High Vis Markings

Funny you should ask that question. After determining the transponder/ADS-b out-in and whatever else it takes to "see" was too expensive I looked in the the "be seen" part of the saying.
And I just returned from my local bike shop with a Bontrager Flare RT Tail light with remote control in my possession. It was not cheap, at $80 but is very bright, small and rechargeable. They claim a 2k range in daylight. The remote control was $70 and I could have done without it. All I have to do is figure out where to mount it, yea, I know cant put anything on the aircraft as per the FAR's, but maybe near the wheel well facing rearward? Also, I checked into DOT tape truckers are required to have all over their trucks. Again not cheap at $30 per 25'x1" roll, but very bright in the daylight sun. Maybe the underside of the fuselage for this tape? And lastly if I really want to be seen, I might have the auto body shop near me paint a hunter orange stripe (12'x1.5') on the underside of my wings. I have a few quotes of $500-$650. Not sure about this one, I'll have to think about it, since my wings are carbon, painting them is no big deal.
Thank God for the off season so we can get stuff like this done.
Cheers.

On Friday, January 22, 2016 at 3:15:58 PM UTC-5, kirk.stant wrote:
On Friday, January 22, 2016 at 1:17:50 PM UTC-6, son_of_flubber wrote:
On Friday, January 22, 2016 at 12:19:47 PM UTC-5, kirk.stant wrote:

My gut feeling is that any length long enough to be useful would be pretty draggy!

I figure the wing tip is already very draggy. How much worse could it get? I'm thinking about 12" would work as the tape acts like a signal mirror picking up the sun glint. The wing tip turbulence means it passes through a lot of different angles.

Like I said, try it out first, you may be surprised. Think of the hardware needed to attach the ribbon, or are you going to just tape it to the trailing edge? So now you have 12 inches of tape flapping in the wind - It can get a LOT worse! Or you may have come up with the best thing since sliced bread ;^)

So please, give it a try and report back!

I have orange wingtips and rudder, and other pilots have commented on how visible they make me - especially against a white background. Wouldn't fly without them...

Kirk

Kirk

Reflective tape study - Oct 2002 - at http://www.dg-flugzeugbau.de/Data/gl...uity-study.pdf

And LED light mounted on front lip of canopy: http://www.how2soar.de/index.php/led...d-rechenknecht

Facing rearward, you are flying too slow )

On Friday, January 22, 2016 at 1:02:27 PM UTC-8, wrote:
All I have to do is figure out where to mount it, yea, I know cant put anything on the aircraft as per the FAR's, but maybe near the wheel well facing rearward?

In a head-on near miss at cloud base some years ago, I first caught sight of the orange wingtips of the oncoming glider and barely had time to slow a little and initiate a turn. The other pilot passed 50 feet under me and never saw my glider. Our igc files showed an impressive closing speed leaving little time to react. No doubt markings are helpful, but not always enough!

Mike

On Friday, January 22, 2016 at 1:02:27 PM UTC-8, wrote:
Funny you should ask that question. After determining the transponder/ADS-b out-in and whatever else it takes to "see" was too expensive I looked in the the "be seen" part of the saying.
And I just returned from my local bike shop with a Bontrager Flare RT Tail light with remote control in my possession. It was not cheap, at $80 but is very bright, small and rechargeable. They claim a 2k range in daylight.. The remote control was $70 and I could have done without it. All I have to do is figure out where to mount it, yea, I know cant put anything on the aircraft as per the FAR's, but maybe near the wheel well facing rearward? Also, I checked into DOT tape truckers are required to have all over their trucks. Again not cheap at $30 per 25'x1" roll, but very bright in the daylight sun. Maybe the underside of the fuselage for this tape? And lastly if I really want to be seen, I might have the auto body shop near me paint a hunter orange stripe (12'x1.5') on the underside of my wings. I have a few quotes of $500-$650. Not sure about this one, I'll have to think about it, since my wings are carbon, painting them is no big deal.
Thank God for the off season so we can get stuff like this done.
Cheers.

If these lights are really that effective and small enough, perhaps they could be molded into wingtip wheels and/or tail wheel fairings facing front and back. Ideally as a kit which can be retrofitted relatively easy at your local shop.

When I flew hang gliders many years ago I used to have a small (1-2") "party ball" tied to my kingpost which was quiet effective. Nowadays I use high vis and reflective tape on my wingtips and winglets.

Ramy

Ramy, I saw you on PowerFlarm way out but never saw the tape up in Idaho

http://soaringxx.com/index.php?route...&product_id=91

Seen this in Namibia. Very flashy up to 3 km.

On Fri, 22 Jan 2016 13:02:25 -0800, mikeatwork2 wrote:

Again not cheap at $30 per
25'x1" roll, but very bright in the daylight sun. Maybe the underside
of the fuselage for this tape?

May not be much use under the fuselage or flying surfaces due to a lack
of direct sunlight on the tape.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

Martin,
Dark under wing shows up better (my opinion and article I just read). Large contest numbers or European registration numbers under side of wing stand out well.


On Saturday, January 23, 2016 at 6:34:32 AM UTC-5, Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Fri, 22 Jan 2016 13:02:25 -0800, mikeatwork2 wrote:

Again not cheap at $30 per
25'x1" roll, but very bright in the daylight sun. Maybe the underside
of the fuselage for this tape?

May not be much use under the fuselage or flying surfaces due to a lack
of direct sunlight on the tape.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |