hound46

I made my very first glider flight this afternoon. I just finished putting together an easy glider pro electric. There was about an 8 mph crosswind. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get it down/slowed down to land. I also thought the wind would flip the glider on it's side. I won't worry about that in the future. I was amazed at what a joy it was to fly. The lighting wasn't very good, but I made two flights long enough to know I'm going to be hooked on this new type of plane and flying. I was able to land across the runway and put it down in about 8 feet. The crosswind actually helped that out quite a bit. Hi output LEDs are inbound.

One of the best parts was watching 5 bald eagles chase geese. Now those eagles have the soaring down!

BMatthews

Congrats on your successful maiden flights. 

Why the LED's?  You looking ahead to night flying?

hound46

Yes. I'm going to give night flying a try once I learn the flight characteristics of this glider during the day. I've got some great places to give it a try. Hopefully the LEDs will allow me to stay oriented. After the first couple of flights yesterday, I think the glider will be a good candidate for a night flyer...I could be proven completely wrong, too![X(][X(]

BMatthews

My suggestion is to use both coloured tip lights on the wings and tail of the fuselage and to also use white illumination LED's that are out on the wing and directed back at the fuselage as well as white LED's in the base of the fuselage that light up the bottom of the wing.  Pinpoints on the tips are fine to locate the model but they are useless for seeing the orientation and distance.  For that you need to spotlight the model.  I suppose a buddy with a flashlight on the ground could do the same thing as long as you trust him to keep the model spot lit all the time.