Because Owning And Flying Your Beechcraft Can Be Done Safely AND For Less Money!
  HID Nose & Wing Light Install (You Will Love Night Ops)

 

HID Lights are awesome in your car right? Check out this Auto Bulb Chart to buy an HID conversion kit for your automobile.

 

GE Miniature Bulb Catalog Resource

 

So how come we are still stuck with 1940's incandescent light technology for our airplanes?

 

Well, not any more! And here is a source for a CSOB PAR-36 & PAR-46 HID Light Kits, Duckworks Aviation. Based on user reports, the PAR-36 should mount in any Baron nose and the wings of B55 SN: TC-400 thru TC-1600 and maybe some Bonanza installations, check your parts catalog to find out if you can use a PAR-36 bulb in any of your plane's light positions. A PAR-46 unit is required for the wing cavities of the Baron (SN: TC-399 and lower) and possibly Bonanza wings as well.

 

See pics of a Bonanza PAR-46 install using the Duckworks HID kits HERE. The cavity is a little tight for the ballast box to be mounted on the side, but it will work and this owner shows you the end results are quite nice, IMHO.

 

 

Here is some Bonanza lighting history from Larry G.:

 

PAR 36 are 4.5" diameter round lights

 

PAR 46 are 5.75" diameter round lights

 

Each are available in multitudes of "horsepower". Spec is candlepower or lumens. There are dozens (maybe 100s) of types & applications of each. Different voltages, wattages, beam patterns, connectors, etc. Aircraft landing lights, taxi lights, auto head lights, security system lights, insect repellent lights, stage lighting, and on & on. There are other PAR specs, too. In general, the bigger the PAR #, the bigger the light's form factor.

 

Bonanza landing lights for Model 35 through M35 are 12 volt PAR 46 and are mounted in the wing leading edges. The 40 gallon tanks, starting with the N35, occupy the space where the wing-mounted lights went, so Beech moved the landing light to the nose bowl and went to a single light. PAR 46 is too large to fit there, so they used PAR 36. Later Bonanzas also have a 2nd PAR 36 taxi light mounted on the nose gear strut.

 

Old Bob adds:  A 24 volt electrical system was fitted during the 1978 Model year for the Bonanzas. Don't know about the Debbies and Stretch Debbies (A36s).

 

Model number D-10120 was the first production 28 volt Bonanza and I think it was built about June of 1978. D-10097 was the prototype 28 volt airplane.

 

 


 

PS: If these HID lights are too complicated for your tastes, check out this Grote manufactured PAR36 LED replacement bulb with 900 lumens HERE for the CSOB price of $130 (of course at that price you get to figure out the approval with your A&P/IA) . The bulb will work on 12 and 24 volt systems! The spec sheet on the LED bulb is HERE.

 

Pics of the Grote PAR36 on an A36 are below:

 

 


 

 

PAR36 LED @ $65 - Support CSOBeech.com w/Your Purchase

 

 


 

 

$65 PAR46 LED FITS EARLY BARON, TRAVEL AIR

 

NOSE & BONANZA, BARON/TRAVEL AIR

 

INBOARD WING PODS!

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

HERE is a 12V, PAR-46 LED Bulb PN: P46FLC from Whelen for ~$125. This could be an ideal bulb replacement for the early Bonanza PAR-46 wing positions or the nose gear mounted bulb with 12V electrical systems and/or generators. This bulb consumes only ~2.3 amps and throws out 1600 lumens.

 

  • Reverse polarity protected.
  • Replaceable hard coated polycarbonate lens provides increased durability and longevity.
  • Heavy-duty black powder coated die-cast aluminum heat sink.
  • Industry standard brass slotted head connection point.
  • Available in Flood and Spot.
  • Patent pending.
  • Internal thermal regulator maximizes the lifespan of the LED diodes.
  • Internal circuitry and unique optics provide an extremely intense and smooth 2° circular spotlight.
  • Ventilation system eliminates the infiltration of moisture by providing a constant internal atmosphere.
  • Five-year HDP® Heavy-Duty Professional warranty.
  • 12 VDC Super-LED spotlight draws only 2.3 amps and provides (1600 lumens) more lumens per watt than traditional sources:

    • Whelen Super-LED PAR-46 produces 2000 Lumens @ 30 Watts.
    • Traditional Halogen Lamp produces 1000 Lumens@ 50 Watts.
    • Unit weighs only 1lb.
    • SAE J1113-42 Class 5 EMI certified.
    • Emits zero EMI.

     

 

Below is a review from CSOBeech visitor and Debonair owner, Curtis W., on his experiences in selecting this P46FLC bulb:

 

My aircraft has a single PAR46, and I was looking for a drop-in replacement.  I found the P46FLC was the best solution for me, at about $125-130 from a variety of public safety product suppliers, but consistently available from www.strobesnmore.com for $125.99.

The light is very well made and compact, and from the information I have available, identical to the Whelen Parametheus PLED461L, which is $289.00 from Aircraft Spruce.  I no longer see my alternator bog down when turning on the light.  At 50,000 hours of service life, you can leave the thing on all the time if you want to.  I do not have the markings to compare STC numbers and such.  I guess it's just not your day if you get grounded for having the wrong landing light.

 

Realize that the light is more focused than an incandescent bulb - you will not have the light scatter you would normally see with a taxi light, which is both good and bad at times.  The beam is 8 degrees wide, and the light is more white than yellow.  The light I am using is the P46FLC floodlight.  The C in the designation stands for "clear," so I'll omit that from further discussion.  Whelen also makes a P46SLC (2 degree beam spotlight) and P46WLC (20 x 60 degree wide angle light).  If you only have one light like me, the FL is probably what you need.  The SL is a bit too focused, even as a landing light.  Also, the SL lens is much thicker, and protrudes from the front of the light housing more, so this might lead to installation difficulties and problems with the nose gear door not fully closing.  The WL is thin like the FL, but the beam is much wider and does not penetrate very far.  It would probably make a great taxi light, but is most likely not usable as a landing light.

 

 

If these "alternatives" are still too complicated, or perhaps you're a purist and want the incandescent simplicity. perhaps consider finding yourself a pair of GE H7635 bulbs. The H7635 is a PAR46 bulb rated for 100 hours and only pulls 3.5 amps and is 160,000 lumens vs. 200,000 for the #4513. Find a H7635 HERE

 

Or check out the new H7680X HERE. An 80 watt spot bulb with HIR technology.

 

 

 

 


 

Scroll down at the link to "Phillips 35W HID"  at Duckworks PAGE or just call 503-543-3653 and speak with Don Wentz. Don can get you a PAR-46 kit for the wings of your Baron or Bonanza. He reports that he is a HID supplier to Van's Aircraft with these PAR36 and PAR46 HID kits. 

 

Actual HID kit from Ductworks Aviation

 

HID Lights draw a fraction of the amperage that an incandescent does and also creates a fraction of the heat, which we all know has melted a few landing light lenses in the wings. HID lights also produce so many more candle power of light output and are listed with lamp life in thousands of hours, not tens or hundreds of hours. Those aircraft owners with 14V electrical systems (especially aircraft with generators) would be especially well advised to look into this type of lighting upgrade.

 


 

HID, Incandescent & LED Comparison

 

 

 


 

Do you need a HID Flasher? Check this out:

 

See the PDF on the Flasher/Switch HERE

 


 

A Beech Lister (Lance F., a B55 owner) posted this about HID technology:

 

"HID lights produce light from an arc in a Xenon gas. This is the same technology that's been used in strobe lamps for many years, but over the last several years a continuous arc adaptation was developed and is now common for headlights on high end automobiles. The advantage is far greater efficiency which means more light on less current and far less heat.

 


 

 

For example the HID lights in my Baron wings consume 50W (yes, there are some 50 watt kits out there) each compared to the original incandescent which needed 250W each and the HIDs put out something like three to four times the light. With the incandescent about 240 of those 250 watts ends up as heat and that's sufficient to melt the plastic lens covers if you operate the lights very long on the ground. The HIDs are so efficient that only 10-20 watts are released as heat and some of that comes from the "ballast" which doesn't affect the lens. BTW the "ballast" is actually a combination of a medium voltage constant current source, and a high voltage "igniter" (it takes a lot higher voltage to initiate the arc than it does to sustain it because the arc produces a low resistance plasma for the current to flow through)."

 

I love my 35 Watt PAR-36 HID light in the nose of my B55. It is a flamethrower compared to an amp sucking 250 watt incandescent bulb.

 

 

I run it from engine start to shutdown, day and night. And now I have them in the wing positions of my B55 as well and I'm very visible day and night. See the B55 HID nose light HERE (Click through 2 pics).

