From "General Aviation Airworthiness Alert" FAA AC 43-16
Long/Vari-EZ Landing Lights From CP73, Page 7, October, 1992
Some
owners/builders of the Long/Vari-EZ are relocating the landing lights from under the
fuselage to a position outboard in an attempt to improve lighting for night landings.
Several instances have shown where the builders have created a separate cell in the fuel
strake for the landing light.
The submitter of the Malfunction or Defect Report stated that
this is a poor choice for a device that generates so much heat. Even without a fuel leak,
the amount of heat generated by these lights in such close proximity to 26 gallons of fuel
is very risky. If a short circuit should develop and the fuse or circuit breaker fails to
trip, the short could cause sufficient heat to melt the resin and dissolve the foam that
seals the tank causing a fuel leak into the light housing. A fuel leak from a simple
bulkhead seam flaw could also cause ignition simply from the heat of the light.
High amperage circuits and heavy amperage consumers should never
be placed in or around fuel lines or storage cells.