Surefire Aviator 2017 thread

[tab665]

Re: Surefire Aviator release date?

looking at surefires website it refers to it as yellow/green.

 

[DAN92]

Re: Surefire Aviator release date?

Interesting, I'll probably buy the model with red Led as my aviator A2L.

 

[thenikjones]

Re: Surefire Aviator release date?

Amber Low is borderline too bright. I would go with Red LED for soothing light.

Thank you

 

[thenikjones]

Re: Surefire Aviator release date?

The vintage E-series SF red filter (F05) was for 1.00" bezels, and the newer version (F05-A) is for 1.125" bezels.

According to the spec sheet posted above, if this version has a 1.06" bezel, I would suppose neither bezel would fit well without modification :ironic:


EDIT - also, depending on the spectrum of that particular amber emitter, a red filter may possibly drastically reduce total output (which you might, or might not, prefer)

Thank you for the sizes, might squeeze on.

I was thinking use the red filter with the white light, so 3 colours in all. My head says just stick with the red filter in my old E1L or Haiku for a similar result in a less integrated package (and save the $299 or so). Hmmm

 

[search_and_rescue]

Re: Surefire Aviator release date?

Drop test update: my Aviator was accidentally dropped over a meter onto a hard pointy surface. The amber low was on. Not even any faint reaction nor flicker whatsoever. Only evidence I found was a minuscule indentation just below the OFF marking. The anodizing is superb as the direct impact point does not show any break in the anodizing.
photo upload

 

[RobertMM]

Re: Surefire Aviator release date?

That is tough.
Not surprising though, given how thick their HA is. First to wear out wil be the corners and edges.

If someone can confirm that high mode on the yellow-gree variant is really 12hours for 39 lumens and not a typo, then that is the one I'm getting.
Else I'm getting an amber too.

 

[Nichia!]

Surefire Aviator is here!

Check the Aviator from Surefire..

http://www.surefire.com/illumination/flashlights/aviator.html

 

[search_and_rescue]

Re: Surefire Aviator release date?

That is tough.
Not surprising though, given how thick their HA is. First to wear out wil be the corners and edges.

If someone can confirm that high mode on the yellow-gree variant is really 12hours for 39 lumens and not a typo, then that is the one I'm getting.
Else I'm getting an amber too.

SureFire(R)'s website made correction to their Red Aviator low mode Lumen number. Since the Yellow Green did not change, I believe the 12 hours on high and 58 hours on low is accurate. Also, their front page has a feature on the Aviator(R) flashlight now, with a page dedicated to each spectrum model, and beamshots photo for each. I do recommend the Yellow-Green based upon the output and runtimes. 0.3 Lumen low for 58 hours is also appealing. :thumbsup:

 

[Vox Clamatis in Deserto]

Re: Surefire Aviator is here!

If someone can confirm that high mode on the yellow-gree variant is really 12hours for 39 lumens and not a typo, then that is the one I'm getting.

Check the Aviator from Surefire..

http://www.surefire.com/illumination/flashlights/aviator.html

I'd be a little skeptical of the runtime listings posted on that page. The asterisk note says '*Runtime until output drops below 50 lumens' but every line asterisked is already below 50 lumens except output on High White.

The new Aviator listing linked above says:

All performance claims tested to ANSI/NEMA FL1-2009 Standard

From page 1 of the 2017 SureFire catalog:

ANSI/NEMA FL1 Standards: Runtimes until output drops below 10% of initial output for a given setting.

Obviously some typos with the asterisks but are the other numbers perhaps correct?

 

[search_and_rescue]

Re: Surefire Aviator is here!

Very good analysis and please let me either call SureFire(R) or email them. I was planning to purchase the Y-G myself but now need verification. Thanks Mr. Vox Clamatis. I will report back to this thread as soon as I receive a home office response. O my gosh it's like I'm back at Windsor Insurance working again! Lol

 

[kj2]

Re: Surefire Aviator release date?

Also noticed the price went up. Now just below 300 and it was 289.

 

[mk2rocco]

Re: Surefire Aviator release date?

I ordered a Y/G Aviator from Optics Planet, I'll update this thread with beamshots and initial impressions.

 

[RobertM]

Re: Surefire Aviator release date?