 

Let's see, on my 28 volt system I go from about a 9 amps of load (for a 250 watt bulb) to a 1.25 amp load, the light is waaaay brighter, will not melt anything on my airplane or any of my body parts and the bulb is reported to last thousands of hours! Folks, even for a CSOB this is a no-brainer. See the Baron nose and wing cavity install and Bonanza ballast box install pics HERE (Click thru 11 pics)

 


 

See Kevin O.'s Debonair Nose Bowl HID Install pic below:

 

 

 

The HID light must protrude forward somewhat in the factory nose bug mount to clear structure behind the mount that would come in contact with the bulb's transformer housing. Kevin's install comments for his mounting method are:

 

"you have to trim a little off the top (curved cut) and bottom to get it to fit in the early model nose bugs. I used the factory doubler that had the nut plates installed. Be very careful when you place the flush rivets---the nose bug is VERY soft metal. I have also installed the 50 watt HID in the original holder. The 3 extra screws you see are to adjust (aim) the direction of the light."  Kevin O.

 

Kevin O.

 


 

For approval authority consult your A&P/IA as to whether in their mind this qualifies as a MAJOR alteration. I encourage you to carefully read 14CFR Part 43 Appendix A relating to MAJOR alterations HERE and you and your mechanic determine your course of action.

 

Below is the last I knew definition of MAJOR Alteration from Part 43. Check the most recent FARs and with your a&p/IA for the most up to date info for your aircraft.

 

FAR 43 App. A defines a major alteration:

(a) Major alterations —(1) Airframe major alterations. Alterations of the following parts and alterations of the following types, when not listed in the aircraft specifications issued by the FAA, are airframe major alterations:

(i) Wings.

(ii) Tail surfaces.

(iii) Fuselage.

(iv) Engine mounts.

(v) Control system.

(vi) Landing gear.

(vii) Hull or floats.

(viii) Elements of an airframe including spars, ribs, fittings, shock absorbers, bracing, cowling, fairings, and balance weights.

(ix) Hydraulic and electrical actuating system of components.

(x) Rotor blades.

(xi) Changes to the empty weight or empty balance which result in an increase in the maximum certificated weight or center of gravity limits of the aircraft.

(xii) Changes to the basic design of the fuel, oil, cooling, heating, cabin pressurization, electrical, hydraulic, de-icing, or exhaust systems.

(xiii) Changes to the wing or to fixed or movable control surfaces which affect flutter and vibration characteristics.

 

You may also consult the following approved 337s for guidance on your approval process:

 

Bonanza M35 HERE

 

Debonair  HERE

 


 

Bonanza Nose Bowl HID

 

For those Bonanza owners looking for a nose bowl HID install, while not exactly CSOB Duckworks territory, the Knots 2 U kit may be the way to go for ease of install and dreaded paperwork. It has gotten rave reviews from BeechTalkers and here are some of the pics of the install:

 

 

 

The key to this whole kit is the carbon fiber fabricated nose bowl mounting ring, which allows for the additional clearance the HID bulb needs in the nose area of the Bonanzas. At $695, it's not CSOB, but you get all the dreaded paperwork and a fabricated piece that would be tough to do as a one time piece, Just my CSOB $0.02!

 

Here are some pireps from Beech owners with the K2U kit:

 

I bought mine and installed it about six months before they had received the STC, which I would guess is about 3 years ago. The deal was that they would send the paperwork when they got it. It has worked flawlessly ever since and I run with it on all the time. I fly just shy of 200 hours a year. When atc calls for traffic, my traffic sees me before I see them. If it saves my life only twice, it'll be paid for.

 

Marc C., A-36 Owner - Canada

 


 

We are finishing up installing a Knots2U HID landing light STC in our nose bowl landing light location. The unit includes a compact power supply that is mounted inside the nose bowl cavity in the area outboard of the air filter, and a PAR36 size light assembly with a little component on the back that looks like a transformer but makes the light 3.1" deep, too deep to use the existing mounting assembly, which has the landing light recessed.

 

Knots2U supplies a carbon fiber mount to flush mount the light. Knots2U sent us too different carbon fiber mounts, neither of which fit, because, we found out, our nose bowl landing light is a modification someone installed on the Deb with no log entry, no 337! Knots2U offered to make a mold from our existing housing and from that make a carbon fiber mount for us, and we sent them the housing and had them do it. The unit appears to fit perfectly. Tomorrow we actually mount it on the airplane, all the electrical work is done and the power supply is mounted. Paperwork wise, we are considering a log book entry that we have installed the Knots2U HID nose bowl landing light in accordance with the STC, which will solve the problem of the existing nose bowl landing light modification with no documentation.

