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

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

"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.

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

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

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

"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?

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


"nauga" wrote in message
nk.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