Oxley lights new Gulfstream G500s and G600s
Oxley is providing all external lighting on the two aircraft types, the comprehensive suite has been developed especially for the new jets and the lights outperform existing technology at every level to deliver improved reliability and substantially reduce through-life costs.
The three year development process through design, prototyping, testing and manufacture was completed by a dedicated project team of mechanical, optical and electronics engineers at the Oxley Priory Park site in Cumbria, UK and Oxley Inc. in Connecticut, US. As part of delivering the project there was a requirement for Oxley to deliver sophisticated software and develop complex lighting assemblies.
The Oxley team worked closely with the design and production departments at Gulfstream in Savannah, Georgia, US throughout the development phase. This has created a strong working relationship between the two companies and the Oxley team is enthusiastic about working with Gulfstream on future projects.
Martin Blakstad, Oxley Group CEO explained: “Oxley has made a significant commitment in delivering the complete external lighting solution for the Gulfstream G500 & G600 jets; it has challenged our team to push the boundaries of their design, production and testing expertise. The suite of lights that has emerged from that process now sets the standard in LED lighting technology for the commercial aviation market.”
The Gulfstream lighting suite includes the exceptionally bright LED landing light, which meets the 400,000cd required industry standard. It is rated to operate for 27,000 hours MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) compared to the 25 hours typical for halogen technology. The total power consumption is just 115W compared to the average halogen technology power consumption of 450W – representing a reduction of more than 70%.
The new units meet the stringent Aerospace Environmental and EMC requirements and are qualified to RCTA DO-160G. The Oxley landing light meets and exceeds SAE ARP 693 performance specifications – and crucially does so over a full standard aircraft temperature range of -55°C to +70°C.
Smart technology has also been integrated into the lighting assemblies. The wing tip assembly (incorporating a navigation, anti-collision & separate forward facing flood light) and the tail assembly (incorporating a navigation and anti-collision light) have built in visible and discrete EOL (end of life) feedback to enable predictive maintenance so as to prevent unscheduled maintenance that could inhibit aircraft dispatch times. This system utilises Oxley designed software that is qualified to RTCA/DO-178B DAL C.
The full suite of LED lights includes a distinctive high intensity taxi light and an ultra-low profile ground recognition light which protrudes just 13.5mm outside the fuselage body. Oxley is also supplying wheel well, ice inspection and logo lights, pylon lights, entry door and over/under wing emergency egress lights, and service panel lighting, all offering 30,000 hours MTBF.
