Buying aircraft lights and lamps: exact part numbers, TSO lights, LED retrofits and what to put on the RFQ
A lamp looks like the simplest line on a parts list: a bulb, a base, a voltage. In practice aircraft lighting mixes three very different things under one word: replaceable lamps bought by industry or military number, complete light assemblies that carry a TSO and a data plate, and LED replacements whose approval is tied to specific aircraft. This guide covers how to tell them apart, why a lamp is bought by its exact number, and what to put on the RFQ.
The short answer
- Order the part number your IPC or CMM calls out, suffix included. 7512-12 and 7512-24 share a base number and differ in voltage.
- A cross-reference is not an approval. The military lamp specification itself says its list of similar commercial numbers is "not intended for use as an interchangeability list".
- A TSO on a light is a performance standard, not permission to install it. The FAA states a separate approval is required to install a TSO article on an aircraft.
- An LED replacement is an alternate part. It needs an approval basis that covers your aircraft: the OEM's data or service bulletin, an STC listing your model, or a PMA whose eligibility includes it.
Lamp, light assembly or LED unit: what you are actually buying
- Replaceable lamps (bulbs). Miniature indicator and panel lamps, reading and cabin lamps, position-light bulbs, and sealed-beam landing and taxi lamps (PAR-36, PAR-46, PAR-64). Identified by an industry lamp number (327, 387, 4596), a military number (M6363/…, MS25309-…) or the airframe maker's number.
- Light assemblies. A wingtip position and anticollision light, a beacon, a logo light, a wing inspection light, a reading-light unit or an emergency-light power supply. Bought as components, with a serial number and often a TSO marking.
- LED replacements. Either a lamp that fits the existing holder (a "drop-in") or a complete LED assembly that replaces the old fixture. Both are a different part number from the one in your IPC unless the OEM has already put them there.
"Landing light" can mean a sealed-beam lamp or the whole assembly; say which on the RFQ line.
Why a lamp needs the exact part number
Two lamps can share a shape and a base and still be two different parts. The number encodes things you cannot see:
- Voltage. The same base number often exists in a 14 V and a 28 V version. A lamp maker lists the 7512-12 as a 14 V, 28 W navigation lamp on a BAY15S base and the 7512-24 as the 28 V version. Put a 14 V lamp in a 28 V system and it burns out quickly; the reverse gives a dim light that may no longer meet the intensity the fixture was certified for.
- Wattage and output. Position and anticollision lights must meet minimum intensities (on transport airplanes, 14 CFR 25.1391–25.1395 and 25.1401), and the lamp is part of how the certified fixture meets them.
- Base and bulb shape. Bayonet, midget flange, wedge or screw-terminal sealed beam; single or double contact; index position. The military specification MIL-DTL-6363 splits its lamps across separate specification sheets for groups of similar lamps.
- Beam. A PAR-36 sealed beam comes as a spot (landing) or flood (taxi) pattern. Catalog examples: the 4596, a 28 V, 250 W PAR-36 landing lamp, and the 4509, a 12 V, 100 W PAR-36 spot.
- Color and selection suffixes. MIL-DTL-6363 part numbers take a color letter (R, G, B, Y, W) and an "AS" suffix for aged and selected lamps. M6363/8-5, M6363/8-5R and M6363/8-5AS15 are three different part numbers.
MIL-DTL-6363 covers incandescent lamps "intended for use primarily in military aircraft applications", and its numbers appear on civil lists too. Its appendix pairs each M-number with a "similar" industry lamp (M6363/8-5 with the 327, M6363/2-2 with the 7512) and then warns that the listing is "for reference use only and is not to be used for interchangeability with commercial or other military designated lamps". If your IPC calls out an M-number, the commercial number is an alternate, and your approved data decides whether you may accept it. Our guide to alternate and interchangeable part numbers covers how to say what you accept.
Exterior lights and the TSO behind them
The exterior lights on a transport airplane are set by 14 CFR part 25, subpart F, and some of them have a TSO that manufacturers build to. A TSO is, in the regulation's words, "a minimum performance standard for specified articles used on civil aircraft", and a TSO authorization is "an FAA design and production approval issued to the manufacturer of an article that has been found to meet a specific TSO."
