Conspicuity Tape / Visibility Markings

[AGL]

Hi;

We spend a lot of time discussing electronic collision avoidance
devices, and advice to keep a good lookout. To help the situation we
could also make our aircraft more visible to those what are keeping
that good lookout. Isn't some sort of visibility marking required in
Europe?

A search of the group reveals that this was discussed extensively in
the 90's, and mentioned occasionally since, but is anyone aware of new
technology that is useful? These days you can get holographic,
prismatic, and various coloured reflective tapes, almost all of it for
trucks, industrial equipment, or decoration, but most of it doesn't
seem too useful in daylight.

I have searched high and low and found a lot of mediocre products for
our purpose.. The people at the link below have selections from 3M
and just about anyone else in the business. (no connection etc)
http://www.identi-tape.com/index.html

Has anyone found anything really good?

Martin

[Morgan[_2_]]

I'm not convinced that "High Vis" markings really make a huge
difference. My experience with the few gliders out in CA with
markings is that I see the glider and then after getting closer, I can
see the markings and determine which glider it is. So I can identify
pilots based on their high vis markings, but I have always spotted the
glider well before being able to discern the markings.

One glider that has more effective markings is Peter Deane's. He's
got wide, 1 foot or so, flourescent orange material wrapped around the
wing about 4-6 feet in from the tip. Compared to the typical chevrons
at the tips, I find it breaks up the silhouette much more
significantly giving 3 distinct areas along the wing profile. Again
though, I have only noticed that I can identify his glider from a much
greater distance. I haven't had a situation (I don't get to fly with
him much) where I thought the markings led me to see him sooner. If I
were going to install some on my glider, I'd follow Peter's lead as it
seems to be a more noticeable change than just having something at the
tips.


On Sep 10, 2:51*pm, AGL > wrote:
> Hi;
>
> We spend a lot of time discussing electronic collision avoidance
> devices, and advice to keep a good lookout. * To help the situation we
> could also make our aircraft more visible to those what are keeping
> that good lookout. *Isn't some sort of visibility marking required in
> Europe?
>
> A search of the group reveals that this was discussed extensively in
> the 90's, and mentioned occasionally since, but is anyone aware of new
> technology that is useful? *These days you can get holographic,
> prismatic, and various coloured reflective tapes, almost all of it for
> trucks, industrial equipment, or decoration, but most of it doesn't
> seem too useful in daylight.
>
> I have searched high and low and found a lot of mediocre products for
> our purpose.. *The people at the link below have selections from 3M
> and just about anyone else in the business. *(no connection etc)http://www.identi-tape.com/index.html
>
> Has anyone found anything really good?
>
> Martin

[Bill D]

On Sep 11, 9:34*am, Morgan > wrote:
> I'm not convinced that "High Vis" markings really make a huge
> difference. *My experience with the few gliders out in CA with
> markings is that I see the glider and then after getting closer, I can
> see the markings and determine which glider it is. *So I can identify
> pilots based on their high vis markings, but I have always spotted the
> glider well before being able to discern the markings.
>
> One glider that has more effective markings is Peter Deane's. *He's
> got wide, 1 foot or so, flourescent orange material wrapped around the
> wing about 4-6 feet in from the tip. *Compared to the typical chevrons
> at the tips, I find it breaks up the silhouette much more
> significantly giving 3 distinct areas along the wing profile. *Again
> though, I have only noticed that I can identify his glider from a much
> greater distance. *I haven't had a situation (I don't get to fly with
> him much) where I thought the markings led me to see him sooner. *If I
> were going to install some on my glider, I'd follow Peter's lead as it
> seems to be a more noticeable change than just having something at the
> tips.
>
> On Sep 10, 2:51*pm, AGL > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > Hi;
>
> > We spend a lot of time discussing electronic collision avoidance
> > devices, and advice to keep a good lookout. * To help the situation we
> > could also make our aircraft more visible to those what are keeping
> > that good lookout. *Isn't some sort of visibility marking required in
> > Europe?
>
> > A search of the group reveals that this was discussed extensively in
> > the 90's, and mentioned occasionally since, but is anyone aware of new
> > technology that is useful? *These days you can get holographic,
> > prismatic, and various coloured reflective tapes, almost all of it for
> > trucks, industrial equipment, or decoration, but most of it doesn't
> > seem too useful in daylight.
>
> > I have searched high and low and found a lot of mediocre products for
> > our purpose.. *The people at the link below have selections from 3M
> > and just about anyone else in the business. *(no connection etc)http://www.identi-tape.com/index.html
>
> > Has anyone found anything really good?
>
> > Martin

