Best light for cockpit night flying?

[inspectorgadget]

I'm after the best way to illuminate my instrument approach charts for night flying. I use a kneeboard which straps around my thigh. I want to get a light with a clip and flexible neck. The LED Lenser flexible neck torches look like great quality....problem is they don't come in red light.

I'm wondering whether if I get a LED Lenser with flexible neck and clip it onto my kneeboard and use that....then paint the glass(?) cover with red glass paint...will it be too bright?

Does anyone know whether this might be too bright?

Would I be best using a DARK RED paint on the lens cover?

-- thanks for any help.

 

[Jumpmaster]

Seitz lights...the finger lights are great! Not the form factor you were looking for, but something you might be interested in...

Finger lights...
http://www.seitzinc.com/shop/page3.html

Mike lights...will work on your headset...
http://www.seitzinc.com/shop/page1.html

JM-99

 

[freefall8]

I use an Infinity Ultra G with a white LED. The light is suspended around my neck on a loop of black paracord. This illuminates my lap without hurting my night vision. My kneeboard and approach plate are clearly illuminated. The AA battery in the Ultra G matches the extras I carry for my transceiver, and GPS. The new Infinities are made by gerber and can be found here:

http://www.batterystation.com/cpf.htm


I don't use red LEDs because the light can obscure red printing on the charts. Even when flying IFR, I often carry the corresponding sectional charts just in case.

I experiment with other lights hung around my neck, such as a Photon III with turquoise LED. I even tried attaching the photon to my headseat with velcro, but I prefer the light suspended in front of my chest.

It is always a personal preference, so buy a bunch of lights and experiment.

 

[Jumpmaster]

I don't use red LEDs because the light can obscure red printing on the charts. Even when flying IFR, I often carry the corresponding sectional charts just in case.

Your charts are not red-light readable??

JM-99

 

[freefall8]

The red printing and magenta airspace markings do not show up well for my eyes with a red LED. The white and turquoise work better.

 

[philiphb]

I use a small green lanp that attaches to my Clark's H10-13.4 earpiece and shines where my head is turned. It is the NavAire Blackout Light. Manufactured by NavAire Instrument Corporation of Akron, Ohio

 

[X3MadMan]

if you just need to light up your plates, what about a military kneeboard?

Something like this,

http://www.sportys.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?DID=19&Product_ID=9433

I haven't gotten to my night flights yet, but this might help.

MadMan

 

[Aloft]

I fly for a living and am a former military pilot. I was surprised at the difference in military vs. airline flying at first...aboard the C-130, everyone always used a red light, and at night the flight deck was kept dark. The installed lights all had a red lens. I never used NVG's like some may have. Certainly, the dark cockpit helped during night searches.

In the airlines, when we reach cruise altitude, it is common to turn on the 'dome' lights (they're white and relatively bright), turning them off at the top of descent. Even the map light and yoke light in the 737 are white, I just keep it only bright enough to see the charts during the approach and landing phases of flight.

Nonetheless, aviation charts are made to be compatible with RED light sources. That's not to say that one persons eyes might not have some trouble with some of the markings, though I don't think it's common. If you are one of those persons, maybe a white Pak-Lite or other fairly dim white LED will be best.

Though I don't use it for chart illumination, I have a RED photon microlight (it's a Photon II, I think, the one with the switch) attached to my ID lanyard. It's come in very, very handy! I highly recommend one for night flying. If I were to have a more robust light, I would probably choose the Gerber Infinity in RED (the white is too bright); battery lasts a long time, it's very tough, easy to use, fairly inexpensive. Alternately, the Surefire L1 in red is also very nice, and dual stepped. It costs about as much as an hour in the air, though!

Good luck with your flying!

 

[slind1]

This may be a bit obvious for some but I've been using a SF A2 with red LED's with good results.

Good luck.

 

[slind1]

Just found something interesting.

TAD Gear has PEAK LED SOLUTIONS CR123 1LED on closeout for $19.89 in Red LED only. I've never used one but for less than $20.00 with a 123???

Steve

 

[ArmyPilot]

The Seitz lights that Jumpmaster mentioned are the ones the Army is issuing. We use Green to be compatible with our NVGs, if your not wearing them, I would guess its your choice.

I've found that the non-dimmable photons are way too bright, as is the SF A2.

I have a seitz fingerlight as well as a Gerber Recon which I wear around my neck. I don't like the 'liplights' which mount on the mic boom because it seems most people turn them on accidentally when they talk.

I'm working on building a new type of fingerlight. Well, I will be as soon as I get back home.

Edward

 

[SilverFox]

Hello ArmyPilot,

SureFire has come out with a Yellow-Green LED version of the A2. It seems to be a lot dimmer than any of the other versions. I measure about 8 lux at 1 meter. You may want to check it out...

