Initial Prep (Debur, Trim, Drill, and Cut)
9/3/23 - 1.2h
9/4/23 - 1.6h
Another project I want to complete as much as possible before installing the bottom wing skins is preparing the landing lights for installation. The lights are forward of the spar, so there's really no advantage to doing this step before the bottom wing skins are installed, but it will be nice to have most of the tasks on the wings buttoned up before the wings go into storage. There is also good access to the wiring aft of the spar if any work needs to happen there. The lights won't be permanently attached until after the wings are mated with the fuselage.
I ordered the AeroLEDs Sun Spot LX bracket kit from Van's. The bracket is made from two primary parts - a mounting bracket and a retaining bracket, and the kit includes all the associated hardware and electrical connectors to complete the landing light installation. There are a lot of PAR 36 lights, including non-aviation lights, on the market; and it pays to shop around for the lights that will best meet your mission needs. I landed on the Whelen Aerospace Technologies (WAT) Parmetheus G3 landing lights rather than the AeroLEDs Sun Spot series.
The first step in preparing the light brackets is to fabricate spacers that will go between the mounting and retaining brackets. The AeroLEDs Sun Spot lights require a 10mm spacer, but my WAT Parmetheus lights are a little thicker and required a longer spacer. In my case, I needed a set of 7/16” spacers. I tested the spacers after cutting the first set of four from the provided tube material, and the length worked very well. Confident in the length, I then fabricated the spacers for the second light.
The next step was to clean up the parts for the bracket. The rear piece has a couple of tabs to remove and file smooth, and then the parts get deburred and prepped for primer as usual. I decided to test fit the lights, and was a little concerned that the hole in the aft brackets was slightly too large. My lights were delivered with a rubber gasket that goes around the perimeter of the light if needed for installation; so I pressed on, hopeful that the final assembly would work out.
[Hole and Edge Deburring Tools, Tube Cutter, Dremel with Metal Cutting Disk, Files]
Prime
9/5/23 - 0.8h
9/7/23 - 0.1h
Prepping and priming followed my standard process of cleaning, scuffing, degreasing, and priming. The difference this time is I planned to spray a matte black topcoat on the parts since they'll be visible in the landing light bay. The plans for the landing light bay recommend white or matte black paint, and I went with the black option when I put the leading edges of the wings together. I lightly scuffed the primed parts to help the black paint adhere to the parts. The first black coat, however, didn't turn out great. There were lots of bubbles and imperfections, so I wet-sanded the parts with a gray Scotch Brite pad, cleaned the debris away, and sprayed a second very light coat. The second coat came out much better - not perfect, but perfectly acceptable.
[Grey Scotchbrite Pads, Bon-Ami Cleanser, Dupli-Color Degreaser, Rust-Oleum Automotive Self Etching Primer (Green – Rattle Can), Rust-Oleum Automotive Matte Black Spray Paint (Rattle Can)]
Assemble
9/8/23 - 1.1h
Assembly of the landing lights with the brackets was straight-forward. The first step is to rivet the nut-plates to the aft bracket part using AN470AD3-3 rivets (i.e. no dimpling required). Once the nut-plates are attached, the landing light gets sandwiched between the forward and aft brackets, and they are screwed together using the spacers to keep the parts from deforming into the nut-plates. Now that the landing light assemblies are complete, they'll go into storage until after the wing is mated to the fuselage.
[Rivet Squeezer, 3/32” Cupped Squeezer Set, Cleco Clamps, Screwdriver]