backup cockpit lighting

"Stan Prevost" wrote in
:

My own experience is that red works well for me except on sectionals.
Some of the red lamps I use are a little brighter than I would like
but I don't find that they mess up my adaption even when falling
directly on my face briefly. White light does mess me up unless it is
very dim. I haven't used other colors. I keep a little white Photon
microlight handy for looking at sectionals when needed, but it does
mess up my vision because it is so bright.

One problem for me with red light is that I have about a dozen gauges
with red lines and red areas. Red light doesn't help much in seeing
these. If the instrument lights fail and I have to rely on my own light,
red ain't gonna cut it, because there is likely to be lots of stuff going
on, and I need to know if I'm approaching limits on the engines, RPM,
torque, oil temps and pressures, hydraulic systems, and everything else.
I need to be able to see at a glance where the needles are in relation to
the redlines. If red is adequate in your aircraft, then use whatever
works for you. I've tried red, and don't like it.

--
Regards,

Stan

"Josef Burger" wrote in message
.. .
What do you use for extra and backup lighting in the cockpit for IFR
flights at night?

Besides the little Photon Microlight hanging around my neck, and the small
two-AA red-lensed flashlight clipped to my shirt, and a few more lights of
various types in trays under both front seats and in my flight bag, I mainly
use a red LED headlamp. It always points where I am looking, whether it be
my kneeboard, the instrument panel in front of me, or the radio stack. I
have tried several: an Eveready, an Energizer, both $13-16 at Target or
WalMart, and a Photon Fusion ($$). The Photon has adjustable brightness,
but also a bunch of unneeded flashing modes. The two lower-cost units are
almost too bright, but work well and have the advantage of simplicity.

When introducing students to night flight, I tell them to not buy any kind
of light, other than maybe a good D-cell or "lantern battery" light for
preflight, until after our first flight. On that flight, I let them try
various kinds of flashlights, then let them try a headlamp, so that they can
choose what suits them based on having tried some things. Invariably they
decide on the headlamp.

Stan

I don't fly much IFR at night, actually none within the last year. I
would fly some if I had good VFR under me, just for the practice.
But...when I did fly IFR at night, I had a flashlight that I put a red
cover over (autoparts store tape for repairing broken tailights) and
taped it to the overhead bar. That way if I lost electrical, I could
reach up there and turn it on. This along with a couple of other
flashlights. A sudden electrical failure at night would be very
difficult to manage, no autopilot, no lights and no radios, ALL
happening at once. One reason why I was never very enthusiastic about
night IFR. Most electrical failures give warning signs before going
full fatal, so you have that working in your favor. But it would be
very spooky to be in the clouds at night with no electric, very spooky.

This is something I've spent some time on, as my 57 year old eyes need lots of
help at night.

The best "conventional" solution I have found is to velcro a red Photon III
Covert microlight to each side of my headset. Set to medium brightness and
aimed to get a sort of horizontal ellipse pattern, you do not even need
instrument lighting. The light goes where you're looking and it is there before
you turn on ship's power and after you turn it off. Dual redundant, almost zero
weight, and the batteries seem to last forever. This solves your yoke light,
kneeboard light, panel light, and area light problems all in one whack.

Note 1: The "covert" part of the light is a little snout that shields the LED so
the light only goes forwards. Without the snout, there are distracting
reflections from the side window. Note 2: The Velcro mounting is not super
stable. 3M Dual Lock is much better if you can find it. mcmaster.com carries
it, as do others.

The lights do tend to get knocked off when the headset is in its bag. Photon
sells a little leash, about 3" long, that can be used to clip each light to the
headset frame. Then the little things can't wander too far.

One other thing learned: You want the light to be as high as possible, ideally
above your eyes. Otherwise, when you are writing on your clipboard, the shadow
of your hand will cover the where you are writing. That is the reason I don't
think the cute little mic boom lights are too great.

