Direct Replacement For Incandescent Lighting

By Gene Yarbrough

One thing some exhibitors have learned about Oshkosh is that food will draw a crowd. So AeroLED sponsored a media lunch today at AirVenture 2009 to introduce their new line of high performance LED lighting solutions. Pronounced "aerolead" the company produces retrofit and OEM lighting options based on super-bright LED technology that is fully replaceable with original lighting systems.

Nate Calvin of AeroLED reported the company’s product is a direct replacement for existing incandescent, or "legacy systems" products now in the field, including a replacement for the GE 4509 landing light bulb. Components include options for replacement of navigation and strobe units as well.

Calvin said all components exceed FAR requirements for lumen output. Stating that incandescent systems operate in the 2500 Kelvin range whereas the AeroLED product operates in the 6500 Kelvin range, providing a more white colored and intense light output. The lighting is directional for the strobe application, more closely matching the diminishing requirements from horizontal to vertical plane of the FAR’s. The units are also on the order of 4 times lighter than traditional systems with significantly lower amperage draw.

Initial products were offered to the experimental and homebuilt markets to facilitate a positive cash flow and to support FAR 23 and TSO testing requirements for certified systems. An added benefit to this business approach was the opportunity to receive feedback from the initial customer base. AeroLED also allowed OEM customers to provide opinions for improvements. Calvin stated that all the feedback was considered key to current product line development, resulting in a superior product.

AeroLED Pulsar

The Pulsar series is the first all LED nav and strobe light combination according to Calvin. The units are ruggedly constructed having gone through complete and thorough vibration and abuse testing, including installation on aircraft equipped with diesel engines that destroyed incandescent bulbs in as little as 10 hours. The units are hermetically sealed and are displayed under water to demonstrate their durability for all weather operation. Calvin quipped that the underwater display was a bit “cheesy” but proved to be an eye catcher and brought people over to investigate. Testing on the units has indicated a life expectancy of around 60,000 hours, well beyond most airframe lifetimes. While not specifically stating a price for the components, Calvin said they were comparable to costs of traditional lighting systems when replacement bulbs and power supplies over the life of the aircraft were factored in.

All AeroLED units have built in overtemp protection and offer very low RF emmisions and will not interfere with radio operations. Operating on 9-36 volts the systems do not dim, as incandescent lights do, at lower voltage levels and deliver the same lumen output regardless of input voltage.

AeroLED Sunspot

AeroLED is committed to providing a see and avoid product. The company believes, and is receiving encouraging reports, that their system allows much greater visibility at a longer range than any other system currently available. All systems have wigwag capability allowing spotting far in advance of typical legacy systems and AeroLED systems are more visible in daytime than other systems. PMA certification is expected by year end.

www.aeroleds.com