I can think of only one situation where bright, colored markings
really work and that is when a white glider is seen against snow.
When seen against a dull, cluttered background, the markings tend to
break up the glider's outline making it harder to see.

Keep in mind, the human eyeball, judged as a camera, suffers from
chromatic aberration - it doesn't focus on all colors in the spectrum
at the same time. If the background is predominately blue, the eye
will be focused on that end of the visible spectrum making red dots at
the other end of the spectrum appear fuzzy.

I've recently learned of another human vision limitation. As we age,
our eye's color sensitivity shifts to the blue end of the spectrum.
As a youngster, I disliked blue Christmas tree lights since they
appeared fuzzy. At 70, red LED displays seem difficult to focus on
and red cars seem dull while blue is luminous and crisp.

Taken together, IMHO, there isn't much to be gained from color
markings - especially red ones - except in special situations.

The one thing which does render distant, otherwise invisible aircraft
visible is a collimated beam of light aimed in your direction. (Think
landing lights) Ultrabright LED's and diode lasers might offer clever
gadget designers an idea for enabling quick eye contact with FLARM
identified intruders.

FLARM obviously works well and is well worth its cost.

[Martin Gregorie[_5_]]

On Sun, 11 Sep 2011 09:37:43 -0700, Bill D wrote:

> The one thing which does render distant, otherwise invisible aircraft
> visible is a collimated beam of light aimed in your direction. (Think
> landing lights) Ultrabright LED's and diode lasers might offer clever
> gadget designers an idea for enabling quick eye contact with FLARM
> identified intruders.
>
Another is painting the entire aircraft black, which is why all RAF
trainers have been all over gloss black, apart from markings, for quite
some time now.

> FLARM obviously works well and is well worth its cost.
>
Agreed.



--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

[Jim Kellett]

On Sep 10, 5:51*pm, AGL > wrote:

>*Isn't some sort of visibility marking required in
> Europe? . . .
> Has anyone found anything really good?

<snip>

I believe red "anti-collision" markings on the wingtips and nose were
at one time required in Germany (that's why out G-103 has them), but
the requirement was later rescinded.

There was a very thought-provoking study done in 2002 by Dr. Tony Head
of the Human Factors Group, School of Engineering, College of
Aeronautics, Cranfield University in the UK on "Glider conspicuity
trials hald at RAF Bicester in June and October, 2002" - you can
download a copy from www.dg-flugzeugbau.de/Data/glider-conspicuity-study.pdf

Long story short: Many "anticollision" markings are worse than
useless, but high reflectivity foils on control sufraces are pretty
good.

[Canav8]

One of the best materials I have ever seen is Aluminum (Speed Tape) on
a leading edge. It has a very high reflective capability and if laid
out smooth would have minimal impact of airflow. Just a thought. It
flashes every time you see them in a turn. D

[ContestID67[_2_]]

On Sep 11, 9:49*pm, Canav8 > wrote:
> One of the best materials I have ever seen is Aluminum (Speed Tape) on
> a leading edge. It has a very high reflective capability and if laid
> out smooth would have minimal impact of airflow. Just a thought. It
> flashes every time you see them in a turn. *D

I experimented with a similar idea. I first encountered this idea
when visiting a soaring RC soaring club event and seeing something
shiny on the leading edge of many ships. It was explained to me that
if the pilot on the ground looses contact with his glider, he puts it
into a circle and can detect the flash. I asked about a source and
was directed to fishing supply houses for "prism" foil tape such as
used on many fishing lures.

The concept is similar to the aluminum speed tape mentioned above
except that prism tape comes in many colors, patterns and may be more
reflective ... or at least more colorful! See
http://www.barlowstackle.com/Fishing-Lure-Tape-C133.aspx for many
examples.

