I think we are look at different light clusters Peter, probably because I have a TB20 series one, and you have a posh GT. :)
Here is the correct cluster from the Socata parts manual. The bulb is part 030 of course, and the pic is of the port wing, but the bulb I want is for the starboard wing. They are the same part of course, but the diagram will be different. lol.
Any help in sourcing a bulb would be appreciated.
Thanks
Howard
OK, hmmmm, I would still search Aircraft Spruce for WHELEN and look for a fitting which looks like the Socata one. They obviously have a custom clear cover. No way would the fitting be custom made also.
Worst case scenario is that it is made by some old guy in a shed in France…
Are the bulbs really coloured? That would be really unusual because bulbs get hot so you don’t want to paint them.
Here is another Spruce link with loads of different bulbs.
The bulbs are clear….see post number 3 above. My initial mistake.
Another player is Grimes and their stuff was definitely used in G1 TBs. The Grimes A-7512-24 (or 7512-12 for 12V) is one P/N which comes up and a google/images may confirm it.
Thanks. I’ll take it forward from here Peter :-)
PapaBravo wrote:
Not for vfr day flying. For night flying the nav light is required
That is how most of us reason, and act. And indeed there is no Part-SERA requirement for nav lights during daylight. Also, Part-NCO does not mention nav light as required installed equipment for day VFR.
But, strictly, all installed equipment must work unless exempted by a MEL (Minimum Eqiupment List) or a KOL (kind of operation list). Years back, there was a Danish AIC with a generic KOL indicating e.g. that in daylight you could fly without any external lights. But although many owners still keep that obsolete list in the aircraft documents, and even though the list is sensible, a valid MEL is required to fly with any installed thingy u/s. The TB-20 I used to fly did not have such a MEL, but maybe newer model have. Indeed most 10รท years old GA aircraft seem to have one in the AFM limitations section. However, quite a lot, maybe the majority, of the SEP’s flying, do not.
Some of us are working on a solution for that. The certification standard CS_MMEL is on of the EASA documents we are looking into. However, we would like to hear from anyone having gone down this path before us and maybe learned some useful things.
Thanks again.
So, putting to one side the question as to who actually removed the screws and the old bulb, here are some pictures:
The port wing’s light with everything in situ
The clear wing cover removed, but with the green dome still over the blown bulb
The green dome removed showing the blown bulb in situ
The blown bulb with the part number
The bulb is marked with UA-7512-24 which is a bulb shown as available in many places, including amazingly on Amazon in the USA (.com) but not Amazon.co.uk. I don’t know if an LED replacement is available or whether it is allowed to be fitted to my plane.
The green domed cover around the bulb is 27 years old and showing some signs of wear and tear. Poor thing. My plane also shows some signs of people with posh certificates (or those that work for them) tightening the screws over the clear covers too much – there are cracks emanating from the screw holes – more on the starboard wing than this port wing, and this annoys me – posh prices but poor work. (Not my current engineer / CAMO people I’m sure. Really.)
Anyway, my guess is that that the man whose hand appears in the final picture is likely to purchase a new bulb and fit it to the plane. It’s not a difficult task.
Howard
There exists an LED replacement for the nav bulb here LED bulb vendor – nav bulb replacement for 7512-24
I imagine that lots of men with posh certificates will need to form a committee, sitting regularly for a few years, before anyone is allowed to buy such a thing and fit it to my plane….
I am sure someone will say CS-STAN allows an LED replacement.
The officious official position on the Socata owner group is that you need extensive certification work to prove that the angle over which the light is visible is as before.
The encouraging thing is the reference to Grimes fittings
so I am sure multiple people have been down this road before, and in the USA the wingtip light fittings have to look right even on an Experimental.
