Would a 3 million Candlepower spotlight make a good landing light?

[Legrande Harris]

I need to buy a landing light to mount in a fiberglass cowl. I have
been looking at Zenon HID's, halogens, etc., but the most powerful seems
to be a halogen Spotlight.

I am not sure what the current draw is but I would guess about 6 amps?
I will strip the batteries off of it and run straight from the planes
power supply.

What am I missing here? Beam shape? Heat? Power requirements? Weight?

I can buy these things at Walmart for about $60. When I was younger, I
used to use them for spotting and they sure light up everything : )

LG

[Rich S.]

"Legrande Harris" > wrote in message
...
> I need to buy a landing light to mount in a fiberglass cowl. I have
> been looking at Zenon HID's, halogens, etc., but the most powerful seems
> to be a halogen Spotlight.
>
> I am not sure what the current draw is but I would guess about 6 amps?
> I will strip the batteries off of it and run straight from the planes
> power supply.
>
> What am I missing here? Beam shape? Heat? Power requirements? Weight?
>
> I can buy these things at Walmart for about $60. When I was younger, I
> used to use them for spotting and they sure light up everything : )

They're on sale at HF Tools for $9.99 item number = 90247

Rich S.

[Kevin Horton]

On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 13:26:54 -0600, Legrande Harris wrote:

> I need to buy a landing light to mount in a fiberglass cowl. I have been
> looking at Zenon HID's, halogens, etc., but the most powerful seems to be
> a halogen Spotlight.
>
> I am not sure what the current draw is but I would guess about 6 amps? I
> will strip the batteries off of it and run straight from the planes power
> supply.
>
> What am I missing here? Beam shape? Heat? Power requirements? Weight?
>
> I can buy these things at Walmart for about $60. When I was younger, I
> used to use them for spotting and they sure light up everything : )
>
> LG

The few spotlights I've played with had a fairly narrow beam. But and
aircraft pitch attitude and heading (if there is a crosswind) changes
quite a bit during the latter part of an approach and landing. So a good
landing light has a wide enough beam to keep the landing area lit even
though the aircraft attitude is changing.

So, don't be surprised if you find a spotlight doesn't make a very good
landing light, if it has a narrow beam.

--
Kevin Horton RV-8 (finishing kit)
Ottawa, Canada
http://go.phpwebhosting.com/~khorton/rv8/
e-mail: khorton02(_at_)rogers(_dot_)com

[Rob Housman]

Do not confuse watts in with lumens out. Some lamp technologies are more
efficient than others in converting electricity to light. See
http://www.xevision.com/
for some good tech talk on this subject.

Best regards,

Rob Housman

"Legrande Harris" > wrote in message
...
> I need to buy a landing light to mount in a fiberglass cowl. I have
> been looking at Zenon HID's, halogens, etc., but the most powerful seems
> to be a halogen Spotlight.
>
> I am not sure what the current draw is but I would guess about 6 amps?
> I will strip the batteries off of it and run straight from the planes
> power supply.
>
> What am I missing here? Beam shape? Heat? Power requirements? Weight?
>
> I can buy these things at Walmart for about $60. When I was younger, I
> used to use them for spotting and they sure light up everything : )
>
> LG
>

[nauga]

Legrande Harris wrote...

> I can buy these things at Walmart for about $60. When I was younger, I
> used to use them for spotting and they sure light up everything : )

I'd hate to meet you head-on with one of these things as I'm
taxiing out for takeoff. It'd kill the night vision of anyone
swept by the beam.

Dave 'LSO qual' Hyde

[C J Campbell]

"nauga" > wrote in message
k.net...
> Legrande Harris wrote...
>
> > I can buy these things at Walmart for about $60. When I was younger, I
> > used to use them for spotting and they sure light up everything : )
>
> I'd hate to meet you head-on with one of these things as I'm
> taxiing out for takeoff. It'd kill the night vision of anyone
> swept by the beam.
>

How would that differ from any other landing light?

[Ron Wanttaja]

On Mon, 14 Jun 2004 22:14:02 -0700, "C J Campbell"
> wrote:

>
>"nauga" > wrote in message
k.net...
>> Legrande Harris wrote...
>>
>> > I can buy these things at Walmart for about $60. When I was younger, I
>> > used to use them for spotting and they sure light up everything : )
>>
>> I'd hate to meet you head-on with one of these things as I'm
>> taxiing out for takeoff. It'd kill the night vision of anyone
>> swept by the beam.
>
>How would that differ from any other landing light?

Walmart has deeper pockets. :-)

Ron Wanttaja