Hello all. I recently bought a clean old Ragwing 170. It’s not a must, but it would be nice to eventually have landing lights. The grimes spar brackets and lights are getting very hard to find. What are the possibilities that FSDO would actually allow the addition of a landing light? I’ve asked around a little in the 170 community to no avail. The easiest and cleanest install would be a dual nose bowl setup on LED. To cut into the leading edge of the ragwing wouldn’t be fun as the paint on this is quite nice. To cut it open for the ancient Grimes retract wouldn’t be easy either. Thanks for any thoughts.

Look into Will Stene's Quasar lighted wing tips. Im not sure if the ragwing is on the AML, but they would be the best/easiest solution... And INSANE light.

Yeah Stene is for the 170A/B only. Bummer.

I’d talk to your mechanic about modifying the lower nose cowl. There could be space there, and seems to me the right mechanic might view that as a “minor” alteration......not structural, no aerodynamic effect, etc.

You’d definitely want LED bulbs there, though. Filament type bulbs don’t last long in cowl.

Good luck.

MTV

Airfoil92 wrote:….. What are the possibilities that FSDO would actually allow the addition of a landing light? I’ve asked around a little in the 170 community to no avail. The easiest and cleanest install would be a dual nose bowl setup on LED. .....

The fold-down landing light on my old ragwing 170 was long gone when I bought it,
and it had a double landing light arrangement in the LH leading edge, just like the later model airplanes.
Unfortunately I don't recall any paperwork on either change.
You should talk to your IA and see what he thinks about getting a field approval for a similar later-model set-up from his PMI.
MIght not be that big a deal.
I'd much prefer lighting in the wing(s) to lights in the nosebowl.

You might talk to the 120/140 crowd. They have been putting 150 lights in the leading edge of those birds forever. I think the club may even have an STC. Might be useful to get a field approval.

Regardless whether you put them in the wing or in the nose bowl, AIM THEM! I can't believe how many people complain about their lights, but they never take the trouble to aim them properly.

About 14 years ago, I had HID lights installed in my P172D, which are wing mounted. I knew that the stock lights weren't good enough, and I wanted what was then the best. So my IA installed them, and that night I went out to try them out. Boy, was I disappointed! I'd just spent $1000 on the lights and whatever he charged to install them, and they weren't much better than the stock lights had been. But then I realized that they were grossly out of aim.

So for the next 2 hours, I aimed them. The taxi light was easy--I just pointed the airplane at a far away hangar, and twisted the adjusting screws until the light pointed exactly where I wanted it. The landing light was more difficult. It has to be pointed at the runway when the airplane is on approach pitch, and that's quite a downward aim. So it took me at least half a dozen attempts before I was satisfied, and with 22 screws holding the light lens on, it was time consuming! But I've never had to change the aim since then. When I'm on approach at night, at my normal airspeed and flap configuration and on proper glide path, the landing light shines so that I see the numbers first, when I'm still quite a ways out, maybe a quarter mile or so.

Now that LED lights are all the rage, many are installing them--but also many LED bulbs, especially the less expensive ones, aren't properly focused, no matter how they're aimed. They may be bright as the sun, but if their beams aren't focused properly, they're useful only for others to see the airplane--and that's OK if that's what you want. But if you want to be able to see better yourself, the bulbs need to be both aimed and focused. Landing lights should have a narrow beam, both horizontally and vertically, almost like a spot light. Taxi lights should have a much broader beam horizontally, but a relatively narrow beam vertically.

Properly aimed and focused landing/taxi lights make night operations a whole lot easier.

Cary

Agree on the aiming! I think HID lights still have everyone beat on distance, but high-end LED's like the ones from Aero-Leds are catching up. LED's are a simpler install, and the built-in Wig-Wag feature of the Aero-Leds looks AWESOME when on, especially from one wing to the other. Cutting into a leading edge is not a bad job, but take your time and do it right. You may have to add a small section of pvc conduit for wiring runs.

Thanks guys for the replies. I think I may have secured the STC needed to do a leading edge light in the 170. 170A and B guys have it made on STC's. Rag wings, not so much. Having to get creative here.