AeroLEDs started out with a discussion that I had with my partner Mike D’Amico about his electrical system in his Kitfox 7A being loaded down too much by his halogen landing lights and incandescent position lights and Xenon strobes. When he was landing at night, the low engine RPMs resulted in his generator on his Rotax engine not keeping up with the electrical load, requiring the battery to make up the difference. The system voltage steadily declined resulting in a brown out that caused the landing lights to dim down to a level that made landing with them difficult. That led to discussions about using LED technology to create aircraft LED landing lights, aircraft LED strobe lights, and LED position lights to greatly reduce current draw and reduce maintenance by eliminating bulb replacements. Using experience that I had with LED lighting, Mike and I started out doing some crude experiments that proved out our initial concepts. At that point, I contacted my friend and soon to be partner Nate Calvin and enlisted his Mechanical Engineering talents to help us design our first product, the AeroSun 800.

The AeroSun 800 light matches the size of an existing rectangular incandescent landing light that Mike was using in his Kitfox leading edge mount. The circuitry designed into the 800 includes lightning and surge protection, a redundant switching regulator to control LED current with wide voltage range, over-temperature protection, and a built in controller to allow the light to function as a recognition light and to synchronize with other lights to create an alternating wig-wag pattern for enhanced anti-collision visibility. The pulse function is activated by powering the yellow wire instead of the red wire, and synchronization is achieve by connecting the green wire output from one light to the blue wire input of a second unit. The green/blue wire approach allows daisy chains to be created so that four lights can be easily configured to wig wag in tandem just by wiring them up appropriately. This is the light that we took to our first appearance at Oshkosh’s AirVenture 2007, where the product and company were introduced. The AeroSun 800 was later redesigned to reduce the cost and price point, as well as an increase in LED brightness to 1600 lumens, thus the AeroSun 1600 was born.

The second product that we developed was the SunLite, which is essentially ½ of a 1600. The idea behind the SunLite was to create a small size light that was less expensive than the 1600 and could fit in smaller spaces. The SunLite has all the same features as our first LED landing light, the 1600. The SunLite later went through a design change that further shrunk its size and reduced its price. The SunLite is a popular choice for wingtip recognition light installations and as a taxi light.

The next product to be developed was the SunSpot 36 which is a PAR 36 aircraft LED landing light that replaces 100 Watt incandescent PAR 36 bulbs such as the GE4509 (12V) and GE4594 (28V). The SunSpot 36 has all the same features as the original 1600 landing light, but doubles the number of LEDs. At 30 Watts of actual power, the SunSpot 36 produces as many lumens as the 100 Watt incandescent light that it replaces. The built-in pulse/wig-wag function allows aircraft that utilize the standard PAR36 bulb size to easily add a pulsing light for added anti-collision visibility without having to buy and install a separate box. The materials used in the Sunspot 36 are the same high quality aluminum and polycarbonate materials found in the 1600 and SunLite.

In quick succession we developed the Pulsar ExP, our first all LED strobe and position light, the MicroSUN landing/recognition light, and the SunRay landing/recognition light.

The MicroSun matches the form factor of the recognition light installed in Cirrus SR-20 and SR-22 airplanes, but with a higher light output that puts a lot of light out into a broad cone. The Sunray uses a high output LED and a narrow beam lens to provide a tightly focused landing light.
 

The Pulsar ExP was developed as our first entry into the combined forward red/green position, white anti-collision LED strobe, and rear white position wing mounted light. The Pulsar ExP provides a 100% LED solution in an industry standard footprint with an aerodynamically low drag profile, industry standard mounting screw pattern via a patented mounting bracket, with no external power supply required. It features a built-in synchronization controller to allow multiple strobes to flash in unison, and internal reflectors and optics to direct the LED light into the proper directions required for aircraft position and anti-collision lights.
 

Following the Pulsar EXP, we designed the SunTail, Pulsar NS series, and Pulsar all LED strobe and position lights to fully comply with the TSO requirements for 400 effective candle power Class II anti-collision lights. The SunTail is designed to fit into the industry standard Grimes position light mount, and is compact enough to fit inside a Super Cub rudder. The Pulsar NS series matches the footprint of the shorter body length legacy forward position light/strobes, but with the advantages of LED technology we can add a white rear position light in this smaller body size, where in the past only the longer body lights could provide a rear position light. The Pulsar is the same overall size as the Pulsar EXP, but is designed to meet the Class II anti-collision requirements for certified aircraft.

Recently we introduced the SunSpot 46 which is a PAR 46 aircraft LED landing light with built in wig-wag pulse functionality that replaces PAR46 250Watt lights such as the GE4553 with an 85Watt LED light that puts out more total lumens into the same beam angle. Like the SunSpot 36, the SunSpot 46 fits into existing PAR 46 bulb mounts. Aircraft PAR 46 LED landing lights are found in high performance single engine piston airplanes, twin engine piston, turbine, and military aircraft.
 

The SunSpot 64 is the highest output LED landing light in the industry. It replaces a 600Watt PAR 64 incandescent bulb with a 220 Watt PAR 64 aircraft LED landing light that generates the same total lumens and the same overall beam angle. Aircraft LED PAR 64 landing light bulbs are used in crop dusters, DC-3s, military, and commercial jetliners.

The most recent addition to the AeroLEDs product line is the SunBeacon all LED 360 degree strobe and/or beacon light. It is designed to replace legacy dorsal and belly mounted beacons and strobes with a compact LED solution that reduces weight, aerodynamic drag, and does not require a separate power supply. The SunBeacon will be available in the fourth quarter of 2010.

All of the lights that we at AeroLEDs have developed were designed to comply with the tough environmental requirements found in the aircraft environment. The SunTail and Pulsar NS series lights have passed DO-160E requirements to categories that will allow them to be installed in any airplane or helicopter models, and have passed the TSO optical light output requirements as well. All of our lights share common electrical designs that have been shown to comply with the DO-160E requirements, and the materials and construction are of the highest quality to ensure long term product reliability and ruggedness.