Lighting kit....
 

I called one of the local electronic guru's in the quest for some bling (an ultra bright light system) for my jets and scale planes. I contacted Jim Shima ( who is also a turbine jet junkie) at Hyperdyne Electronics and told him:

I want a simple system that:


1. I can run off my rx batts (no seperate battery required) I am using a 5 cell NiMh, but he can easily do it for 2S Lipo if u need.
2. must be isolated from the rx in case of a fault (Jim added an optical isolator)
3. must be small and simple to operate
4. I wanted the landing light to come on via the gear switch on the tx
5. it must be BRIGHT (he used the 1W Luxeon Emitters....5mm light, about 8mm base) LED's are available also if u wish
6. I wanted all the lights flashing except the landing light.....(steady nav lights are easily accomodated if u wish)
7. and finally.....there are 2 things I will never fully understand nor want to....Women and electricity.....so just make it happen ( the electricity part that is) :D

Here's a few pics of the components and install...I wanted a red anti-collision beacon on the top of the fuse and the standard red/green wingtip nav lights....other color options are no problem....

First, I added an aluminum tube cooler to the back of the luxeons as they can generate lots of heat. The flashers dont require a cooler, but the steady landing lights do. I added coolers to all the lights as it serves as a mounting bracket for the Luxeon. Once added, I added heat shrink to keep everything in place and something for the glue to stick to when mounting them. More on this later.

RE: Lighting kit....
 

Next, I needed a reflector lense for the landing light. I took a little cheap-o $2 flashlight apart and used the reflector. I have a tight install in the nose gear bay, so I cut the reflector to the size I needed and held the Luxeon in with a few drops of CA. Next I added a clear lens cover made out of clear plastic packaging everything comes in now.

RE: Lighting kit....
 

Next was to install the lights. It's going on my CARF Lighting, so I don't need scale lens covers (although easy to add if desired). I cut a hole approx 1/4" in diameter in the wing tips and top of the fuselage for the beacon. The lights are then tacked in with a very small amount of CA on the heat shrink. This way, they can be removed easily if needed for replacement and are very solid and will not move under normal useage.

Fisrt few pics show the hole needed and then last pic shows what it looks like from the inside (fuselage mounted beacon). Very quick and easy to do this way and the finished product looks nice and clean.

RE: Lighting kit....
 

A few pics of the landing light installed in the nose gear door....offset to clear the strut.

RE: Lighting kit....
 

Here's a few pics of the controller board. U plug it into the gear channel and program it so the landing light is activated by the gear switch and is off when the gear is up. Notice the switch on the board and the little white programming button next to it. More about these in the video. The last pic shows it installed and tucked up in the fuselage.

RE: Lighting kit....
 

Tight!

Maybe the Bandit would look good with some lighting.....

RE: Lighting kit....
 

For any techincal info and options, contact Jim at

[email protected]

I know my limits, and being an electrical engineer is not in the cards for me.

Video of the system operating will be posted shortly.

Ryan

RE: Lighting kit....
 

Dave, your MB339 is next in line for some "bling" courtesy of [link=http://www.hyperdynelabs.com/]Jim Shima[/link]

RE: Lighting kit....
 

Ryan, she is in good hands. Now you will make her yours!

RE: Lighting kit....
 

OK...got it now....here's the link to the video....not the greatest, but you get what u pay for.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3i8AYM0DnU

RE: Lighting kit....
 

Looks great Ryan. I like your install, very clean looking. I hope you enjoy the kit.