lamina position lights

[[email protected]]

I posted photos of some LED red and green wing tip position lights
here:

http://w1.lancair.net/pix/Lamina-LED-Positon-Lights

The LED arrays are from Lamina Ceramics. These have a very wide
illumination pattern,
essentially Lambertian, and are so bright that without any lens they
meet FAA specs in the
forward direction. The FAA specs require much lower intensity off the
forward direction, so
these lights are way over spec for other azimuths.

I just used a series resistor to set the current. Keep it simple. One
amp for the green, two for the red.

Note that the standard Whelen bulb also uses 2 amps so these create no
more heat
than the bulbs. They make a LOT more red or green light, however.

I will attach the LEDs to the aluminum heat sinks I made with thermal
heat sink grease.

Also, you will see my strobes in the photos. These are public service
units I bought on E-bay.
I made a toroidal lens of D shape cross section to project more light
into the azimuthal plane.
The lens was made from 1/2 inch plexiglas rod. I heated it with a heat
gun and bent it into a curve.
I then cut the cylindrical inner surface on a milling machine with a
fly cutter.

These are for my Lancair 360, but a similar design would work on almost
any experimental.

Cheers.

--
Jeff Peterson

[Stealth Pilot]

On 28 Nov 2005 16:53:43 -0800, wrote:

>I posted photos of some LED red and green wing tip position lights
>here:
>
>http://w1.lancair.net/pix/Lamina-LED-Positon-Lights
>
>The LED arrays are from Lamina Ceramics. These have a very wide
>illumination pattern,
>essentially Lambertian, and are so bright that without any lens they
>meet FAA specs in the
>forward direction. The FAA specs require much lower intensity off the
>forward direction, so
>these lights are way over spec for other azimuths.
>
>I just used a series resistor to set the current. Keep it simple. One
>amp for the green, two for the red.
>
>Note that the standard Whelen bulb also uses 2 amps so these create no
>more heat
>than the bulbs. They make a LOT more red or green light, however.
>
>I will attach the LEDs to the aluminum heat sinks I made with thermal
>heat sink grease.
>
>Also, you will see my strobes in the photos. These are public service
>units I bought on E-bay.
>I made a toroidal lens of D shape cross section to project more light
>into the azimuthal plane.
>The lens was made from 1/2 inch plexiglas rod. I heated it with a heat
>gun and bent it into a curve.
>I then cut the cylindrical inner surface on a milling machine with a
>fly cutter.
>
>These are for my Lancair 360, but a similar design would work on almost
>any experimental.
>
>Cheers.

that is quite interesting. an LED type I've never seen before.
by my count it takes 39 LED's to produce the required intensity.
are these led arrays easily obtainable? inexpensive?

Stealth Pilot

[[email protected]]

I got mine from Mouser. They are still quite pricey, about $80 each,
but
thats becuase they are new. They price will fall over time.

Each of the 39 cells actually has 2 or 3 LEDS. The innovation is the
bonding of these to the ceramic backing, which can then carry away the
heat.

I decided to try them because of the simplicity. just one panel of
LEDs and
a resistor and the job is done.

-Jeff