Lights...
 

I figured this is the right spot to post this because it is a scal accessory. I am biulding a four star and though it is not scale plane to have the following lights...
Wingtip strobes
Navigation
landing spots..

What is the best way to do this and should i do the lights before or after covering?

RE: Lights...
 

Since it is not a scale bird to begin with, go to Wal Wart or Auto Holdup and look for "tireflys" They are a self-contained flashing LED available in several colors that screws onto a tire valve stem. Red, green and clear are used for strobes. White on vertical stab, red on left wing and green on right wing. Just drill a friction fit hole in the tips, so you can change th batteries.Landing lights are easily made with a cheap single cell AA flashlight. Throw away everything except the reflector, bulb, and bulb base that screws to reflector. Solder wires to the base contacts long enough to reach out the center of the wing and into the fuse. Get a micro switch and mount it to an old servo, and use a couple AA nicads from an old pack. Your glow starter charger works to charge this pack with. Mount the light in L/E of wing and cover with plastic from a soft drink bottle.

Presto! Landing and strobe lights for about $10 total.
Roy

RE: Lights...
 

ok. It will be later when i do it. I need to master flight of the plane first. can't wait to start biudling

RE: Lights...
 

Can these units be taken apart and wired to a battery pack to get away from the bulk? I build and fly 1/2A civilian planes...pretty thin edges to have to work with. It would be nice to be able to take one apart and just use the LED and whatever else makes it blink (would it be just a blinking LED and a battery case or curcuit board also??) and wire everything down to the AA's?

A nice touch I think I might try would be wiring in high intensity color LED's behind the wingtip strobes for "running lights" between strobe flashes.

I know this is getting away from the convienence of the main idea of the valve stem item, but stumbled on this looking for a simple way to add navigational lights.

RE: Lights...
 

Thats an interesting and cheap way to go.

If you are looking for something nicer you can try http://www.curtek.com but get them from the US distributer http://www.starwoodmodels.com