self contained streamlined strobe?

On Tuesday, December 13, 2016 at 12:36:49 PM UTC-8, Steve L wrote:


I fly Experimental so the bike light idea appeals to me along with the fact there is no wiring and the price is nice too. Any recommendations on which is the best and which one has the strobe effect?
Best, Steve

Steve,

I ride road bicycle at night through the summer to avoid UV, so have Fenix bike headlight and strobe taillight as well. The problem I see for glider use is the relatively narrow beam angle. On a roadway, it looks bright to other traffic and the narrow main beam is good. Move off to the side, not so much.

I have AeroLed landing and taxi LED lights on my Husky. Two on each wing for wig-wag operation. Some guys put two landing lights each side for even better landing off-field visibility. I run all four in flight. The taxi lights have a broader less intense light than do the landing lights, they are both the same wattage 36 watts each IIRC. Standing off to the side of the Husky checking how the light look, the taxi lights are MUCH more visible than the landing lights - walk more to the front of the plane and the landing lights are brighter of course.

Schleicher sells leading edge LEDs for the vertical stab as an option. It's done nicely. Only thing I don't like about it is you can't just unscrew it to replace should it become damaged.

I have Aeroled strobes on the Husky as well. Much more efficient than Whelan power supply and Xenon tubes, but those LED strobes would suck a 9 volt dry in no time. If you had to go with batteries, I'd be looking at a couple of rechargeable Lion 18650's or so - they usually don't go poof - - hopefully.

On Tuesday, December 13, 2016 at 3:29:35 PM UTC-6, Scott Williams wrote:
On Tuesday, December 13, 2016 at 3:17:25 PM UTC-6, Scott Williams wrote:
Is this the Steve L, famous Wichita glider pilot/collector?

Steve L, google acr c-strobe, $25 or so

Hi Scott-
This is semi-famous (HA!) glider pilot Steve Loudon from south central Nebraska who flies a Test Atas 10M...

On Tuesday, December 13, 2016 at 4:40:59 PM UTC-6, bumper wrote:
On Tuesday, December 13, 2016 at 12:36:49 PM UTC-8, Steve L wrote:


I fly Experimental so the bike light idea appeals to me along with the fact there is no wiring and the price is nice too. Any recommendations on which is the best and which one has the strobe effect?
Best, Steve

Steve,

I ride road bicycle at night through the summer to avoid UV, so have Fenix bike headlight and strobe taillight as well. The problem I see for glider use is the relatively narrow beam angle. On a roadway, it looks bright to other traffic and the narrow main beam is good. Move off to the side, not so much.

I have AeroLed landing and taxi LED lights on my Husky. Two on each wing for wig-wag operation. Some guys put two landing lights each side for even better landing off-field visibility. I run all four in flight. The taxi lights have a broader less intense light than do the landing lights, they are both the same wattage 36 watts each IIRC. Standing off to the side of the Husky checking how the light look, the taxi lights are MUCH more visible than the landing lights - walk more to the front of the plane and the landing lights are brighter of course.

Schleicher sells leading edge LEDs for the vertical stab as an option. It's done nicely. Only thing I don't like about it is you can't just unscrew it to replace should it become damaged.

I have Aeroled strobes on the Husky as well. Much more efficient than Whelan power supply and Xenon tubes, but those LED strobes would suck a 9 volt dry in no time. If you had to go with batteries, I'd be looking at a couple of rechargeable Lion 18650's or so - they usually don't go poof - - hopefully.

OK, all good tips... Thanks so much!

On Tuesday, December 13, 2016 at 5:23:46 PM UTC-6, Steve L wrote:
On Tuesday, December 13, 2016 at 3:29:35 PM UTC-6, Scott Williams wrote:
On Tuesday, December 13, 2016 at 3:17:25 PM UTC-6, Scott Williams wrote:
Is this the Steve L, famous Wichita glider pilot/collector?

Steve L, google acr c-strobe, $25 or so

Hi Scott-
This is semi-famous (HA!) glider pilot Steve Loudon from south central Nebraska who flies a Test Atas 10M...

nice to meet you. I used to live in grand Island in the '70s
Scott

On Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 9:36:49 AM UTC+13, Steve L wrote:

I fly Experimental so the bike light idea appeals to me along with the fact there is no wiring and the price is nice too. Any recommendations on which is the best and which one has the strobe effect?

