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In article ,
RR Urban wrote:

Have you ever found any that has decent color retention
or am I thinking of Day-Glo Fluorescent or some such?


Barnyard BOb --



*NOT* Day-Glo, which, by the way, is a trademarked brand. The actual
formulation of the dye may even be patented. Original application was
strictly for paper stocks -- signs, flyers, bumper-stickers, etc.
KRYLON has some spray acrylic paints that are similar in intensity,
but they do have a fading issue on prolonged exposure to sunlight.

I mean the one that was common on "Yellow Cabs", circa the 1950's. (before
Day Glo even _existed_ Also used on wing tips, etc. of many military,
particularly Navy, trainers.

The auto-paint version was extremely durable on the Cabs. Could hardly
tell a 15 year old panel, from one that was 3 months off the assembly-line.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I did state "some such" as well as the trade marked "Day-Glo".
No need to get sidetracked or hung up over this minutia. g

FWIW...
On drab, dark and dank NYC streets with cabs inching along,
orange might be a good brand recognition thing, but from all
that I have gleaned so far...

A taxi cab environment or fire engine environment is
NOT the same as an aircraft environment. Nor are the
various lighting conditions equal. Drawing parallels without
convincing appropriate reinforcing data is pure folly.

When it comes to AIRCRAFT visibility, who can point to appropriate
research recommending orange as an OUTSTANDING color?

Early MILITARY TRAINER AIRCRAFT used it for _exactly_ that reason.

What might its value be for exceptionally small aircraft approaching
head on in bright light with closure rates of nearly 400 mph?

In one scenario... the aircraft begins as a tiny black spec....

Yup. at "maximum range", color *IS* meaningless.

regardless of actual color, less than two miles out. In less than
18 IDEAL seconds you have a near miss or a brutal collision.

Which means that every fraction of a second of additional 'detection'
time counts. The 'tiny black spec...' constitutes "insufficient data"
as a basis to take _any_ kind of action. One has to observe it _long_
_enough_ to determine "apparent direction of travel", *and* that it is
in fact, closing on your position, before one can determine that an
avoidance manouver _will_ make the situation better.

In the first NINE seconds of that 18 IDEAL second interval, the apparent
diameter of that 'tiny black spec' has *only* increased by 2. It's
doubtful that this is enough of a change to determine that the object
_is_ closing on you. The next 4.5 seconds gives another doubling,
and in the 2.25 seconds after that it doubles again. *IF*YOU'RE*REALLY*
*OBSERVANT*, you've got about 5 seconds before the collision, when you
become 'aware' of the potential problem. More likely it's less than 3 seconds.
Human reaction time is about 3/4 of a second. Not counting any 'panic'.

Depending on how long it takes the change in controls to materially affect
the craft, you've got _real_ problems.

When it comes to AIRCRAFT visibility, who can point to appropriate
research recommending orange as an OUTSTANDING color?
What might its value be for exceptionally small aircraft approaching
head on in bright light with closure rates of nearly 400 mph?
In one scenario... the aircraft begins as a tiny black spec....
regardless of actual color, less than two miles out. In less than
18 IDEAL seconds you have a near miss or a brutal collision.


Why not use lights instead of paint? I would guess
that strobes on your wing tips and a pulsing Landing light
would make you far more visible than any paint scheme, even
in daylight.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I run strobes all the time.
For whatever reason, they seems to be as invisible as the RV-3.
Next in line might be full time WIG WAG landing lights that won't
be seen in the head on situation, either.

FWIW...
All this still assumes that the oncoming pilot has his head outside
the cockpit and looking for the potential head on. While I'm
wishing... it would be super peachy if the other pilot was at the
appropriate altitude for his/her magnetic heading, too.

For far too many of the near misses encountered.....
there appears to be blatant violations of both.
In these instances, no sort of light or paint is useful.
Like it is with motorcycle riders that are legendarily unseen....
The answer appears to be that one must be vigilant and defense
against all parties concerned. Otherwise, you can be DEAD right.

P.S.
Any info on those black boxes that I would deem... TCAS lite?


Barnyard BOb -

"RR Urban" wrote in message
...

I run strobes all the time.
For whatever reason, they seems to be as invisible as the RV-3.
Next in line might be full time WIG WAG landing lights that won't
be seen in the head on situation, either.

I recommend installation and constant use of a red, white and blue smoke
system like Julie Clark's, firing off anti-missile flares every ten seconds,
and playing your choice of a John Phillip Sousa composition at a similar
volume to that of a teenager's Honda Civic. May I suggest either "The
Thunderer" or "The Mystic Nobles of the Ancient Shrine"?

I am told that an aircraft configured as such may routinely traverse TFR's
with impunity.

Rich "Ba-Da-Bump" S.