 

Knots2U's STC lists (among others) both the Deb's model number (35-A33) but more importantly the TCDS number, which our Bonanza owning A&P AI said is the same for all 35s, 33s and 36s starting with the H35. He claims his particular H35 was the prototype for that TCDS.

 

We wanted the HID light for 3 reasons:

1, safety, you leave it on all the time, and it is very bright, many times brighter than the light it is replacing.

2. reduce electrical load, if we turn on everything, including the 250 watt nose gear mounted PAR 46 landing light (4522), the load exceeds the InterAv 50 amp alternator's capacity and the ammeter shows a little discharge. The HID light is 35 watts, less than 3 amps, while the 100 watt light it is replacing is over 8 amps. (Algebra, volts times amps equals

watts)

3. it isn't any fun to replace the nose bowl landing light with eight little screws with self locking nuts inside the nose bowl cavity holding the assembly in place, takes me over an hour to replace it. The life of the HID bulb is over 5,000 hours, prolly won't ever need to change it. The life of the 4509 landing light is 20 hours (!) and the life of the Q4509 we had installed I believe is 200 hours, if the filament assembly inside the sealed beam doesn't break off before it burns out, which ours have done in the past.

 

Stan S., A-33 Owner - KSAC

 


 

I did this process a few months ago and, for sake of others considering the upgrade, will add the following two observations relative to my B33 installation. Dan Gibson had some tweaking to do with his (last year at this time), so he may have something to add to the KB, as well.

 

(1) There are two styles of nose bowls on our planes and the transition from a blunter (vertical) nose to a later, more rakish backward sloping nose under the propeller (where the light is) happened some time during our A and B series of Model 33. The carbon bezel they sent with my kit was flat and, as it turns out, my plane has the newer backward sloping nose bowel. As such, the flat bezel pointed my new lamp right at the ground about 6 feet out in front of the plane. K2U (no affiliation with Yours Truly) sent me the alternate bezel that is canted upwards and that resolved the problem. Perhaps they now send both bezels for planes in the 62-64 mystery time frame.

 

(2) I purchased the landing light with the very narrow optics. The first time I landed in the dark with the light on I was very disappointed in the amount of runway illumination, even on short final. A blue smudge, as I recall. Turning on the taxi light on the nose gear helped tremendously. Moreover, I made a pass by Mather on the way back to CamPark from PAO andasked the tower if they could see me at all (1500') as I approached from the south: Nope. Same experiment with the PAO tower as I approached from the North over the bay at 1000: no joy. My guess is that the beam is so focused that the viewer has to be directly in front of the beam to see it.

 

I replaced the reflector assembly with the highly faceted "recognition" version and, while it does not give you the focused beam down the runway or taxi way, the visibility for other aircraft and the tower is much improved. And, the visibility to other aircraft was my primary goal. The nose gear light does fine for me serving as the landing light. With the faceted reflector, PAO tower now can see me as I pass Coyote Hills on the east side of the bay and that leaves them ample time to move all the women, children and gas trucks to the bunker before I attempt to land.

 

The K2U guys were great while I worked through my issues. Installation was a snap on my plane, probably because I did not have a preceding custom installation to deal with! :o)

 

Kevin C., B33 Owner - KPAO


 

OK so here is the super secret Phillips 35W HID pricing deal Don Wentz at Duckworks is offering:

 

Check out Duckworks Special Beech Lister Promo Info Page HERE

 

He will give Beech Listers the following pricing on EITHER lamp form factor, PAR-36 AND PAR-46!!!:

Buy two Phillips 35W HID Kits (take your pick of PAR-36 or PAR-46) at a price of $530 for the pair plus shipping

 

Buy one Phillips 35W HID Kit (take your pick of PAR-36 or PAR-46) at a price of $275 each plus shipping

 

Be sure to specify your voltage and be sure to tell him you are from "The Beech List"

 

He now takes credit cards and accepts checks and PayPal. Once again: you are on your own for the dreaded 337 and/or STC"paperwork" <vbg>

 

Call or email Don with your order: duckworks@comcast.net  

 

The Mailing Address is:

Duckworks Aviation LLC

50641 Firridge Ave.

Scappoose, OR 97056

503-543-3653

 

Hurry, I don't know how long Don intends to run this promo!

 


 

 

XeVision also has HID kits for PAR-36 and PAR-46 applications. See their Price List HERE

 


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