Lights

Lights
	CAUTION: I decided I wanted lights and other devices on my plane even though they were not part of the plans of the Sonex. The installation is untested and could potentially be a dangerous modification to the Sonex Design. I am presenting the details here for recreation and entertainment value only! Any builder must evaluate the safety of any modification for himself or herself.

	For lights, I am using 12V halogen lights which are used in home track lighting. They are bright, compact and inexpensive. They come in two types; spot and flood. I am using the spot light as the landing light and the flood light as the taxi light. I built a frame from .025 AL 8/24/99
	I built this press to bend the circular flange to hold the light. It works just like the flange tool used on the ribs. I used my fly cutter to cut the angled sides of the hole as well as the puck. My fly cutter has a reversible bit so I can flip the angled part of the bit from the inside of the cutter to the outside. I purchased it at Sears. 8/24/99
	For the lens I used .060 Lexan. To bend the Lexan, I first make a mold from AL in the same way and shape that I made the skin for the leading edge. I then preheated my oven to 300º. Be sure the oven is preheated before you put in the Lexan. Watch it closely until the Lexan starts to get soft and droop and then just press it down with an oven mitt. 8/24/99
	It does not take long for the Lexan to get soft so keep an eye on it. If the Lexan gets to hot it will start to bubble and then you have to start over. 8/24/99
	I could then fit the Lexan behind the skin and drill the rivet holes. I started at the leading edge and worked back. 8/24/99
	After the Lexan is fitted to the leading edge, I could fit the plate that will hold the lights. It is about 3" high and the flanges are angled to match the leading edge. I made the plate to be angled down about 5º below perpendicular to the chord line. I also made a 5" inspection hole in the bottom of the leading edge skin. The hole is also needed to access the strobe light power supply. 8/24/99
	Here are the lights attached to the plate. I attached MS21047-08 two lug anchor nuts to the plates. I attached the lights with MS24693C machine screws and some springs I found at my local hardware store. With this setup I will be able to make fine adjustments to the lights so they shine in just the right direction. 8/24/99
	Here is the front of the light assembly. The assembly attaches to the leading edge skin only and not to the ribs. 8/24/99
	Once the rivet holes were drilled I could cut the hole for the lens, dimple the skin and countersink the Lexan. 8/24/99
	Here are some sockets given to me by David Posey (Sonex #105). They work perfectly and even have a heat shield to keep the heat of the light from melting the socket. 9/12/99
	Here is what it all looks like when assembled. I wired up the lights to test for excess heat. The lamps and the lamp frames do get hot but the attach plate, skin and Lexan stay cool. I will do some further test when I get the strobe power supply installed. I am not sure how much heat they put out. 9/12/99
	Here is the Lexan lens riveted into place. You will notice that I used washers to back the rivets so that they would not split the Lexan. The rivet holes along the top and bottom will later hold the light frame. 11/7/99
	Here is everything riveted together. I like how it turned out but I still need to test for excess heat. 11/7/99
	I am using AeroFlash (Aircraft Spruce part # 156-0039) nav lights and strobes. To mount the lights I am building a streamlined extension that will mount to the wing tip. 11/7/99
	Here you can see about where the lights will be mounted. After I bent the AL sheet to a shape that would match the light, I used my bandsaw to cut one end to a 45 angle to match the wing tip. 11/7/99
	I am rethinking how to mount the nav/strobe lights. This idea makes it easier to rivet onto the wing tip but is not as aerodynamic. 1/14/00
	Didn't Pete Buck work on the F-117? Maybe he and give me some pointers about facet aerodynamics. 1/14/00
	If you have a more elegant solution, let's hear it. david.koelzer@home.com. 1/14/00
	Here is what it looks like mounted to the wing tip. 1/14/00
	Here is another view. 1/14/00
	OK, I know, it is on the wrong side. So get your own web site. ;-\|. 1/14/00
	I plan to install a RiteAngle IIa angle-of-attack indicator in my plane. The vane for the AOA indicator is attached to a plate in the wing. I wanted to make that attach plate before I riveted the skin on the wings. The plate is made from .060 AL. the spacer and backing plate are made from .040 AL. 8/24/99
	Here you can see the backer plate with the MS21047-08 two lug anchor nuts attached. I attached the nuts with CCC-32 rivets. I had to dimple not only the backer plate but also the lugs on the nuts. I used the pop-rivet style dimple tool but on the steel lugs I had to mount the female dimple die in a vice and hammer the male die into the lug. Tricky, but it works. 8/24/99
	Here you can see the flush rivets holding the anchor nuts. You can also just see the spacer that allows the .060 attach plate to sit flush 8/24/99
	Here is the attach plate in place. Later there will be a streamlined tube TIG welded to that plate. The AOA vane will be attached to the streamlined tube. 8/24/99


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