| Light | What the rules require (part 25) | TSO | Buyer note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Position (navigation) lights | Red on the left, green on the right, white facing aft; intensity and coverage per 25.1387–25.1397 | TSO-C30 (revision C30c, Aircraft Position Lights) | Buy the assembly or lamp the IPC names; left and right units are usually different part numbers. |
| Anticollision (beacon, strobe) | Aviation red or aviation white; effective flash frequency "not less than 40, nor more than 100 cycles per minute" (25.1401) | TSO-C96 (revision C96a, Anticollision Light Systems) | Strobe systems include power supplies and flash tubes or LED heads; order each by its own P/N. |
| Landing and taxi lights | "Each landing light must be approved" and installed with no objectionable glare, giving enough light for night landing (25.1383) | Not covered in this guide; check the data plate or IPC | Sealed-beam lamps are bought by lamp number; LED replacements need an approval covering your model. |
| Wing inspection (ice) lights | A means to see ice on critical parts of the wing when night icing operations are allowed (25.1403) | Not covered in this guide; check the data plate or IPC | Often a small sealed lamp; check the IPC for the exact number. |
Combined wingtip units often carry both; FAA authorizations issued to one LED maker list such units under "TSO-C30c and TSO-C96a".
What a TSO does not do matters more. The FAA's TSO page: "Receiving a TSO Authorization is not an approval to install and use the article in the aircraft," and "a separate FAA approval is required to install the article on an aircraft." A TSO-marked position light that is not in your aircraft's type design, or in an STC or other approval that covers your aircraft, is not an acceptable alternate just because it meets TSO-C30c.
LED retrofits: STC, PMA or the OEM's own data
Requests for filament lamps often come back with an LED offer. Whether you can accept one depends on the approval behind it, and that approval is tied to aircraft models:
- OEM data or service bulletin. If the airframe or light manufacturer has introduced the LED part into your IPC, directly or by a service bulletin you have embodied, it is simply the part number your data calls out.
- STC. A supplemental type certificate approves the change for the models on its list. One maker, for example, states that its PAR-64 LED landing lamp replaces the OEM Q4559X landing light on the 737NG under STC ST04177AT, which also covers an LED logo light.
- PMA. A PMA part is approved for installation on the products on its eligibility list. When one maker announced a PMA for an LED replacement of the 387 indicator lamp in 2003, it covered all DC-9 models, with other types still pending. Our guide to PMA parts vs OEM explains how to read the eligibility.
On the RFQ, say whether LED alternates are acceptable and, if they are, ask the seller to name the approval (STC number, PMA eligibility or OEM service bulletin) on the quote line.
Interior lighting: cabin, cockpit and emergency
- Reading, cabin and cockpit lamps. Mostly small lamps bought by number and in quantity. Indicator lamps are often color- or selection-specific, so the suffix matters as much as the base number.
- Emergency lighting. On transport airplanes, 14 CFR 25.812 requires "an emergency lighting system, independent of the main lighting system", with an energy supply that provides the required illumination "for at least 10 minutes at the critical ambient conditions after emergency landing", and floor proximity escape path marking.
- Emergency-light battery packs and power supplies. These contain batteries, so the chemistry matters for both the approval and the shipment. One replacement for a business-jet emergency battery pack, for example, uses nickel-metal hydride cells, holds TSO-C173a and is installed under STCs for a list of Citation models. Ask for the battery chemistry and the part's date of manufacture on the quote, and see our guide to dangerous goods in a parts order for how battery-containing parts ship.
What paperwork comes with a lamp or a light
The FAA's receiving-inspection guidance, AC 20-154A, sets out what to expect by source and by class of part, and lighting falls into more than one class:
- Lamps made to a government or industry specification can be standard parts under 14 CFR 21.9(a)(3). For a standard part from a distributor, AC 20-154A's sample matrix suggests a certification statement that names the manufacturer and says the part meets its specification; a CoC or an 8130-3 is an optional alternative. Our guide to standard aircraft hardware covers what that statement should say.
- TSO and PMA articles. New from the TSOA or PMA holder, AC 20-154A expects normal shipping documents and markings that identify the part as a TSO or FAA-PMA part. Its matrix adds that unmarked PMA or TSO piece parts require an 8130-3 or EASA Form 1 (or an equivalent authority release).
- Assemblies that are overhauled, repaired or serviceable normally come with an 8130-3 or EASA Form 1 signed for return to service. See our guide to 8130-3, EASA Form 1 and dual release.
Your quality manual or your customer's contract may ask for more; put that on the RFQ line.
In supplier quotes we received between June and September 2026, lines whose description named a lamp, bulb, light or LED made up 3,601 priced offer lines for 396 different part numbers. 52% stated no certificate at all; an FAA 8130-3 was named on 14% and an EASA Form 1 on 8% (a dual release counts in both). Traceability was stated on 38% of lines.