Almost all bike lights will flash like a strobe. Price/performance is improving rapidly.

A lot of bright LED flashlights also have a strobe effect and some have a focusing lens to vary the beam angle. The flashlights has a small frontal area for minimal drag and some are waterproof.

http://www.besttacticalflashlights.net/best-flashlight/

The tricky bit is aiming it, being 'bright enough' and getting something that looks 'not improvised'.

On Tuesday, December 13, 2016 at 7:24:54 PM UTC-6, Scott Williams wrote:
On Tuesday, December 13, 2016 at 5:23:46 PM UTC-6, Steve L wrote:
On Tuesday, December 13, 2016 at 3:29:35 PM UTC-6, Scott Williams wrote:
On Tuesday, December 13, 2016 at 3:17:25 PM UTC-6, Scott Williams wrote:
Is this the Steve L, famous Wichita glider pilot/collector?

Steve L, google acr c-strobe, $25 or so

Hi Scott-
This is semi-famous (HA!) glider pilot Steve Loudon from south central Nebraska who flies a Test Atas 10M...

nice to meet you. I used to live in grand Island in the '70s
Scott
I'm in Lexington, most people out here are not quite sure what a glider is! I started out with a K-8 that my dad use to fly with the McCook Soaring Club that was brought to Kearney along with a K-6 and K-7 by a German who taught at Kearney State College. I've also owned a Blanik L-13 and a Scheibe Super Falke...

On Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 3:55:05 AM UTC-6, son_of_flubber wrote:
On Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 9:36:49 AM UTC+13, Steve L wrote:

I fly Experimental so the bike light idea appeals to me along with the fact there is no wiring and the price is nice too. Any recommendations on which is the best and which one has the strobe effect?

Almost all bike lights will flash like a strobe. Price/performance is improving rapidly.

A lot of bright LED flashlights also have a strobe effect and some have a focusing lens to vary the beam angle. The flashlights has a small frontal area for minimal drag and some are waterproof.

http://www.besttacticalflashlights.net/best-flashlight/
Great, I'll check out the bike shops... Thank You
The tricky bit is aiming it, being 'bright enough' and getting something that looks 'not improvised'.

As for bike lights, I have three Cygolite Expilion lights that I use on my bikes. They kept making brighter lights and I kept buying brighter lights. My collection includes a 250 lumen, 400 lumen and 800 lumen Expilion lights.

Appears their webpage is down right now, but another webpage shows a 750 lumen light that looks identical to all three of my lights:

http://adrenalineworld.com/cygolite-...ble-headlight/

And they are all USB rechargeable.

The copy says the battery lasts for 22 hours in "daylighting" mode. I'm assuming that is the strobe setting that should be used only in the daytime by cyclists. Using strobe at night could probably incite epileptic fits with some people.

Not sure how and where one could be mounted on a glider.

But they make GREAT headlights for riding the bike at night and for giving car drivers no reason for not seeing you day or night.

Ray

I did an experiment today. A bicycle with a strobe headlight was approaching me. After I went by him, I turned around so as to retrace my path, and I intently watched him approach me again.

At a range of 3/4 mile I could see the bike and rider clearly, but not the strobe. The strobe only became visible around 1/3 of a mile. Conditions were clear, under full sun - exactly the kind of day you'd probably be soaring.

This result duplicates my experiences with in air sightings of an ASG-29 with a purpose designed fin strobe, where I could see the glider well before I could see the strobe.

I don't understand what value there might be in mounting a bike strobe on a glider...

-John, Q3

On Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 12:42:38 PM UTC-5, John Carlyle wrote:
I did an experiment today. A bicycle with a strobe headlight was approaching me. After I went by him, I turned around so as to retrace my path, and I intently watched him approach me again.

At a range of 3/4 mile I could see the bike and rider clearly, but not the strobe. The strobe only became visible around 1/3 of a mile. Conditions were clear, under full sun - exactly the kind of day you'd probably be soaring.

This result duplicates my experiences with in air sightings of an ASG-29 with a purpose designed fin strobe, where I could see the glider well before I could see the strobe.

I don't understand what value there might be in mounting a bike strobe on a glider...

-John, Q3

On a number of occasions the strobe on QV's '29 caught my eye before the glider.
This was always on somewhat poor visibility days as one would expect.
UH