I've installed a LED taxi light and a LED landing light in lieu of the original two landing lights configuration I had.

The new LEDs are so bright that I have the feeling that two landing lights would give me enough light during taxi and I would have landing redundancy at the same time. The taxi light is definitely nice as it spreads the beam significantly, but it's also rather asymmetric.

Before I take out the taxi light and go off and purchase a second landing light, I'm curious to know what you guys have installed and if you think a taxi light is useful...

I put in one led landing light and one led taxi light. I have thought about exactly what you are saying, but I think I will stick with the setup for now. One advantage is the landing light lights up the runway on short final, but in the flare it points upward and the taxi light illumines the runway in front of you. I realize that I could use two landing landing lights and aim one down to get the same thing.

And I’m over here stuck with one landing light….

There is a good thread on the forum about this but it may take some searching. The LED taxi light is aimed down more than the landing light and has a wider rectangular beam. The landing light has a smaller circular beam that is aimed farther ahead of the nose. The landing light is better for illuminating the runway on landing but not too good at showing you the ground ahead while taxiing. Because the taxi light has a wider beam, it isn't quite as bright at any one spot. The landing light looks brighter because it focuses the beam into a smaller area.

Having both of them gives you better visibility on landing and on taxi. You can use 2 landing lights but with a taildragger, they are going to point too far ahead to illuminate the ground nearby. I've been in situations where I really wanted to see what was ahead of me while taxiing in the dark. For example, Spence Field in Moultrie at night with all those telephone poles and fences.

Maybe the ideal arrangement would be an LED landing light and LED taxi light in each wing. The lights draw about 3 amps each so even with all of them on, the drain would only be about 12 amps which should be easily handled by the alternator. You might have to increase RPM a bit while taxiing to get full brightness if you keep all of them on

Andy, you made me wonder about the feasibility of that so I looked it up and the Whelen LED taxi and landing lights both draw about 1.2 AMP each. That seems like it would be very low impact on the electrical system.

I added the 2nd light at annual a few years ago. It was pretty easy, get the kit from Maule. Took the time to go with the AeroLEDS and wigwag too.
I leave them on all the time.
I chose the taxi light bulb for the one side and the light beam is perfect for illuminating the surface.
My wife and I went out to the hangar one night and aimed them correctly.
I'm glad I did it.

Mog wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 24, 2021 9:40 pm

And I’m over here stuck with one landing light….

Thanks for all the input. I'll probably leave the LEDs as they are with one taxi and one landing light. They work in any case much better than the two traditional lamps they replace...

Mog wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 24, 2021 9:40 pm

And I’m over here stuck with one landing light….

Same here. But I just heard that AeroLEDs is releasing their new "Equinox" line which will be a combined taxi and landing light. Waiting to hear more about that!

An AeroLED Equinox combination landing/taxi light in each wing would be the way to go.

AeroLEDs showed their 24-volt Sunspot Equinox combination landing/taxi light at AirVenture and said they are working on the 14-volt version for release in August. It doesn't look like they will make that but it should be soon. Whelen already has a combination landing/taxi light in the PAR 36 MODEL 71141 SERIES for $588 but AeroLEDs advertises more light output.