Strobe Light Replacements

[meritflyer]

In an airplane I am considering buying, the owners had the wing tip strobes de-activated and a new and improved strobe mounted on the belly.

I discussed whether it needed to be placarded. Apparently, there's nothing to placard since the new belly strobe is tied to the same breaker and switch.

I think it's odd to have "inoperative" lights on the tips. I assume something like this would need a STC?

[trafficinsight]

hmm... I'm thinking if the strobes are installed, they need to be working... if they aren't, and they're not required equipment, they need to be deactivated, placarded, etc... Your other option is to remove the wingtip strobes. I'm a little confused though since most "belly" strobes are self contained... why would they need to deactivate the wingtip strobes to install the belly strobe?

What kind of airplane is this again? sorry.

[meritflyer]

Originally Posted by trafficinsight

hmm... I'm thinking if the strobes are installed, they need to be working... if they aren't, and they're not required equipment, they need to be deactivated, placarded, etc... Your other option is to remove the wingtip strobes. I'm a little confused though since most "belly" strobes are self contained... why would they need to deactivate the wingtip strobes to install the belly strobe?

What kind of airplane is this again? sorry.

The strobes in the wing tips have been deactivated, per se.

The new strobe (on the belly) now works of the same anti collision switch in the cockpit so in a way, there's no way to placard them. I am not sure why you would be required to pull the wing tip strobes out of their encasing.

It's a Mooney.

[trafficinsight]

Originally Posted by meritflyer

The strobes in the wing tips have been deactivated, per se.

The new strobe (on the belly) now works of the same anti collision switch in the cockpit so in a way, there's no way to placard them. I am not sure why you would be required to pull the wing tip strobes out of their encasing.

It's a Mooney.

Well, if they're installed they have to be working, if they're not working then they're inoperative equipment and you have options.

1. Deactivate, placard, & logbook entry and then reinspect at every inspection thereafter.
2. remove them, or
3. Make them work.

If they already are unplugged then they're deactivated, but they still need to be placarded and a logbook entry made.

[Jbroz04]

In all seriousness the wiring is obviously still there just rehook them up and use them! replace light may run you 200 if you need to replace the wingtips ones but that is well worth it. We put LED lights on the cherokee after oshkosh this year and the difference is amazing!

[Houston]

I would expect to see an FAA Form 337 or Supplemental Type Certificate or both. If it doesn’t have that, look for the maintenance entry where the work was done. Ask many questions and check the answers before laying any money on the table.