I got a 30W red unit.. as I recall after tax and shipping it was close to $100. The appeal for me was the long life and low current use.. I had great hopes.
** Brief disclaimer ** this is all my opinion from my experience. I'm not ashamed to admit I am extremely anal about being seen at night.
I was aware that despite all the claims about wattage and lumens and such, the real acceptance criteria is subjective. There's just no simple way to quantify and measure how effective it is at grabbing the attention of other's flying near you. The "proof is in the pudding" so, I bought one to try it out. I wanted to test it in real conditions so I installed it in my Skylane and had one of my partners fly it around the pattern while I stayed on the ground to watch, then took off in my 260 with another airport bum.. err Friend, and looked at it as another plane in the air with me..
He actually was the one that pointed out it looked like it was flickering, not strobing, and he was right. It truly looked like a tail light on a trailer going down the freeway at night with a bad ground. While on steady it might have been close to the original bulb but it was hard to tell, it certainly wasn't any better.
In the end I felt I'd rather put the extra money it costs to go LED lights on a more conventional solution and swap the 35A generator with a 75A Alternator (though I limited it to 50A). Going all LED including the 2 landing lights *might* have given me the juice I needed for the energy hungry strobes I wanted to install but would have cost as much as the alternator upgrade.. and now I have the advantages of the alternator too. The bulb now resides in the single tail light of my 1930 Model A Fordor until I get tired of messing with people behind me when they see it in flicker mode.
BTW, the LED landing lights were horrible.. Obviously lower emission, worthless in the daytime for use as additional identification..
I realize that us Cruisemaster guys with Continentals have time-proven STCs that make alternator upgrades a breeze and our Lyc/Franklin equipped brethren may not have it as easy. As a former Stinson owner I feel for you guys, I really do. I wish I had a simple answer for you.
Now, as to the whole TSO thing. The regs don't clearly give an answer (surprise!). Generally, you need to assure that parts which have an effect on airworthiness meet standards required for aircraft components. TSO is one example, there may be others. In any case, you should be able to point to something that clearly permits it's use...
From Navstrobe Website:
These bulbs are standard parts and have been designed to meet the requirements of TSO-C30c. Yay! we're good-to-go right?
eh.. maybe not. The regs don't really define what standard means, and just because they designed it to meet the requirements doesn't mean they actually do. What I would want to see is something like: "Navstrobe certifies that these bulbs meet TSO-C30c." When I asked for something with at least that language, they declined saying it wasn't necessary. I disagree, and I'm the one that will have to defend it in the event of an action (or to my insurance company).
Maybe they are contracting the assembly to an outside shop - which may complicate getting the parts manufacturing approval (PMA).. but I digress.
I think they'll really just targeting the kitbuilt market. And more power to them! I hope they grow and prosper.
For now I'll stay with glowing tungsten filaments
I recently have been seduced by HID landing lights - especially the ones that "wigwag" flash between the two... mmmmmmm....