I am now using one of the Clarity Aloft headsets (which, BTW is spectacular in
all aspects) so I have made a sort of wire loop gadget that is effectively a
pair of red LED headlights that are more or less in the same position as the
Photon lights were on my standard headlights. An elastic band headlight would
probably work as well, as long as the brightness was adjustable.



On 12/20/04 11:59 PM, Josef Burger wrote the following:
What do you use for extra and backup lighting in the cockpit for IFR
flights at night? Some airplanes have pretty decent lighting built in.
Others can have decent cockpit lighting and poor panel lighting.
Others have shadows in poor locations, or areas of the panel/cockpit
you'd really like to have illuminated, but aren't.

Myself, I keep a LED flashlight around my neck, and other flashlights
nearby and handy. I keep on trying other items and discarding them.
Perhaps .. I've just never found the right item.

Things I've been thinking about ...
A yoke/yoke-board mounted light, such as a flex-lite or some LED
bar might work well for lighting the panel either in normal flight
or when the lights go out. Some velcro on adhesive strips, stick it
to the cockpit ceiling, and put something like a pelican VersaBrite
II up there to provide some area illumination.

Some better lighting for a yoke/knee board would be nice, maybe a flexlite,
or same flood light on velcro mentioned earlier. Of course, some
sort of backlit timer/counter/stopwatch would really be great, but I
haven't found a good one in many years of looking.

That's some of the considerations I have, was wondering what other people
use.

Thanks
Bolo -- Josef T. Burger

Since I'm a new instrument student, I can't comment on IFR at
night...but, having done a fair amount of VFR night flying, I've found
S-Lite's version of the lip light (can't remember the name at the
moment, has four LEDs, you can choose which color you like) to work
well. I went with green and like the results. Based on Bob's comments,
however, I'll have to look at my brand new Jepp charts to see how they
look under the green light. This unit isn't cheap (was last year's
Christmas present) and the battery case has no cover, something I need
to permanently fix. At the moment I use one of those velcro cord wraps
around it. The LED brightness can be controlled and you can select
between the single spot LED, three "flood" LEDs, or all. I find the
"flood" setting works well.

I also carry two flashlights in my bag, a 2-D cell maglight for
preflight and a 2-AA cell maglight for pre-engine start stuff in the
cockpit (could use my lip light but I don't put my headset on until
after engine start and the avionics master comes on).

Jack Allison
PP-ASEL, instrument student

Jack Allison wrote in
ink.net:

Since I'm a new instrument student, I can't comment on IFR at
night...but, having done a fair amount of VFR night flying, I've found
S-Lite's version of the lip light (can't remember the name at the
moment, has four LEDs, you can choose which color you like) to work
well. I went with green and like the results. Based on Bob's
comments, however, I'll have to look at my brand new Jepp charts to
see how they look under the green light.

The Jepp charts are very readable under green light, not so good under
red. Blue ink under red light washes out, but under green it appears
black. I haven't found a color except for green that isn't very visible
using green light.

--
Regards,

Stan

Stan Gosnell wrote:


The Jepp charts are very readable under green light, not so good under
red. Blue ink under red light washes out, but under green it appears
black. I haven't found a color except for green that isn't very visible
using green light.


The major key to map visibility and not ruining your night vision isn't
so much color as DIM. Oddly, the best and handiest source I've found
for reading charts at night is to use the backlight from my portable GPS
as the map light. It makes a large area, dim illumination that doesn't
mess up the colors.

On 12/27/04 9:03 AM, Ron Natalie wrote the following:
Stan Gosnell wrote:


The Jepp charts are very readable under green light, not so good under
red. Blue ink under red light washes out, but under green it appears
black. I haven't found a color except for green that isn't very visible
using green light.


The major key to map visibility and not ruining your night vision isn't
so much color as DIM. Oddly, the best and handiest source I've found
for reading charts at night is to use the backlight from my portable GPS
as the map light. It makes a large area, dim illumination that doesn't
mess up the colors.

