Kind of hard to see any nav light or strobe light through this lens! The culprit was the failed strobe bulb, but the real cause was a buildup of oil and exhaust residue inside the assembly. Standard practice on Van’s aircraft is to mount the tail/rear strobe light on the bottom of the rudder, right where all the oil and exhaust residue tend to accumulate. If the assembly is not sealed tightly when mounted, the oil and exhaust residue will find its way into the light assembly, contaminating the strobe tube and causing premature failure. Regular cleaning is a good preventative measure. Be careful not to touch the strobe flash tube with your finger, as that can leave contaminants on the bulb, shortening its life.
In Case You Missed it
Ask the DAR
Mel Asberry - 0
What paperwork is necessary when a new owner makes an engine change? If floats are replaced with conventional gear, what does the change in gross weight mean for a plane's LSA status?
Wind Tunnel
The way lift is distributed along a wing's span affects both the structure and its aerodynamics.
Develop Today, Sell Tomorrow
While the Experimental world has matured greatly in the last few decades, we’re no longer seeing the rapid rate of change experienced in the 1970s and through the ’80s.