I had some conversations with Dick Johnson about this concept and he
became interested. Unfortunately, his untimely death prevented any
more research.
We agreed that there were some items that need more experimentation;

1) Leading edge tape seems the best location but will that trip the
boundary layer? My experience is that the fishing tape is "very thin"
but I am unsure if it is as thin as aluminum speed tape. This can be
a major road block for acceptance by competitive pilots, who are the
most likely to be flying in close quarters. Dick would have been a
great person to perform this type of experiment.
2) How easily can it be removed? Speed tape is basically intended to
be non-permanent (to be replaced by a permanent repair) but fishing
prism tape is probably not. Note that during my testing I used wing
tape to temporarily secure the prism tape.
3) What reflective surface is "best", at what distances (1000ft? 1
mile?) and which lighting situations (sun, clouds)? Solid silver
speed tape? Prism fish tape (which color)? That would be pretty easy
to test on the ground by holding equally sized examples.
4) How well do they weather? I might guess that speed tape's shine
looses it's luster over time. Maybe fishing lure prism tape would not
fade due to the environment it is used in.
5) Could the reflective coating be integrated into the gel coat during
manufacture?

We have had far too many accidents this year and some might have been
avoided if the gliders had seen each other earlier. Powered airplanes
have anti-collision lights and beacons, we do not. Powered airplanes
have lots of different paint schemes, we typically do not. Powered
airplanes have larger/taller profiles, we have thin ones. Powered
airplanes don't fly in gaggles, we do.

The bottom line is that a reflective surface is better than dead white
or even a painted surface (no matter the color).

Thanks, my $0.02, John

[Tony[_5_]]

When it was time to paint my Cherokee I spent time reading that UK
report as well as starting a thread on RAS and reading old threads. I
ended up with bright red stripes chordwise on the wings and vertical
which broke up the daytona white base. By all accounts other pilots
have told me that it is very easy to see from a distance.

just saw this picture on www.soaring.eu: http://soaring.eu/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/IMG_8262.jpg

seems the markings wrapped around the leading edges do a good job of
breaking up the wing and making it a bit easier to see than the
"generic white glider". I also like that guys contest ID

[Bruce Hoult]

On Sep 13, 3:49*am, ContestID67 > wrote:
> 1) Leading edge tape seems the best location but will that trip the
> boundary layer? *My experience is that the fishing tape is "very thin"
> but I am unsure if it is as thin as aluminum speed tape. * This can be
> a major road block for acceptance by competitive pilots, who are the
> most likely to be flying in close quarters. * Dick would have been a
> great person to perform this type of experiment.

If the prism tape works at a fairly wide range of angles then maybe it
can be put only on the bottom of the leading edge -- that is, below
the point at which the leading edge is vertical at a reasonable angle
of attack.

It may well still be quite visible in a head-on situation, and will be
perfectly visible on a circling glider to anyone outside the circle.

I assume that anyone inside the circle can already see the glider
ok :-)

[Rick Fuller[_2_]]

On Sep 13, 2:25*am, Bruce Hoult > wrote:
> On Sep 13, 3:49*am, ContestID67 > wrote:
>
> > 1) Leading edge tape seems the best location but will that trip the
> > boundary layer? *My experience is that the fishing tape is "very thin"
> > but I am unsure if it is as thin as aluminum speed tape. * This can be
> > a major road block for acceptance by competitive pilots, who are the
> > most likely to be flying in close quarters. * Dick would have been a
> > great person to perform this type of experiment.
>
> If the prism tape works at a fairly wide range of angles then maybe it
> can be put only on the bottom of the leading edge -- that is, below
> the point at which the leading edge is vertical at a reasonable angle
> of attack.
>
> It may well still be quite visible in a head-on situation, and will be
> perfectly visible on a circling glider to anyone outside the circle.
>
> I assume that anyone inside the circle can already see the glider
> ok :-)

I remember several years ago seeing photos of a soaring contest in
Europe where every sailplane had reflective tape about 10-12 inches
wide wrapped on the leading edges of each wing and the vertical stab.
Does anyone have any information about that? How effective? If it
was adopted?

Rick