I've shucked 2 beacon lenses now and the second one was brand spanking new and lasted less than 3 hours. It's the full size Whelen/Comet flasher beacon located just aft of the cabin, on top of the fuselage.
I wrote the first one off as being old, brittle and you could see it was already cracked. That and I was doing some pretty aggressive slipping, stalls, maneuvering, feeling the airplane out. Well I replaced it with a new one, the same red/white one, and it didn't make more than 3 hours. No slipping this time, no nothing, just straight "top of the green" descents and now its gone too! Is the red/white lens known to be weaker than the solid colored lens? Are they still making glass lens?
Any other ideas, short of slowing the descent down?
Last edited by WSHIII on Sat Mar 16, 2013 11:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Must be a green plane if you are shucking beacon lens's by going too fast Seriously, something is wrong with the beacon unit. I will guarantee you that you aren't damaging the beacon by your maneuvers if you are able to walk away from it. I have a red/white Whelen beacon on the bottom of my fuselage and despite my landings, etc. I have never cracked or broken the lens or the unit itself.
Had a Whelan red/white beacon lens that cracked after a short time a few years ago. Called Whelan and they sent out a replacement free of charge. Not sure if they had a bad batch, but this one is holding up fine.
It sounds as if your clamp is misaligned or improper.
(The lens had some red on it...are you sure you "shucked" it?, and it didn't simply pass-you-by?)
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gahorn wrote:It sounds as if your clamp is misaligned or improper.
(The lens had some red on it...are you sure you "shucked" it?, and it didn't simply pass-you-by?)
I was thinking the obvious and undeniable truth. That red lens was to slow to keep up with the rest of the plane. The cure of course as George has pointed out, is to insure the clamp is up to the daunting task it is given, to drag that red lens to speeds it refuses to go on it's own.
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I was pretty careful with the alignment and installation but it certainly could be the wrong clamp. And/or, its entirely possible that I may have over tightened the clamp with the new lens, accidentally cracking it, without noticing it. I'll make sure I use the proper clamp with the next one.
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Seriously, something is wrong with the beacon unit. I will guarantee you that you aren't damaging the beacon by your maneuvers if you are able to walk away from it. I have a red/white Whelen beacon on the bottom of my fuselage and despite my landings, etc. I have never cracked or broken the lens or the unit itself.