Tom

 

[jclarksnakes]

When I used to fly with NVGs in CH-47s we used either a finger light or a lip light mounted on the microphone. We bought them from Sporty's Pilot Shop. The lip light was very usefull and pretty easy to get used to using. Properly adjusted it is ALWAYS pointed exactly where you are looking. Both of these lights had low output green LEDs. Both powered with single button cell batteries. Because both of these type lights were less than 100% reliable I also always had a minimag also with a green LED within quick reach. Green light at very low levels works pretty well for reading publications and maps and also does not significantly degrade night vision. During the 1980s as the Army got seriously into NVG flying cockpit lighting was changed from red to less intense green. BTW, a minimag with a single low intensity green LED has virtually unlimited runtime.
jclarksnakes
CW4 USA (retired)

 

[Jumpmaster]

When I used to fly with NVGs in CH-47s we used either a finger light or a lip light mounted on the microphone. We bought them from Sporty's Pilot Shop. The lip light was very usefull and pretty easy to get used to using. Properly adjusted it is ALWAYS pointed exactly where you are looking. Both of these lights had low output green LEDs. Both powered with single button cell batteries.

Right...those would be the Seitz lights I posted links to in post #2 of this thread.

JM-99

 

[jclarksnakes]

I should add that red light is the only color that will not bleach out your rhodopsin and degrade your night vision but that green light at very low levels belaches it out infinitely less than bright white light. Before we had and flew with NVGs we had night hawk training which involved wearing red goggles an hour or so before flying if exposed to light, exclusively using red lights in flight planning rooms and keeping all lights off on the flight line and avoiding flying anywhere near intense light sources. We actually planned night training flights for the very darkest times when the moon was not full or before it rose or after it set below the horizon. I used to teach classes on night vision. If you want the best possible night vision avoud bright lights religiously, get plenty of rest, do not smoke, and stay at low altitudes or use supplemental oxygen at altitude. The information that Quickbeam posted in the night vision sticky is 100% accurate.
jclarksnakes

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Jclarksnakes,

I have a setting on my camera called "NightShot." I usually refer to it as about Gen 1/2... It is not very sensitive, but still works. There is also a more sensitive setting called "Super NightShot."

I noticed my A2 with yellow/green LED's does not show up very well on the NightShot setting. I was wondering if this is a feature of yellow/green in general or just that I have a less sensitive system.

I also noticed that comparing the yellow/green LED's to a friends white LED's in his A2, the yellow/green are much dimmer. This could also be the reason that the yellow/green don't show up as well.

Tom

 

[jclarksnakes]

Tom,
...I really do not know for sure but my guess is that what you perceive (sp?) as the yellow/green ones looking dimmer is exactly what it actually is. They likely are producing fewer lumens. I think we need an LED expert to tell us if colored LEDs are producing the colored light at the same lumen output as similar white LEDs or if the yellow/green is just what we see left after the other colors are filtered out.
jclarksnakes

 

[torchtate]

Just gonna put in my $0.02 here...this is what I use for night flying:

Finger light = http://www.countycomm.com/fingerlight.htm

(This one works awesome and is like 1/4 of the price of those listed above. I have the red version.)

Back up red light = Gerber Infinity Ultra from batterystation http://www.batterystation.com/cpf.htm

Back up white light = Arc-AAA premium edition http://www.arcflashlight.com/arc-aaa.shtml

Between these 3 lights and the built in cockpit lighting if I don't have enough lighting/backup light sources, then something is seriously really wrong, lol. That's the setup I use and recommend.

Bill

 

[Jumpmaster]

Finger light = http://www.countycomm.com/fingerlight.htm

(This one works awesome and is like 1/4 of the price of those listed above. I have the red version.)

If the countycomm one is the same, imported crap that Brigade Quartermasters sells, it's a complete POS compared to the Seitz fingerlight. The Seitz one is smaller, yet seems a LOT more solidly-constructed.

There's a reason it costs more...you get what you pay for. On the Brigade Quartermasters one, I couldn't get the switch to work reliably and the output was very low. I returned it for a refund after a couple of days trying to use the thing.

If you actually NEED the thing to work, I would not recommend that one...the Seitz one is far superior.

JM-99

 

[torchtate]

Nope, the county comm one I use is completely different from the one that Brigade Quartermasters sells.

Here's the link to the manufacturers website. http://www.s-lite.com/fingerlightsgeneral.shtml It's made in the USA, not imported. Feel free to check out the specs.

It comes with it's own case and accesories. The case has a belt loop so you can put it on your belt or strap it onto gear. It also comes with several accessory clips that allow it to be used as more than a finger light. You can clip it onto a pair of glasses, a chart or kneeboard, or the one clip even fits the boom of headset I use and allows it to be used as a lip light.

As for the brightness/output...it's got some serious output. If anyone is really interested I'll post beamshots. It is definitely brighter than my red led Gerber Infinity Ultra. Plus the beam is much more uniform, than the Ultra too. Judging from the pictures on the Seitz fingerlight website the output seems pretty similar between the two.

The switch is a rotating switch. It works great and can easily be activated with your thumb or another finger. It's well made. I've never had any problems. It's rated to be water tight down to 30'. Supposedly there is a diver's version available too that's good down to 150'.

Both this one and the Seitz are pretty similar. They're good fingerlights and will get the job done. Choose which ever one you have a preference for...I went with this one because if I lose the thing I'm out less money.

-Bill