i was wondering about lighting systems for my plane cause dusk to night time is the least amount of wind to fly. iv seen some things on outdated web sites and i was wondering if you guys and gals could point me in the right direction of a cheap but good lighting system. wat would be optimal is navigation lights (left and right with the strob on the tail) and landing lights that come on when you land (of course ) plz and thank you

I one time built a supercub with a lighting system. I bought them from a company called rc-lights.com

I believe they had all kinds of pre made sets you can just add to your cart, or you can also contact them and design your own set. They are the "scalest" set of lights I have found on the market at a somewhat reasonable price. the one I custom ordered had 2 landing lights, a red and green wing tip light and a red strobe for the tale. Their kits actually come with a little control box that plugs into your reciever so you can turn the lights on or off from your transmitter. The lights are just LED's on the end of a wire, and you can also specify how long you want your wire leads if you have long or short wings or fuse.


David

Wow, you know it didnt seem like that long ago but right after I posted that websight I went to visit it. They must have raised thier pricess dramaticaly. I rember paying no more than $50 bucks for my custom kit and now they are more expensive and not as many lights.


I will tell you another good sight for LED navigation lights. http://lazertoyz.ncweb.net/RCLights.html

I went to this sight and they have probably pretty close to what you want and I think you can still customize a little with them. They are alot more affordable with a basic navigation set (landing, wingtip and tail strobe) for about $30.

David

None of these systems show specs on current draw. If it has it's own battery pack, that's one thing.. more weight, by the way.. if it relys on the on-board battery system, well, you will, more than likely, have to upgrade your electrical power system to accomodate the higher demand on available amperage.

CGr.

Toothman, here is a link off of eBay for [link=http://cgi.ebay.com/R-C-RC-Model-Navigation-Scale-Lights-Super-Bright_W0QQitemZ330346930010QQcmdZViewItemQQptZRad io_Control_Parts_Accessories?hash=item4cea361f5a&_ trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C3 9%3A1%7C72%3A1205%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50]navigation lights[/link] You can set them up either on the RX or another battery. You can also set these lights up on a switch that costs an additional $12 ( I think that is what it was). With that switch you can use the flaps switch to turn them off and on (just an example). Also email the guy if you have any questions. He was very quick to reply back and more than willing to help out. I have not bought them yet, I had a few questions before I did for the plane I am building now. Hope this helps.

Joe

www.xerogear.com

Take a look at these lighting systems. Minnflyer and I have done several booth interviews with these guys and they have a pretty interesting product. The lights on the planes are bright enough to be seen in daylight.

However, I will throw in a word of caution. If you are still a new flyer you may want to stay away from this type of flying. Flying at night, or even at dusk, is a lot more difficult because seeing the orientation of the plane becomes much more difficult. It'll become easier to lose control of hte plane and crash. Just something to think about.

Ken

i went with the v3 system from lazertoyz. it had all the things i was looking for and it did not break the little piggy on my dresser. RCKen i am a little worried about orientation but i will be flying mainly dusk and maybe at night after a few more flights and i have enough lights on to see VERY well at night. thank you all for the help and suggestions.

You never mentioned what kind of airplane you are using i.e. small electric that will be flown relatively close in or glow powered even a trainer which will get much further out. The lighting systems for the small electric may not be suitable for larger faster airplanes.

Here are some points you may want to consider:

1. flying at dusk especially with larger faster airplanes is more difficult that flying when its totally dark. I always wait through dusk untill its totally dark.

2. Strobe lites (like you mentioned in your first post) landing lites or any form of winking blinking lites provokes spacial disorientation and that is the last thing you want to happen.

3. Many lite systems are intended for scale airplanes to garner extra points from scale judges or the wow factor from onlookers and woefully inadaquate for actual nite flight.

4. Since this is posted in the beginners forum I must state that this is something I would not recomend to a fresh beginner.

John

Has anyone out there installed Nav lights on a Pilatus PC 21?

IMHO lights are a waste of weight and power. Unless you plant to fly at night.
One of the things that are difficult at night is determining altitude on landing. So your lights need to be bright enough to shine off of the ground. Or mount a small flash pointing fwd and down.
Yes I have flown at night. Dusk is going to be bad too much light for your lighting system to be effective, not enough light to see the airplane.
To fly at night it's best to sit in the dark, no lights, for 30 minutes. Then let a helper turn the lights on in your plane and carry far enough away from you yo keep your night vision

Nav lights are interesting and a lot of fun at dusk. But flying in the dark you need better orientation unless you're just going to do slow race-track circuits.

Put some INSIDE the wings and fuselage for a lantern effect.