Comparing SureFire's new website changes to this chart from the owner's manual, there are a few changes:

White low: 1.5 / 20.5 hrs (website) vs 5 / 20.5 hrs (chart)
Y/G low: 0.3 / 58 hrs (website) vs 3 / 58 hrs (chart)

I'm guessing (and hoping) that the Y/G low is really 0.3 not 3 which would be more inline with Y/G output on the old Kroma Milspec. 3 lumens would be a bit bright IMO.
Hopefully the white output on low is actually 5, not 1.5. IMO, 1.5 would be pretty low to be useful under most circumstances.

search_and_rescue, does the low white on your's seem to be 1.5 or 5 lumens? I'm guessing it's actually 5 since the website text description mentions 5 as well.

Putting all these mysteries aside, I couldn't resist any longer and ordered an AVIATOR-YG from Midway. Should hopefully be here on Monday. I'll post lots of pictures and impressions once it arrives. Fingers crossed that the white on mine will be a nice, pure white like search_and_rescue's.

 

[search_and_rescue]

Re: Surefire Aviator release date?

Hi Robert, White Low is 5 lumens. You did well to order the Yellow Green. This was my next selection. SureFire(R) has not responded to my email yet. Unfortunately, I have thrown my fortunes into the AM and that's that. I was planning to buy more SureFire flashlights, but I already hold in my hands, received directly from SureFire(R), a P3XC-A dual-output Fury(R). I wanted the P3XT-A tactical but ordered the dual-stage by mistake. It's O.K. though, because I needed a 15 Lumen low for 53 hours after all. Thank You God for His constant guidance.

My next flashlight purchase will be a goal, to accumulate enough money to purchase one of Master Nguyen(R)'s X65vn2870. It will be the .50 BMG of LED flashlights. 100 years from now, it will still be considered most-powerful LED portable, handheld flashlight. LED's were designed for lighting up a massive area, HID and lasers for ultra long-range throw. This is the epiphany that has come to me.

God Bless. :grouphug:

 

[Grijon]

Re: Surefire Aviator release date?

I'm pretty darn excited for this light, but will have to wait quite a while before I can order one.

Thank you to all who have posted pictures and hands-on experience with them so far - can't wait to see more!

 

[xdayv]

Re: Surefire Aviator release date?

So is it turning out that the Y/G is one of the top choices because of its efficient runtime?

 

[Andrey]

Re: Surefire Aviator release date?

In addition to its high efficiency, Y/G Aviator has 0.3 lm low. This will make it one of the very few Surefire lights with a true moonlight mode.
Experimenting with lights I have found that 1 lm red is already affecting my night vision when working with close objects. Thus 1 lm low of the Red Aviator might still be too bright to preserve night vision.
With white light, however, 0.25 lm were enough to impair my night vision in described conditions. Will be interesting to see how Y/G low affects the night vision.
Also worth noting that the human eye is most sensitive in the yellow-green range of spectrum -- 555 nm.

 

[GreySave]

Re: Surefire Aviator release date?

Am I correct that in looking at the beamshots the wide flood of the A2 Aviator LED version is gone. It is the colored LED output going through the TIR system? If so that's a shame. I should have bought one of the last remaining white / white LED Aviators when I had the chance......I may be the oddball on this but I valued the flood of the secondary LEDs as much as the color......

 

[mk2rocco]

Re: Surefire Aviator release date?

I went with y/g because of the let output. The long runtime is also a plus.

 

[Dingle1911]

Re: Surefire Aviator release date?

Hope this isn't too OT. I think it is really interesting that Surefire adopted the E1e body for the new l'il Aviators, and that they are sold with either z61 or z68 tailcaps... and Aviator is now E-series compatible. But is no one else lamenting the A2/LX2 dual stage tailcaps, with instant access to both spectrums? I didn't see it as an issue at all with the V1 Vampire, but it seems they made the new Aviator interface quite a bit less accessable with having to (is it pull &) twist the head? I'll be keeping my incan A2, and picking up at least a couple more... but I'll likely only go after a single new Aviator (prolly red, though the amber is lovely, I think red will better suit my purposes).

I completely agree with you. A two stage switch in conjunction with the twist head would possibly be the ultimate flashlight. There is probably some technical reason that it isn't possible. The lack of two stage switches from the current line is saddening.