Avionics News August 2012 - 23

exterior light, a stand-alone unit that produces 400 candela. The company’s visibility in LED-based aircraft lighting expanded as operators and owners became more aware of EMTEQ’s products. In addition to this and other anti-collision units, the company offers tail and recognition lights, wing inspection/ice lights, logo and landing lights. Among EMTEQ’s latest is the most-common of landing and taxi lights, the PAR 36 standard units. Introduced in October, the EMTEQ LED PAR 36 landing and taxi lights both employ the company’s total internal reflection optics, which deliver maximum illumination from the individual diodes, focused according to the role the light plays. For example, the EMTEQ PAR 36 landing light produces an intense 180,000 candela output focused to a narrow beam angle – akin to a spotlight. Conversely, the 40,000 candela taxi light focused into a wide beam, more comparable to a flood light. Both deliver lighting intensity measuring equal to halogen, according to the company. But, the EMTEQ PAR 36 landing and taxi lights – with their on-board electronics – consume less power, run cooler and last multiple times longer than halogen and incandescent bulbs. Many of EMTEQ’s LED products are available with diodes tuned specifically to produce light visible only to infrared sensors – useful for missions employing night or enhanced-vision systems. More information on EMTEQ’s LED products and their applications is available at http://www.emteq.com/fc-exteriorlighting.php. Teledyne Lighting & Display Products This company’s microelectronic technologies unit offers the Alphabeam for use in the vast majority of CAR 3/Part 23 general aviation aircraft originally equipped with the PAR 36-type light, which includes the GE 4509 bulb. First, it’s a drop-in replacement for other PAR 36 bulbs and uses the same wiring with no polarity issues, as with the PAR 36 bulb. Its 5,000-hour life expectancy is many times that of either incandescent or halogen PAR 36 bulbs. Weight is comparable, as well. Fully self-contained with its own built-in power supply and thermal protection, the Alphabeam produces far more light than the resistance-based bulbs at 170,000 maximum candlepower. Teledyne constructed the lens out of a high-impact resistant polycarbonate to protect the unit from damage in exposed installations. Best of all, the Alphabeam uses less than half the amperage of older designs – 45 watts total with no loss of light intensity or dimming across an operating range of 12 to 30 volts DC. The Teledyne unit is fully approved, PMA, STC – and widely applicable. Teledyne’s isn’t the only LED landing light option offering brighter, whiter light on less power and for years longer.

Whelen’s Parmetheus – in either 14 or 28 volt – also is a PAR 36 replacement, as is the Kuntzleman, a 14-volt unit for LSA and experimental aircraft; and the Aveo Max Hercules and smaller Atlas models, the former a 140,000 candela light, the latter a smaller unit producing 90,000. See Me: Position & Anti-Collision Lights Yes, LEDs are fulfilling every role, as noted earlier. Perhaps the simplest of all aircraft lighting jobs is that of the position lights – the red-on-left, green-on-right, white-in-back array lifted directly into aviation service from years of use in marine vessels. The Aveo Ultra Aurora three-in-one navigation/position light fixtures cover the bases for aircraft coverage. Each unit is filled with 30 ultra-high brightness LEDs featuring state-of-the-art performance while retaining the petite footprint the company’s e-series wing lights are known for; weight is a mere 83 grams or about 3 ounces. With the LEDs encapsulated in the company’s exclusive Aveo Diamidium formulation, the Ultra wing lights are virtually unbreakable. The company’s limited aircraft lifetime warranty translates to little or no risk to the owner of ever again writing a check for another set of wing lights. The combination of position and strobe functions also makes the Aveo Ultra Auroras a higher-value prospect, since the aircraft owner need not be concerned with a separate anti-collision solution. For 14-volt installation in light-sport aircraft, experimental aircraft and other applications not requiring approved parts, Aveo’s PowerBurst units offer a lower-cost alternative to the Ultra units. They fulfill all three roles – position, navigation and anti-collision with lightweight units featuring red-and-white and green-andwhite LEDs. They employ the same sturdy encapsulation and require no separate power supply to work. In addition, they are extremely low-power users, consuming only 0.24 amps in steady burn and only 1.65 amps with the strobe function activated. Whelen offers several LED position and LED position/ conventional-strobe packages, with the approval needed for some installations. They similarly boast of life expectancies in the thousands of hours and use minimal current amounts – well under 1 amp. Compare that to about 3.25 amps for a 28-volt bulb-based recognition or position light, and 6.5 amps for a 14-volt bulb. Whelen’s 1-pound Model 70900 Series self-contained anticollision lights are FAA TSO’d for fixed-wing aircraft – and they require no external power unit. According to the company, lab results show conservative life expectancy exceeding 20,000 hours. They’re sensor friendly too, producing no electromagnetic
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Avionics News August 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News August 2012