Mounting Beacon on Top of Rudder

[Mushroom]

I would like to mount a Whelen LED beacon on the top of my Colt rudder. There was never one there before and my airplane is currently uncovered. My question, does anyone know of a mount that can be purchased or fabricated that is already STC’d. I’d like just a post that extends up similar to the attached photo. I’m just looking for some direction on the best way to go about this.

Thanks

Patrick Morell965F2F17-DE3C-48D4-AACE-5E46E98442DF.jpg

[siouxpilot77]

Hey Patrick. Honest question. Why do you want to add beacon?

My point being, if you add strobes to the wings and have position lights, you don’t need it.

Mike


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[dgapilot]

You need to find a Whitaker Mount.


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[Mushroom]

Mike,
I was looking at cost. I believe I would need the position light strobe combination and the cost for two would be more then one beacon. Also the position lights on the PA22 are forward on the wingtip so I was concerned a wingtip strobe may not be seen well from the rear of the aircraft.

Patrick

[siouxpilot77]

Mike,
I was looking at cost. I believe I would need the position light strobe combination and the cost for two would be more then one beacon. Also the position lights on the PA22 are forward on the wingtip so I was concerned a wingtip strobe may not be seen well from the rear of the aircraft.

Patrick

Fair enough. FWIW I just pulled the beacon off my PA20. We added the Whelen Orion 650 strobe light on the right and the SkyBeacon is on the left, with the position light on the tail. We determined it was within spec for the required visibility and luminosity. All LED now which is nice. I’m sure I gained half a mile an hour rid of that parasite drag .

If you want my old mount you’re welcome to it. Fair warning I have absolutely no idea where it came from and neither did my IA, which is saying a lot since he has an eidetic memory. I can send ya a picture when I get home.


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[Mushroom]

Fair enough. FWIW I just pulled the beacon off my PA20. We added the Whelen Orion 650 strobe light on the right and the SkyBeacon is on the left, with the position light on the tail. We determined it was within spec for the required visibility and luminosity. All LED now which is nice. I’m sure I gained half a mile an hour rid of that parasite drag .

If you want my old mount you’re welcome to it. Fair warning I have absolutely no idea where it came from and neither did my IA, which is saying a lot since he has an eidetic memory. I can send ya a picture when I get home.


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Sure I’ll look at picture of it thanks. Also I found a nine page thread in this section titled “Strobes and Beacons” with a lot of information.

[Glen Geller]

Wingtip strobe lights on a stock PA22 are fine, the visibility is outstanding.
Three of the five Tri-Pacers in my club have such an installation. Perfectly legal, visible from anywhere in the air or on the ground.
I still have a functioning rudder strobe on my PA22 but have too many other priorities to replace it. It's probably not visible up on the rudder to a plane directly below me.
One might be tempted to install these if one were not too picky about "not approved for certificated aircraft", especially if the plane were not yet covered:
https://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages...ombosystem.php
Here's a lot of options, really much better on wingtips than up on the rudder:
https://www.aircraftspruce.com/menus...robes_led.html

For the price of a tank of gas you can upgrade from draggy 1980's rudder beacon to streamlined wingtip strobes.
They pay for the difference in fuel per hour in ~100 hrs.

Do it. You know you want to.

[Steve Pierce]

If you read the Whelen manual and the diagram in it they tell you the stock Piper wing nav light attachments are not legal or 360 view without a tail light. Having flown with my Dad's Clipper with them I can tell you I can see them from behind but I am not going to tell someoe they are legal. Sitting across the table from a bunch of lawyers makes you think a little differently.

Without fabricating your own bracket this is the only STC that I know of that is readily available although it is STC'd on the PA18.
http://www.fadodge.com/strobe-light-mounting-bracket/

[Mushroom]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I few things to ponder now for sure.

[Frogdad]

I have a Whitaker mount you can have if you are interested.
Just pay the shipping

Don