Avionics News October 2013 - 22

AVIATION’S ILLUMINATING REVOLUTION
Continued from page 21

power hungry. For many operators, this adds up to a
win-win-win, with costs the only remaining barrier to
wider use of LEDs.
“We’re getting inquiries from owners and shops who
want to know the scope of products available and want us
to help them phase in their transition,” explained the marketing vice president of a well-established parts wholesaler, one who deals primarily with maintenance providers.
“They often want to start with recognition lights and
worry about mixing technologies on one circuit – as you
might do replacing the two wingtip lights but not the tail
light,” the executive continued. “They’re interested in
the gradual approach because it fits their budgets and lets
them watch for more price reductions.
“That landing light,” he said motioning to a newly
TSO’d unit, “was priced at $450 ... soon it will drop to
$200 ... and at that point more pilots are doing the math.”
The “math” this businessman referred to is the replacement math: How many old-technology, incandescent GE 4509 landing light bulbs does it take to cover
the cost of one LED replacement?
To reach an accurate conclusion, the operator should
consider the LED will likely last longer than 50 or more
incandescent bulbs and 25 halogen bulbs. Compared to
spending $10 per, you can buy 20 GE 4509s, or about
eight of the halogen version. With many pilots replacing each landing light bulb twice a year – and spending
an hour doing so – just 10 replacements (or four halogens) make the LED product more cost competitive.
Today’s newest-technology LEDs contribute their
own advances to encourage the switch. Illumination
power per watt of electricity, for example, ranges between 60 and 100 percent better than a decade ago, according to manufacturers. In this same time frame, the
price per unit of LED runs about 14 percent of levels 10
years ago – that’s $3.50 versus $25.
And as prices continue to decline and energy efficiency
increase, the incentive to switch will only grow stronger.
The Future is Bright on the Inside
With a storied tradition, EMTEQ has been at the forefront of lighting interiors and exteriors of aircraft for the
past three decades. The company’s LEDs offer considerable cost and safety benefits to aircraft owners compared to
incandescent, fluorescent and halogens.
“Our lighting truly changes the look of the aircraft for

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the better,” said Peter Tessmann, business development and
marketing specialist with EMTEQ. “They offer better color
consistency, accurate color choice, continuous lighting
with no dark spots, and bright and even illumination.”
With tens of thousands of configurations to choose from,
EMTEQ has one product that has stood out in the business
and regional aircraft market.
“The ELW30 has been our most reliable and best-selling
lighting product at EMTEQ,” Tessmann said. “The benefits
affect everyone in the life of the product, from pre-installation with low prices and quick lead times to mechanics
for an easy and safe installation, and finally to the end customer for receiving a truly positive emotional response to
such a clean, crisp lighting experience.”
Accompanying the white LED lighting, EMTEQ is one
of the industry leaders in mood lighting. “Some products
we are very excited about are those in the QUASAR Full
Spectrum Mood Lighting Systems product line,” Tessmann
said. “With options for both 28VDC and 115VAC at a
competitive price point, we think it is the future for business and regional aircraft.”
In addition to the benefits of LEDs, full spectrum of
color and EMTEQ’s quality, the lighting system is truly
“smart” in the way it not only illuminates but how it works
with aircraft CMS systems.
“The smarts in this light are truly remarkable, and the
best thing we did was enclose all of it on the light itself,
meaning no extra LRUs for the performance,” he said.
Tessmann also noted that the industry view on LEDs is a
catch-22 when talking about cost.
“Most people only look at the upfront installation cost
but do not understand the long-term savings they would
receive,” he said. “The main issues with traditional systems
are that the bulbs break from shock and vibration, whereas
the LED lighting from EMTEQ is resistant to those forces.
“Another issue with traditional systems is that the power
supplies break down; EMTEQ’s lighting runs directly off
aircraft power with no need for power supplies. For both
of these reasons, the lighting systems save customers in
inventory charges, labor hours and aircraft downtown.”
In addition to cost savings, Tessmann noted that LEDs
are safer for the aircraft with lower current draw and less
heat emission.
Many Options from the Current Crop
In addition to EMTEQ, UTC Aerospace Systems, Aveo,
AeroLEDs, Teledyne and Whelen, are among the manufacturers offering LED technologies.
Whelen’s latest product is the Orion series of LED posi-

Avionics News October 2013

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