Night flying and new navigation light source
04-06-2005, 04:49 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Night flying and new navigation light source
Last year, I read a posting about using the very small, self contained lights that are sold to fisherman for their bobbers for night fishing. I've been experimenting with them off and on over the winter and they are effective. You can buy them, as one example, at some WalMarts, in their fishing section. The combination LED/battery are only 1/8" in diameter, 1.25" long, and weigh less than a gram. They come in red, green and yellow. Price is about $3.00 or so. The best attributes are, you don't have to wire them, and the light is a mini switch; you pull it to turn it on and push it back in to turn it off. An on-line source is Lindy, and they are marketed as Thill Night-Brites, at lindylittlejoe.com.
As one example, here's what I've done so far. I mount a red light on the left side of my Aerobird Xtreme in the "web" created by the plastic "ties" that many of us use to stabilize the motor. A PAIR of greens one goes on the right side, same location, and, for now, I always put a yellow one on the nose. The reason I use two greens is that they are just not as bright as the yellow or red. The lights shine on the fuselage and underside of the wing and make orientation at night practical. Of course, you can mount them easily in many ways; for example, on my Strykers I simply drill a 1/8" hole into the foam wing tips and nose and shove the light in.
The advantages of this system, personally, are light weight, ease of installation/removal/replacement, and a reasonable cost. For Park Zone and Hobby Zone products, I don't have to figure out a way to wire it to their proprietary system. Anyhow, this works for me and the way I fly, and it may work for you.
Don't forget, for night flying, you must NOT be a rank beginner, you need a model that is working well already, you need a "slower" model or you need to fly slow, you need a LOT of empty space, and NO WIND! I started out flying in the morning when it's dark but the sun is just starting to come up, so I could climb to a high altitude and just orbit if I lost orientation. Finally, remember to FLY CLOSE-IN, rather than at a distance.
As one example, here's what I've done so far. I mount a red light on the left side of my Aerobird Xtreme in the "web" created by the plastic "ties" that many of us use to stabilize the motor. A PAIR of greens one goes on the right side, same location, and, for now, I always put a yellow one on the nose. The reason I use two greens is that they are just not as bright as the yellow or red. The lights shine on the fuselage and underside of the wing and make orientation at night practical. Of course, you can mount them easily in many ways; for example, on my Strykers I simply drill a 1/8" hole into the foam wing tips and nose and shove the light in.
The advantages of this system, personally, are light weight, ease of installation/removal/replacement, and a reasonable cost. For Park Zone and Hobby Zone products, I don't have to figure out a way to wire it to their proprietary system. Anyhow, this works for me and the way I fly, and it may work for you.
Don't forget, for night flying, you must NOT be a rank beginner, you need a model that is working well already, you need a "slower" model or you need to fly slow, you need a LOT of empty space, and NO WIND! I started out flying in the morning when it's dark but the sun is just starting to come up, so I could climb to a high altitude and just orbit if I lost orientation. Finally, remember to FLY CLOSE-IN, rather than at a distance.
