46 C120 Panel Light curiosity

[8233]

I removed the floating kidney shaped panel on my '46 C120 and found that I have 6 lights and a rheostat. My plane left the factory in December of '46 and when I looked at the original ACA-309, it shows that an electrical system was installed at the factory which I have heard would be pretty rare.

The question is, are these panel lights part of how it left the factory or did someone do it later? I can't find anything in the logbooks about it and the Neal Wright panel light article suggests that 120s may have only had 3 lights if the kit was installed.

I'm not having any issues with the lights so this is more about better understanding my airplane and to satisfy my curiosity.

Here is a pic on my panel and you can see the bulb lay out.

IMG_0668.jpg (114.8 KiB) Viewed 3357 times

[2066]

They surely do appear to be "factory done". It's probably one of those things that'll be unknowable since there's no paperwork to explain. That does look like the original paint so, FWIW, my opinion is that they came that way -- either from the factory or from the "selling dealer". The more you show of that nifty 120, the more evidence there is that you latched on to a very nice one! Mac

[6298]

I have a 120 project I am very slowly restoring. It's panel has three locations for the lights, but no lights installed.

[6643]

Check the parts catalog. The original lighting had 3 bulbs.

[8233]

Check the parts catalog. The original lighting had 3 bulbs.

Yeah, parts catalog was the first place I looked but since I don't know how they got installed, I was curious if someone at the factory got creative or if there was a special request. Since this 120 left the factory with an electrical system, I assumed the original buyer ordered it that way and may have asked for some other stuff. My 120 was made in December of 1946 so there is a mix of 46 and 47 attributes. I have a 1947 cowling for example. Since the 47 140s had a 6 bulb panel light setup with a rheostat, I was thinking they might have been used those parts instead to get what you see in the photo.

[8233]

They surely do appear to be "factory done". It's probably one of those things that'll be unknowable since there's no paperwork to explain. That does look like the original paint so, FWIW, my opinion is that they came that way -- either from the factory or from the "selling dealer". The more you show of that nifty 120, the more evidence there is that you latched on to a very nice one! Mac

Thanks Mac. I really did get fortunate finding this particular plane. It's a real joy to fly.