REFLECTOR: For the Collective, HID light -- FG New Shock Installation

Andy Millin amillin at sbcglobal.net
Tue Jul 15 15:23:18 CDT 2008


I'll try.  I think I'll label the switch "Photon Cannon" and put a switch
protector over it.  :)

-----Original Message-----
From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
Behalf Of Cary Bettenhausen
Sent: 07-15-2008 2:51
To: 'Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list'
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: For the Collective, HID light -- FG New Shock
Installation

Andy:

 

Be careful not to burn a hole in your hangar wall with that thing


 

Cary Bettenhausen

 

________________________________

From: Andy Millin [mailto:amillin at sbcglobal.net] 
Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 1:45 PM
To: 'Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list'
Cc: gapax2000 at juno.com; 'Jorge Bujanda'
Subject: REFLECTOR: For the Collective,HID light -- FG New Shock
Installation

 

I have a couple things I thought I would share.

 

Item 1:  New nose gear shock

Item 2: HID landing light (for under $100)

 

****************************************************************************
*******

New Gear Shock

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*******

 

I have completed installation.  I have posted pictures on my website.  It
looks like this is a winner.

 

A tip for installation:  When the nose gear wheel and fork are in the
standard “trailing” position, the moment or force on the gear shock is
relatively small.  In this position, the contact point of the tire is just
slightly ahead of the canard bulkhead.

 

If the wheel and fork are turned 180 degrees (pointing straight ahead), the
moment and pressure on the shock is tremendous.

 

So 
 install the shim and shock, install the cross bolt and gear leg,
install the nose gear fork and tire,  turn the tire until it points straight
ahead, gently lower the weight of the aircraft onto the backward tire.

 

Carlos came over and helped me install.  I was in the plane.  I had 80 lb.
of weight on the co-pilot side.  Carlos was outside the aircraft leaning on
the Canard Bulkhead.  In this configuration, the nose gear was spongy.  The
shock was compressed a good ¼” beyond what we needed to install the
Captivator Plate.  We put the Captivator in place and bolted it up.  At this
point I was sure this was going way too easy.

 

After installation we turned the tire 180 into the trailing position.  The
gear leg was immediately firm.  With Carlos on the CBH, the weight on the CP
side and me in the plane, the leg was snug against the Captivator.

 

If you are going to install, I highly recommend this method.

 

****************************************************************************
*******

HID

****************************************************************************
*******

 

I have been looking at converting my incandescent landing light to something
more powerful.  

 

HID has two advantages:

It produces a great deal more light  (around 10x the photons)

It draws a great deal less electricity.  (approx 3 amps)

 

The downsides are: 

 

It takes about 5 seconds from the time the switch is thrown until it reaches
full brightness (a non-issue in my estimation for my purpose)

You have the extra weight of the ballast.  Extra weight is never a good
thing on an aircraft.  The ballast might weigh 4-5 ounces, and I’m willing
to accept it.

HID requires high voltage (15K-20K volts) to ignite.  During ignition (5-10)
seconds, the high voltage can create radio noise

 

Other considerations:

 

                I really want an installation that does not require
modification of the current landing light.  I want it to “drop in”

                Current Aviation HID systems that would “drop in” run in the
$300-$500 range.  For me, the benefits just aren’t worth $500.  I want a
photon cannon, but not that badly.

 

The Internet has enabled me to waste a great deal of time educating myself
on this subject.  >.< 

 

I’m going to share what I have learned so I can comfort myself that it was
time well spent.  :)

 

Automotive HID systems are very durable and should perform well in our
aircraft.  Life expectancy on the bulbs is around 3000 hours (lifetime of
the aircraft).  They handle shock and vibration well.

 

Our factory incandescent is a 100W  PAR-36.  Parabolic Aluminized Reflector,
36 eights of an inch in diameter.  :)

 

It is a focused beam with a dispersion somewhere in the neighborhood of 10
degrees horizontal and 10 degrees vertical.  I don’t have the exact numbers,
but I’m sure I’m close.    Essentially it is a spot light, not a flood
light.

 

HID Bulbs/Systems come in a lot of flavors.  A quick search of the net will
turn up cheap halogen to HID conversion kits.  You can get two bulbs, two
ballasts, and two wiring harnesses for around $110.  You will see them
listed as: H1/H3/H4/H7/H11/H13/9005/9006/9007  These are bulb types.  For
the most part, a ballast will drive any one of the types.

 

One of the bulbs might look like this:

 

Click to enlarge
<http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/sports-imports_2002_9262620>
<http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/sports-imports_2002_9262620> 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are two flavors of conversion kits.  Cheap flavor mentioned above and
expensive flavor (no middle).  The expensive conversion kits do run in the
$300-$500 range.  I was ready to pull the trigger on a cheap kit, but
couldn’t bring myself to do it.  I didn’t know why there were two prices
ranges.  There had to be a difference, and the difference could make all the
difference.  :p

 

The cheap systems above (H1/H3/H4/H7/H11/H13/9005/9006/9007)  Can be
produced cheaply because they build the igniter into the ballast.  Lower
parts count and all that.  Downside: it makes them EMI noisy. 

 

The expensive systems used bulbs D1S/D1R/D2S/D2R/D3S/D3R/D4S/D4R.  These “D”
system have moved the igniter to a small module that joins directly with the
bulb.  It looks like this:

 

http://img.alibaba.com/photo/11056277/Auto_HID_Xenon_OEM_Bulb.jpg 

 

D1S on left, D1R on right.  Notice the clip on the “R”  (it looks like it
could be easily removed)

 

The name of the bulb has some significance:  Letter “D”, Number (1-4),
followed by S or R.

 

                “D” means Dual Pole.  Look closely at the bulb.  It has two
compartments.  It also has the rod coming from the base of the bulb and
attaching at the top.

                1-4 refers to the gas used (Mercury, Xenon, etc.).
Actually, if you want to talk tech, it is called a “Capsule”

                S is Straight, or Standard, R is Reflective or Reflector.
“R” type Capsules will have a metal band around the base that blocks light.
It is intended to keep high beams from overlapping the low beam and causing
glare.  I’m not sure, but the metal band on the “R” might be a clip that can
just be pulled off???

 

D series don’t have the high voltage line from the ballast to the bulb.


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