Here is a pretty good flashlight for reading charts where you want white light:

http://members.cox.net/rigelsys/rigelsys.html

I have the red/white "Skylight" version and it is completely dim-able down to
zero light. It is not as bright as you might want for outdoor walking path
lighting, but either color is bright enough for anything you might need to do in
the cockpit.

Sporty's sells it too.

On Mon, 27 Dec 2004 21:48:49 GMT, Mitty wrote:

On 12/27/04 9:03 AM, Ron Natalie wrote the following:
Stan Gosnell wrote:


The Jepp charts are very readable under green light, not so good under
red. Blue ink under red light washes out, but under green it appears
black. I haven't found a color except for green that isn't very visible
using green light.


The major key to map visibility and not ruining your night vision isn't
so much color as DIM. Oddly, the best and handiest source I've found
for reading charts at night is to use the backlight from my portable GPS
as the map light. It makes a large area, dim illumination that doesn't
mess up the colors.

Here is a pretty good flashlight for reading charts where you want white light:

http://members.cox.net/rigelsys/rigelsys.html

I have the red/white "Skylight" version and it is completely dim-able down to
zero light. It is not as bright as you might want for outdoor walking path
lighting, but either color is bright enough for anything you might need to do in
the cockpit.

I have a little "RayOVac" (TM) blue, single LED flashlight. Although
it looks bulky, it's very light and comes with a clip that works on
the bill of a cap. It runs off three AAA batteries with an advertised
life of 200 hours.

I've worn it on IFR night flights of nearly 3 hours and it was always
comfortable.

Cheap too. As I recall it ran around $14 or $17 dollars.

Of course with the lighting in the Deb (and most old planes) that is
the primary lighting while a good flashlight can be the secondary.
I typically carry two with one being a 2 cell "mag light" and one
being a 3 cell "Mag Light". Not much good for cockpit lighting, but
it sure works around the airport. If it didn't reflect so much inside
the darn thing would make a good landing light. :-))

When all else fails you can use one of the big lights by putting your
hand over the lens and letting the light leak through your fingers.
It's dim and it's red. Just don't let the white light shine through
or you really will be on instruments until your night vision comes
back.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com
Sporty's sells it too.

I tend to use a little flashlight that Rayovac makes. (I don't remember
their part number, but you can buy them at Wal-Mart for less than $10..
they're green with a clip, swivel head, and both a red and white lens, and
they run on a couple of AA batteries). When you clip it to your headset, it
gives you straight-ahead lighting, which is somewhat adjustable and perfect
for helping you see the panel. I use it as a backup source of panel light,
and supplemental lighting when flying night IFR in poorly lit airplanes.
They are, howver a bit too bright and too red (if you use the red lens) for
map reading.

Just my two cents.

-Rob
-Rob

"Josef Burger" wrote in message
.. .
What do you use for extra and backup lighting in the cockpit for IFR
flights at night? Some airplanes have pretty decent lighting built in.
Others can have decent cockpit lighting and poor panel lighting.
Others have shadows in poor locations, or areas of the panel/cockpit
you'd really like to have illuminated, but aren't.

Myself, I keep a LED flashlight around my neck, and other flashlights
nearby and handy. I keep on trying other items and discarding them.
Perhaps .. I've just never found the right item.

Things I've been thinking about ...
A yoke/yoke-board mounted light, such as a flex-lite or some LED
bar might work well for lighting the panel either in normal flight
or when the lights go out. Some velcro on adhesive strips, stick it
to the cockpit ceiling, and put something like a pelican VersaBrite
II up there to provide some area illumination.

Some better lighting for a yoke/knee board would be nice, maybe a
flexlite,
or same flood light on velcro mentioned earlier. Of course, some
sort of backlit timer/counter/stopwatch would really be great, but I
haven't found a good one in many years of looking.

That's some of the considerations I have, was wondering what other people
use.

Thanks
Bolo -- Josef T. Burger
--
| Josef Burger U of WI-Madison Computer Sciences | "No matter where you
go,
| "Bolo" uwvax!bolo | There you are"
| http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~bolo/ | -- Buckaroo Banzai