Damped landing light glass

[Wilfried]

Last night I was flying in cold and wet weather conditions during night. On short final it was hard to figure out what my height over the runway was. Could not see the light cone on the runway, only a very dim reflection. I flared a little bit to high, nothing serious happened, but it was not the softest landing I ever made... I was a bit confused why landing and especially sight was so difficult. Back in the hangar I had a look at the lights and immediately saw what the reason was: Glasses of both lights showed condensation dampness from the inside. Does anybody of you have similair experience? How did you get the problem fixed?

[DavidS]

It may be worth checkout out the seal on the landing light cover. If that were to be compromised it could cause that type of problem. (Same with drain-holes being plugged on the new Orion LED marker lights.)

[carym]

Since day 1 I continue to bemoan the poor quality of the landing/taxi lights on my DA42. I upgraded to the stronger lights, but they still don't give me what I would like. I am used to the C310 landing lights that come down from the wings and really light up the runway. On the DA42 you struggle to see any light on the runway when landing. I flew Sunday evening and also experienced flaring too high. There is no moisture in my landing light lens.

[Tommy]

I had found the LoPresti "Boom Beams" to be an excellent choice. I had them on my 40 and loved them.

[Wilfried]

My maintenance told me that the Xenon lights does not produce enough heat to reduce moisture behind the lenses. It is a known problem at Diamond but no solution is being offered up to now.

But beside that, I agree the quality of the landing light is really bad. Are LoPresti lights available for DA42? Looks like you can only get them for DA40.

[robert63]

During night it is often difficult to estimate the height. The runway condition has a big influence on the reflection of the landing light. If the runway is long enough I prefer to land with 10-15% of power. If I flare to high then it doesn't matter - just keep the nose slightly up and wait for touch down.
I've never checked the landing lights for moisture yet, but will have a look in the future.

[twerner]

There is also moisture on my DA42-VI.
The Xenon light is covered by a thin plastic shield which is not sealed to allow air to circulate and cool the light.

So there will always be moisture.

The light is very poor, agree.
For taxi on a non lighted taxiway I always use my LED flashlight. It was only 10 Euro but works a lot better than the installed taxi or landing light.

[carym]

I discovered one of my issues with the poor lighting at night --- my landing light does not go on!! the lights are supposed to be good for 100's of hours (or more) and I hardly ever turn my lights on so I should not have burned out the lamp. I am wondering if there is an easy way to determine if the switch has gone bad? Has anyone else had this problem? I did upgrade from the standard 35W light to the 50W light soon after I bought the plane, but I don't see how that makes much difference. I haven't contacted my mechanic yet about this because if there is an easy I fix (or an easy way to identify the problem) I would like to get it done without having to transport the plane to the mechanic.

[Wilfried]

Hi Robert,
thanks for your hint! Tried landing during night two times now with power setting 10-15%. Landing was super smooth although I couldn't really figure out height above runway.

[carym]

Ignore this message, it is a test only