NE or NS, and the minimum order
Most lighting is offered new. In our quote data, 60% of lighting lines were NE and 26% NS, with overhauled and serviceable units a small remainder. NS, new surplus, is unused stock that has passed through other hands; the paper behind it is thinner, and a lamp in an unmarked box has no manufacturer anyone can prove. Our guide to condition codes explains what each code does and does not promise.
Lamps are frequently sold by the box or with a minimum quantity. A request for six lamps can come back as a pack of ten or a minimum order of fifty, and the unit price only means something next to that number. A minimum order was stated on 68% of the lighting lines in our data, which leaves about a third where you have to ask.
What to put on a lighting RFQ
An example of lines that leave nothing to guess:
| # | Part number | Description | Qty | Cond. | Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M6363/8-5 | Lamp, incandescent, 28 V, T-1¾ midget flange | 50 | NE | Mfr's CoC naming MIL-DTL-6363; state pack size and MOQ; no commercial alternates |
| 2 | 7512-24 | Lamp, position light, 28 V, BAY15S | 20 | NE/NS | Manufacturer named; CoC; LED alternate acceptable only with PMA eligibility for [aircraft model] stated |
| 3 | [IPC P/N] | Light assembly, anticollision, wingtip, LH | 1 | OH/SV | 8130-3 or EASA Form 1; TSO marking on data plate; state mod status |
And a checklist before you send it:
- Part number exactly as in the IPC or CMM, with voltage suffix, color letter and any selection suffix.
- A description that states voltage, base and function (landing, taxi, position, indicator), so a mismatch between number and description is caught before shipment.
- Lamp or assembly: say which, and for an assembly, the side (LH/RH) and position.
- Condition: NE, NS, OH, SV or a combination you accept.
- Certificate: CoC, 8130-3 or EASA Form 1, as your quality system requires for that class of part.
- Alternates: none, the specific numbers you accept, or LED acceptable with the approval (STC, PMA eligibility, OEM SB) named.
- Pack size and minimum order per line.
- For battery-containing units: chemistry, date of manufacture and how it will ship.
Retail catalogs sell many lamps, but paperwork and approvals vary by item; our guide to where to buy aircraft parts compares the channels.
Send your lighting list with the part numbers as they stand
Send your RFQ to [email protected] in the file you already have — Excel, PDF, a scan or the email body, five lines or five hundred — with each lamp or light assembly exactly as your IPC names it and a note on whether LED alternates are acceptable. Your inquiry will be reviewed by a specialist within one business day.
In our client portal, RFQ Radar, every quoted line shows its condition, certificates, lead time in days and minimum order, so a box of fifty is visible before you order six. A purchase order there has a "certificate needed" tick on each line and a note.
Before you buy, check what certificates and trace come with each part. Aircraft on ground? See how our 24/7 AOG desk works.
Sources
- 14 CFR 25.1401, Anticollision light system — LII / Cornell Law School (eCFR text).
- 14 CFR 25.1403, Wing icing detection lights — LII / Cornell Law School.
- 14 CFR 25.812, Emergency lighting — LII / Cornell Law School.
- 14 CFR 25.1383, Landing lights and 25.1385, Position light system installation — LII / Cornell Law School.
- 14 CFR 21.601, Applicability and definitions (TSO, TSO authorization) — LII / Cornell Law School.
- 14 CFR 21.9, Replacement and modification articles — LII / Cornell Law School.
- Technical Standard Orders (TSO) — FAA (TSO authorization is not installation approval).
- AC 20-154A, Guidance for Receiving Inspection — FAA, 3 July 2024 (section 8.1 and Appendix B documentation matrix).
- MIL-DTL-6363H, Lamps, Incandescent, Aircraft Service — EverySpec (30 September 1997; section 6.6 part numbers, 6.7 and Appendix A cross-reference).
- FAA letter 776-25-00423, re-issue of TSOA for TSO-C30c and TSO-C96a — FAA West Certification Branch, 2025 (hosted by the manufacturer).
- NLI-7512-12 aircraft navigation lamp — Norman Lamps (14 V, 28 W, BAY15S; 28 V version 7512-24).
- Parts retail catalog listings for lamps 327 (28 V, 0.04 A), 4596 (28 V, 250 W, PAR-36 landing) and 4509 (12 V, PAR-36 spot); retailers not named.
- B737NG and B737MAX LED lighting — TALON (Q4559X replacement, STC ST04177AT).
- FAA grants PMA for LED replacement of GE 387 lamp — LEDtronics, 19 March 2003.
- TS28 Emergency Battery Power Supply — True Blue Power (NiMH, TSO-C173a, STCs for Citation models).