Avionics News March 2017 - 39
Today's world is an LED world - and
getting ever more so in aviation. With
every advance in cockpit and cabin
illumination systems, landing
and taxi lights, anti-collision
lights, and on the flight
decks, in warning panels and
lighted switches, old-tech
illumination sources fade into
the past.
Still, despite the many
advances in avionics and
electronics we've seen in
the past 15 years or so, many
common panel components
remain stuck in the analog era
of the 1970s, when transistors
finally displaced vacuum
tubes and solid-state relays
began replacing switches in
many electrical applications
- and old-technology bulbs
remain the standard.
But a couple of systems
common to more-complex,
higher-performance aircraft remains a
panel mainstay in older business-turbine aircraft and
even some higher-end piston airframes - singles and
twins, alike.
Annunciator panels, switches, switch panels and other
panel occupants - among the weakest links in these
vital components is that oldest of electrical illumination
technologies, the incandescent light bulb.
Bruce Maxwell caught on early and saw a future in
adapting the well-established LED technology in place
of the incandescent bulb, with its fragile filament,
delicate glass and sensitivity to vibration, shock and
G-Forces.
A failed filament in one of these components, whether
a lighted switch panel or an annunciator panel, usually
meant not flying until
a technician replaced
the bulb, fixing the problem.
And the fragility of the incandescent
bulbs wasn't their only shortcoming,
Maxwell noted. First up, their heat.
Most of the energy consumed by
incandescent bulbs is wasted as
heat, not light. A ripple effect of
the considerable heat generated
by those tiny bulbs came in
the form of failed plastic bulb
sockets and switches made
brittle by long-term exposure
to these bulbs' high operating
temperature.
And speaking of wasted
energy, a large collection of tiny
bulbs combines to put a heavy load
on the aircraft's electrical generating
system. The greater the number of
these little bulbs, the greater their
combined power load and heat output.
Recognizing all these factors led
Maxwell to found and head his company,
Luma Technologies - an industry leader in
LED-based replacements for annunciator panels,
lighted switch panels and switches.
Just more than 10 years after starting the company, the
Lumatech line dominates the aftermarket for these panel
components - thankfully, for many operators flying an
aircraft for which original-equipment replacements are
unavailable, or available at high prices.
A decade of innovation
Luma Technologies was founded in March 2006
with the vision of becoming a premier manufacturer of
lighted displays and custom switching products to the
Continued on following page
avionics news
*
march
2017
39
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News March 2017
No label
Avionics News March 2017 - Intro
Avionics News March 2017 - No label
Avionics News March 2017 - Cover2
Avionics News March 2017 - 1
Avionics News March 2017 - 2
Avionics News March 2017 - 3
Avionics News March 2017 - 4
Avionics News March 2017 - 5
Avionics News March 2017 - 6
Avionics News March 2017 - 7
Avionics News March 2017 - 8
Avionics News March 2017 - 9
Avionics News March 2017 - 10
Avionics News March 2017 - 11
Avionics News March 2017 - 12
Avionics News March 2017 - 13
Avionics News March 2017 - 14
Avionics News March 2017 - 15
Avionics News March 2017 - 16
Avionics News March 2017 - 17
Avionics News March 2017 - 18
Avionics News March 2017 - 19
Avionics News March 2017 - 20
Avionics News March 2017 - 21
Avionics News March 2017 - 22
Avionics News March 2017 - 23
Avionics News March 2017 - 24
Avionics News March 2017 - 25
Avionics News March 2017 - 26
Avionics News March 2017 - 27
Avionics News March 2017 - 28
Avionics News March 2017 - 29
Avionics News March 2017 - 30
Avionics News March 2017 - 31
Avionics News March 2017 - 32
Avionics News March 2017 - 33
Avionics News March 2017 - 34
Avionics News March 2017 - 35
Avionics News March 2017 - 36
Avionics News March 2017 - 37
Avionics News March 2017 - 38
Avionics News March 2017 - 39
Avionics News March 2017 - 40
Avionics News March 2017 - 41
Avionics News March 2017 - 42
Avionics News March 2017 - 43
Avionics News March 2017 - 44
Avionics News March 2017 - 45
Avionics News March 2017 - 46
Avionics News March 2017 - 47
Avionics News March 2017 - 48
Avionics News March 2017 - 49
Avionics News March 2017 - 50
Avionics News March 2017 - 51
Avionics News March 2017 - 52
Avionics News March 2017 - 53
Avionics News March 2017 - 54
Avionics News March 2017 - 55
Avionics News March 2017 - 56
Avionics News March 2017 - 57
Avionics News March 2017 - 58
Avionics News March 2017 - 59
Avionics News March 2017 - 60
Avionics News March 2017 - 61
Avionics News March 2017 - 62
Avionics News March 2017 - 63
Avionics News March 2017 - 64
Avionics News March 2017 - 65
Avionics News March 2017 - 66
Avionics News March 2017 - 67
Avionics News March 2017 - 68
Avionics News March 2017 - 69
Avionics News March 2017 - 70
Avionics News March 2017 - 71
Avionics News March 2017 - 72
Avionics News March 2017 - 73
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Avionics News March 2017 - 79
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Avionics News March 2017 - 87
Avionics News March 2017 - 88
Avionics News March 2017 - Cover3
Avionics News March 2017 - Cover4
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