[FlyingV3152]

Whats up all? So i was at advanced auto today getting some oil for my wife's car. When I was leaving this older gentleman walked up to me and started talking about my car and the lights on the front of my car. Well he said that I should look up 4509 bulb. He said its a GE enclosed light that airplanes use while landing. At first I thought he was crazy... Well got home and looked it up, he is dead to rights telling the truth!! These enclosed bulbs aren't that expensive either. I was wondering if anyone has heard of some one using these as off road lights? If so, where did you find a mount for them? Any opinions on this would be greatly appreciated! I want these on my car and I know what my state laws says about aux lights. These lights would only be used in situations where it is safe and legal to use.

Thank you in advanced for y'alls opinions!

Edit: Here is the specs for the bulb.

 

[sailor]

Moved to MkIII Focus section as a general mod. subject. Most lighting is in the sections for the generation even though Aux. lighting is applicable to all.

Landing Lights are an old trick that predates availability of special performance automotive lights.

IIRC the 4.5" size matches aux. lights avail. for trucks/tractors etc. in spot & flood styles, so a housing of that type could do the job.

Bulb life for these is pretty short, they put out a LOT of light but aren't usually used for long time periods in the original application, that's the largest downside I see.

For occasional use as a driving light when no traffic is present they'd be hard to beat.

 

[FlyingV3152]

Thank you! After I posted this I realized that it was in the wrong place. Sweet!! Ill have to look those housings up! Yeah they would be very rarely used. Thanks for the help!!

 

[SkyPilot]

Aviation Landing lights don't last long, sure they are very bright, but because of this they burn out quickly. We have to replace ours every few months. And when we use landing lights they are only on for 30 seconds to 3 minutes at a time.

Things have started to go the other way, newer aircraft are coming with HID's and LED bulbs.

 

[FlyingV3152]

Ahh. Well I didn't realize that they were going to HID and LEDs.

 

[PacketHauler]

Aviation Landing lights don't last long, sure they are very bright, but because of this they burn out quickly. We have to replace ours every few months. And when we use landing lights they are only on for 30 seconds to 3 minutes at a time.

Things have started to go the other way, newer aircraft are coming with HID's and LED bulbs.

I've noticed that as well; I've seen a lot more aircraft on approach have the higher color temperature of a HID/LED than I used to see. Honestly it makes a ton of sense.

 

[Darth_Focus]

Aviation Landing lights don't last long, sure they are very bright, but because of this they burn out quickly. We have to replace ours every few months. And when we use landing lights they are only on for 30 seconds to 3 minutes at a time.

Things have started to go the other way, newer aircraft are coming with HID's and LED bulbs.

I can 2nd this. They are generally ground time limited because they lack the cooling airflow over the lens. Those big bulbs put out an awful lot of heat. Unless you're moving about town at 200 Knots, they probably wont last very long.

 

[FlyingV3152]

So i looked up the HIDs for planes and the kits are like $1500!! Thats crazy!! I also found another cealed bulb that has twice to three times longer life span than the bulb i mentioned above. It just has 10000 less candlepower. TBH i think it would be cool just to say that i have airplane landing lights on my car! HAHA [] It wouldnt cost much to get it all hooked up. the only pain is that i would have to rewire everything with a bigger gauge wire.[?|] About the heat problem: i actually look up forums and some bikers use them on their motorcycles. one guy put a small hole in the housing to let some heat escape and he said it works fine for him. he also had to use 10 gauge wire for the whole set up.

 

[PacketHauler]

I can 2nd this. They are generally ground time limited because they lack the cooling airflow over the lens. Those big bulbs put out an awful lot of heat. Unless you're moving about town at 200 Knots, they probably wont last very long.

200 knots in a Focus, that might be slightly terrifying...or exciting. [ohcrap]