Avionics News May 2016 - 21

Commercial plug-and-play options
For an avionics shop's client interested in modernizing
the aircraft's lighting gear, for reducing the demands on the
electrical system or providing breathing room for additional
electrically driven systems in the aircraft, a range of manufacturers offers solutions tailored to almost every aircraft need.
And the breadth and depth of the potential market continues
to attract interest from players within and without aviation.
For example, Panasonic - already one of the world's largest manufacturers of LEDs - let it be known recently that it
plans to put its expertise in the technology to work as aircraft
lighting.
The entry of Panasonic into a field supplying airliners and
business-turbine aircraft means new competition for the marketplace.
Cabin lighting is but the latest aviation arena entered into
by the electronics giant. Panasonic already makes in-cabin
audio reproducers, cabin audio systems, video systems, and
cabin management systems with hardware flying on Bombardier's CSeries airliners.
Panasonic also has worked on the cabin services system for
Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.
For commercial operators converting to LED lighting
sources - particularly outside a cabin makeover - this can be
as easy as opting for plug-and-play LED replacements for old
incandescent or fluorescent bulbs.
While more expensive up front, the durability and longevity of LEDs translates quickly into reduced costs for replacement bulbs and lower maintenance downtime waiting on a
maintenance technician to trade out lights and sign off the
aircraft for return to service.
According to one avionics shop owner, the power saved
by converting to LED lighting the interior of a business jet
helped offset the higher load imposed by a new cabin-management system. The weight reduction can also be a welcome
factor for operators flying larger aircraft.
And they bring lifespans measured in years rather than
hours. Throw in the benefits in reduced maintenance, and
lower life-cycle costs is attractive enough to draw considerable cross over to the LED.
GA options: Plug and play?
Or remove and replace?
The options are no less plentiful for the general aviation
operators, many of whom already embrace the longer life,
brighter source and greater durability of LEDs on the outside
of their aircraft.
Vendors offer complete LED post-light assemblies for operators who want to retain the convenience and brightness of
the original post lights - while reducing current load, aircraft

operating empty weight (sometimes), maintenance demands
and heat generated.
Replacement flood-light bulbs for cockpit area lights are
right alongside replacement fixtures with LEDs already built in.
Reading lights, cargo compartment lights, step lights, even
strips of glowing lights fill out the LED options available to
general aviation operators.
Flexible strip light systems can provide a soft glow from beneath the lip of the glareshield or as a pathway to an emergency
exit - all with the same low power consumption and long life
expectancy.
Whether cabin task lights, reading lights, flood lights or focusable, the LED options may cost more initially, but they'll
likely still be working years after scrapping of the host aircraft.
Lighting the way into the future
A recent month brought the delivery of Aero Electric Corp.'s
battery-powered Sun Flyer proof-of-concept prototype training
aircraft in Colorado, with Airbus working on an electric/hybrid
aircraft, China flying electrically powered aircraft to test their viability, and a European electric-aircraft from Pipistrel.
Major advances in propulsion motors align with significant
improvements in lithium-ion-chemistry batteries to set the stage
for a shift to electrical power for training and sport aircraft flying.
Already awaiting these advances: LED light solutions for the
aircraft recognition role, for anti-collision beacons, strobe lights,
landing, taxi, and the full array of cabin and interior lights - all
employing the now-ubiquitous light emitting diode.
As their costs decline, their benefits become more attractive
and the roles they can fill more broad.
And for an aircraft powered by a battery and a motor or hybrid
electric/reciprocating engine, the LED is simply the only sensible
solution.
Fortunately, the aviation community offers LED-based options for every job required by an aircraft - and their proliferation continues.
They are lighting the way into our future, helping our machines run cooler, with greater fuel efficiency and reduced power
demands on our electrical systems.
Some in aviation even predict that the LED will, over time,
come to be even less expensive than the old technology slowly
exiting general aviation.
So it may well come to pass that the LED-updated cockpit of
our partners lives years longer than the sheet metal surrounding
it - and that upgrade the last time the owners face paying for
replacements and maintenance of the cockpit lighting.
"That's an investment worth making," the senior partner
conceded.
"That's work we should never have to face again," noted the
junior partner. "We can live with that." q
avionics news

may

2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News May 2016