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Old September 19th 18, 05:35 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Dave Walsh
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Posts: 83
Default Anti-collision strobe lights

At 13:26 19 September 2018, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
On Tuesday, September 18, 2018 at 8:08:49 PM UTC-7,

Gerry Simpson wrote:
Does anyone have knowledge of documented studies

showing the efficacy of
=
the strobe light bars which are available to be installed in

the leading
ed=
ges of the vertical stabilizers on gliders? Is there anything

beyond
anecdo=
tal experience to support their use to improve visibility to

other
aircraft=
beyond a minuscule amount? Has anyone had experience

that they are
willing=
to share? To what extent does an installation disrupt the

laminar airflow
=
around the vertical stabilizer?

One of the gliders I fly has the strobe light in the leading

edge of fin
or=
as Schleicher called it, "flashlight in nose of fin". This

glider also
ha=
s the LXNav controller so the strobe can be set to

continuous, off, or
only=
flash when there is a Flarm alert. I think the installation

weight for
st=
robe and control was about 2 kg. I have been told the

strobe really
stands=
out under cloud streets,think Whites, Inyos, the streeting

in Nephi,
which=
is where I had several tell me the strobe really added to

visibility. On
=
the ground the light is very bright. Would I purchase one,

sure, but then
=
my parachutes are less than 20 years old. Is it a must have

safety device,
=
probably not. Safety is cumulative and an attitude. Is this

flash enough
=
to keep me from hitting another glider with closing rates

approaching 300
k=
not while running a street in the Owens Valley, the strobe

gives me added
v=
isibility.=20


Quite a few Sisteron gliders have these strobes (or ones
fitted in the nose) I would say they do work at close range,
especially in darker conditions. I wouldn't worry that they
are ineffective at a mile or so - you can't collide with a glider
a mile away. Of course Flarm is mandatory here in the Alps
but even so many newer gliders do have them; the cost is a
tiny fraction of a new ship cost. Having them retro fitted in
the tail seems prohibitively expensive; the ones that form a
ring around the nose hook/pitot are a feasible retro fit
option.