RocketBoy Aircraft Products

Parts and accessories for your Rocket or Homebuilt aircraft.

   Cool Products

   Free Software

  F1 Canopy Covers
  
 Cosmic Rocket Stuff

    Flight Test

   Heater control  Module

    Homemade EFIS

   HID Landing Light

  Equipment cooling

   Pitch Control Module

   External Power unit

  Painting it!

  Electrical

  Alternator

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Copyright © 2002, 2003 by
R. Gross
Rocketboy Aircraft Products Inc.

Landing Light (HID)

Always wanting to do it better and more differently, I am trying a new method of lighting the runway.
Recent technology advances have given us High Intensity Discharge (HID) lighting. You may have noticed late model luxury vehicles driving with a bluish/purple color coming from their headlights. These are HID bulbs. These bulbs produce significantly  more light while using much less power. They require an exotic ballast and igniter system to power them. The ballast produces 400 Volts during startup and reduces to 85 volts after a short warm-up period. Furthermore, the igniter creates a 20,000+ volts pulse to start the bulb burning. What results is a short (1/4 in) mercury arc. It draws only 3 amps while running, is rated to last 2500 hours, and produces the equivalent lumens of a 150 watt halogen bulb.. Drawbacks are high cost and an extra pound of weight for the ballast. This unit you see came of an Acura TL. The ballast is by Matsushita and the bulb is by Sylvania (Xenarc). Bulb is a D2R modified into a D2S.

Here the bulb burns fiercely powered by a 12 volt battery. Flight test has proven the device to be reliable and VERY VISIBLE.

"You can't use runway behind you, altitude above you, or speed you never had"
- Rocketboy