Rosa" <filiperosa@...>
To: members@canardzone.groups.io
Subject: [Canard Zone] Long-Ez Speed Brake spring tension
Date: Thu, 14 May 2020 12:53:54 -0700

 

 

Those $14 LED’s are rated at 140 mA, only 2 watts.  The $13 LED’s I used in my Cozy are 36 watts for the pair. They are rated at  2600 Lumens so assuming the same efficiency those Crazed lights are only about 150 Lumens!  

 

The $210 PAR36 LED lights that ACS sells are rated at 14 watts and have a rating of 10,400 Luminous Flux. Not sure what to make of that rating.

 

The standard GE Halogen bulbs are 48 watts and 100,000 candlepower (converts to 7900 lumens}; go figure……….  Maybe we are comparing apples and oranges, but I think comparing LEDs by power means something.  How the beam is focused seems important also.

 

Del Schier

Cozy IV N197DL

Cannon Creek Airpark 15FL

 

 

 

From: members@canardzone.groups.io <members@canardzone.groups.io> On Behalf Of Greg Norman
Sent: Friday, May 15, 2020 9:51 AM
To: members@canardzone.groups.io
Subject: Re: [Canard Zone] LED lights

 

Read the disclaimer before wasting your time and money. Fun add-on I suppose.

 

Greg Norman

 

On Mon, May 11, 2020, 10:16 PM Ian Huss via groups.io <lisnion=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:

Hi Tom, 

 

Did you use theCrazed pilot Bullet LED PAIR - Tiny High Output Landing/Strobe Lights or LED Lights  ?

 

$14.00 Bullet LED PAIR - Tiny High Output Landing/Strobe Lights or LED Lights We manufacture and sell aircraft parts and accessories for general aviation pilots and airplane builders. From c...

 

 

 They look great but do you think they put out enough light for landing (250 lumens each)? I bet they're fine for taxiing, but landings too? The wigwag controller is a bonus too! Now I gotta figure out where to put yet another switch.

 

Thanks a bunch, I remember seeing your writeup before but couldn't remember where.

 

Ion

Re: LED lights From: Tom Smith Date: Mon, 11 May 2020 12:02:04 MDT Yes I sent them both ways. They are from crazedpilot.com     Tom Smith  A&P/IA Long-EZ N12TS Cell-707-592-0869 KVCB KJ6PZN

 

Hi Tom, 

Did you use theCrazed pilot Bullet LED PAIR - Tiny High Output Landing/Strobe Lights or LED Lights  ?

$14.00 Bullet LED PAIR - Tiny High Output Landing/Strobe Lights or LED Lights We manufacture and sell aircraft parts and accessories for general aviation pilots and airplane builders. From c...

 They look great but do you think they put out enough light for landing (250 lumens each)? I bet they're fine for taxiing, but landings too? The wigwag controller is a bonus too! Now I gotta figure out where to put yet another switch.

Thanks a bunch, I remember seeing your writeup before but couldn't remember where.

Ion

Re: LED lights From: Tom Smith Date: Mon, 11 May 2020 12:02:04 MDT Yes I sent them both ways. They are from crazedpilot.com Tom Smith  A&P/IA Long-EZ N12TS Cell-707-592-0869 KVCB KJ6PZN

Many people set the landing brake spring tension ungodly high.  STOP that!

 

It is dangerous for the GIB when a spring breaks and hard for the pilot to open during normal operation. 

 

The brake should blow shut above 95 kts to prevent structure damage.  That closing pressure is to be controlled by length of the slot in the floor NOT by adding monster spring tension.  Study the geometry.  The push rod and the linkage should never be near straight or ever over center.

 

If your brake doesn't blow shut by itself at 95 kts then the floor slot is too long - shorten the slot so as to limit forward travel of the push rod.  That lowers the required spring pressure.  The plans spring is PLENTY strong.

 

Spring wire is sensitive to scratches and is more likely to break when scratched by pulling pliers that have slipped off the end of the spring or by folks that have attempted to reform the hook on the end.  An excessively sharp bend  increases the chance of spring failure.

 

 

Terry Schubert
retired Central States Association Newsletter Editor

Please note: message attached

From: "Filipe Rosa" <filiperosa@...>
To: members@canardzone.groups.io
Subject: [Canard Zone] Long-Ez Speed Brake spring tension
Date: Thu, 14 May 2020 12:53:54 -0700

I was right behind you in the Rutan mass arrival in 2005 and that's the last time I ever saw you flying your Varieze. Such great news! Look forward to seeing you and the VE at RR maybe? 

Ryszard

On Tuesday, May 12, 2020, 02:49:47 AM CDT, Mike Tooze via groups.io <miketooze=btinternet.com@groups.io> wrote:

Great, congratulations Steve,

Like finding an old flame - as pretty as ever!

Your spec. looks good, resisted the starter, etc..  Is /will be fun.

With the shutdown I have been thinking of bringing mine home for a bit of TLC, but does she really need it, Naa!

Sincerely,

Mike Tooze

On Monday, 11 May 2020, 19:41:48 BST, Steve <josteve100@...> wrote:

Yesterday I did the second first flight on my VariEze.  The first was in July 1981.  I flew N118SJ for over 1400 hours including ten trips to Oshkosh from California and it was my ride through the 21 years it took to build my Defiant.  When the Defiant was flying I decided to retire the VariEze and it sat in the back of my hangar for 14 years.  About two years ago I really needed a project and decided the VariEze needed to go into restoration.  A new paint job on the fuselage, new (overhauled) O-200, new instrument panel (no screens) and electrical system, new brakes, and adsb.  I decided to keep the original concept of light and simple so I left off a starter.  I did install an alternator since it now has two electronic ignitions (Pmags).  I had flown nothing but a Defiant for the last 15 years but sitting in the Eze felt familiar and it took very little time to start feeling comfortable again.  I did several high speed taxi tests then took off.  I stayed in the pattern at Leesburg, VA which is under class B at Dulles thinking it was a good idea in case of engine problems on the first flight but it all went perfectly.  It needs a couple of adjustments like trim springs but she is a flying machine again and now the fun starts. 

Steve Sorenson

Defiant N57KS

VariEze N118SJ