WINGTIP STROBES

LITTLE CUSTOM TOUCHES

Strobes or no strobes ??  Decisions, decisions.  Then one day, I was driving to Perris, CA., to look at ultralights, and a 2 seater took off from a private dirt strip near the highway.  Wings were a fairly light color, but within just a few seconds, he had blended in against the hillside in the distance.  I KNEW that plane was within 1/2 or 3/4 of a mile, but he simply vanished.  Course the smog in that area didn't help either, but the point remains.  So, the decision was made.......... strobes, it is.  I chose the Kuntzleman strobes.  I had read some horror stories about electrical interference in the radios from strobes, so that was number one to work out.

I work as an engineer at a major hotel in the desert at Palm Springs, CA., and I'm well aware of how powerful the summer sun is here.  On the roof, there are some runs of computer cable that have been up there for 7 years, and while it looks a little grainy on the surface, it's still tough and flexible.  It's also shielded and grounded, with 4, 7, or 9 multistrand #22 gauge conductors.  Perfect ! ! !  Now, how to get it to the wing tips ??  Wire ties would work, but I don't like them too well.  So.......I drilled 3/8" holes in the spar webs, installed grommets, siliconed the cable, and pulled them on thru, as in the pic above.  Neat, tight, strong.......! ! !

At the wing tip, I did use the wire ties, but only the black ones.  NEVER use the white - they will weather and break very quickly - don't trust them.  This is true with all the white nylon or plastic fittings, except hi-denstiy polyethylene, which is hard to find.   After a bad experience with a plane up north, I didn't want the strobes flashing in the corner of my eyes.  Also didn't want those delicate units banging on the ground when folding the wings.  To kill both birds with 1 stone, I angled the strobe heads up on the wingtips.  Looks good to me ! ! !   I wanted the strobes to be secure, but removable...........with the fabric on the wings, and I have little faith in the ability of that thin aluminum wing tip to hold threads.  So..........drilled and tapped the holes, and screwed long 10/24 bolts from the INSIDE, pushed the strobe heads over them, and used nyloc nuts.

Then, to secure the heads, I covered them with JB Weld.  Don't want them coming loose inside the wing.  Simple, strong, and secure.  I built a tray under the wing center section to hold the strobe power unit, shown here between the ignition coils, and the dry sump oil reservoir.  If those 3 wire plugs give a problem with radio noise, it'll be simple to make a light aluminum box to put over the power unit.  That should finish the job of shielding, if necessary.  Hopefully, that shielded computer cable will do the rest of the job for me.  We'll see.

Now for the tail feathers.  What better place than the top of the vertical stabilizer, but a little modification was necessary.  This inexpensive strobe is in many catalogs, but is meant for a flat surface.  A call to the manufacturer got me the smaller base, and the clamp, and my local Ace Hardware and Aircraft Supply just happened to have a chromed plastic shower head dresser-upper that was just the right size to hold the strobe.  A shim snugged it onto the tube.  At the bottom, I ran the cable ( left over from the wingtip job ) thru a grommet, and thru a plastic tube for protection.

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