I’ve been thinking about the cooling issue in general and one comment I have is why put the landing light in one of the cowl intake ports? Better yet, why put it in the cowl at ALL. It’s placement must have some impact on cooling so why not move it. Moving it from the cowl should increase bulb life. I vote that they put it out on the wing(s) or better yet on the tips. Not only is it better for bulb life, it looks really cool when you’re flying at night (To all those envious owners of other aircraft). In addition to being a gadget freak I also love lots of lights and I think they look better on the wings…and of course more than one allows for some back-up.
Perhaps they’ll figure it out before my -22 Arrives.
Paul
I’ve been thinking about the cooling issue in general and one comment I have is why put the landing light in one of the cowl intake ports?
At the risk of seeming a little unkind, I suspect it’s because it was a last-minute decision. It’s a lousy place, not because of cooling (I’m not sure it has any effect on that) but because it shines directly on the prop in the pilot’s field of view (it’s even on the pilot’s side!).
Every SR20 comes from the factory with duct tape over the top half of the landing light, to minimize the glare on the prop, but it’s still a problem, and to cap it off the light is very ineffective at its intended purpose anyway.
So a great big thumbs-down on the landing light! It’s one of the few aspects of the SR20 that has not been well thought-out.
On the bright side (pun intended) I have heard a rumour that at some stage it will be moved to the bottom of the cowl, behind a plexiglass cover, and possibly with two lights. That should solve the problem, at least for those who don’t have a plane by then.
If I remember seeing it right in the plant back in May, there is a project at Cirrus to have the landinglight IN the bottom shell of the cowling (a la Cessna?). It looked really cool and takes care of the issues mentioned here (glare, bulblife etc). It could be designed for the SR22 and maybe as a field retrofit for the existing 20’s.
HK
I’ve been thinking about the cooling issue in general and one comment I have is why put the landing light in one of the cowl intake ports?
At the risk of seeming a little unkind, I suspect it’s because it was a last-minute decision. It’s a lousy place, not because of cooling (I’m not sure it has any effect on that) but because it shines directly on the prop in the pilot’s field of view (it’s even on the pilot’s side!).
Every SR20 comes from the factory with duct tape over the top half of the landing light, to minimize the glare on the prop, but it’s still a problem, and to cap it off the light is very ineffective at its intended purpose anyway.
So a great big thumbs-down on the landing light! It’s one of the few aspects of the SR20 that has not been well thought-out.
On the bright side (pun intended) I have heard a rumour that at some stage it will be moved to the bottom of the cowl, behind a plexiglass cover, and possibly with two lights. That should solve the problem, at least for those who don’t have a plane by then.