LED anti-collision lighting

[Dan Kvinge]

Has anyone experimented with the new generation CREE LED's for anti-collision?  I know they aren't true strobes, but they claim good visibility and low power.   Coupled with new high-power batteries they seem like they'd be a possible option for improving visibility.   Lots of people have put them on paragliders and other small aircraft, and they sell them for use on police vehicles.   I'm sure they'd work great at night, but I'm on the ground by sunset.

Not too long ago somebody was offering a straight ahead anti-collision LED option that mounted inside the canopy at the lower front edge.   I haven't heard any users comment about how visible they are in full sun.   But even real strobes are hard to see in full sun.  

[Dave Springford]

There are two companies offering anti-collision lights in the glider market and there are quite a few already installed on gliders in the US.  Having flown with some of these gliders in competitions the LED's do increase the visibility of the gliders.  The canopy flashers are meant for head-on visibility and you can see them from at least 500 m away giving better visibility than the outline of a glider coming straight at you.

https://sotecc.de/canopy-flash/

https://aeroflash.de/shop/

There are also fuselage strobes available, but I have not yet seen one in use.

[son_of_flubber]

I installed aeroflash.de canopy flasher in my glider last summer.  Other pilots report that they see the flash before they see the glider and have made very favorable comments. The flasher goes into overdrive, whenever I get a Flarm alert, so it is easier for the other aircraft to see me.  Next year I plan to manually switch the flashers into 'overdrive' whenever I enter the pattern.

The last I saw said flashers have already been installed in 4000+ gliders worldwide (mostly EU and UK of course).  Last I heard flashers are required for FAI sanctioned races in 2024.  

I'm adding the compatible 'belly flasher' next year.  It is positioned behind the main wheel.

Flashers are another layer of prevention and work well for a few high risk scenarios.  The canopy flasher is mostly for head on scenario.  It also makes a glider on midfield crosswind visible to a glider who is entering or on downwind.  The belly flasher makes my glider visible to aircraft at similar altitudes, when I'm steeply banked, it also makes me easily visible to gliders below me in the same thermal.

I think flashers are very worthwhile in the pattern especially if the glider has no other electronic conspicuity.  There's a 'Rudolph' model that rings the air intake on Schweizer gliders. The two big manufacturers use somewhat different programming for when the lights flash.  I liked the aeroflash.de solution better.

Power consumption is not a problem if you're using a LiPo4 battery.  I measured the current drawn with a DC ammeter and calculated that 2 LiPo4 batteries give me 8 hours runtime for the flashers and a full plate of electronic gadgets.

A maintenance logbook entry is made for Daytime Conspicuity Lights.  The EU companies holding the Type Certificates for gliders have approved their installations, though I don't know if K&E has acted wrt Schweizer gliders.

[Robert S]

Another option:  https://www.stefly.aero/en/product/canopy_flasher/

[Roy Bourgeois]

I plan to install one in my ‘29. I wish there was a way to switch it on/off via the LX stick controller SC switch. That would make it easy to turn on and off when I get a Flarm warning or radio call from a head-on target. 

Roy

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 7, 2024, at 12:30 AM, Robert S <resi...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

Another option:  https://www.stefly.aero/en/product/canopy_flasher/

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[Cliff Hilty]

Roy, I believe they connect to Flarm warnings and activate automatically. At least the ones Ive seen in competition. 

Cliff

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[Moshe Braner]

These commercial products (and my experimental software, if you want to build your own) already respond to FLARM warning conditions, either increasing the frequency of the flashing, or (at least as an option in my software) flashing vs. not at all.  Manual on/off is not required nor desired.  At the non-warning frequency of flashing the load on the battery is not too high.  In my experimental device the LEDs are using about 10 watts when on, and are on for 5% of the time in non-warning conditions (3 close-together 40ms flashes each 2400 ms), thus a half-watt average load.  My Nook running Tophat uses 4 times that much power.

I must say though, when a friend with the SteFly device was flying towards me and telling me to look, I could not see the flashing before I could see the glider itself.  I suppose visibility will vary with sunlight etc.  I was able to see my experimental LEDs (on the ground, in sunny conditions) from a quarter mile away.  But I knew where to look.  In the air one does not know where to look - it has to catch one's attention during normal scanning for traffic.

[Moshe Braner]

Actually my friend has the Sotecc product.  So there are at least 3 independent manufacturers now?  Sotecc, Aeroflash, and Stefly?  How do they compare?

[Rakel]

Stefly only has a green color light. I wonder if that is a good idea in the US because green means go and red means danger.

[ma...@mmfabrication.com]

To quote Jeff Bridges in "Starman" (1984):

"I watched you very carefully. Red light stop, green light go, yellow light go very fast."

[Charles Mampe]

If you read the full product page, they picked that wavelength due to perception of the human eye in various lighting conditions. It can be seen better than red.

[son_of_flubber]

I've been reading about flashers on a forum frequented by European glider pilots.  Flashers have been used in Europe for 3-4 seasons and they're installed in 4000+ gliders.  Lots of enthusiastic positive comments.

Stefly uses green, the other brands offer red and white.  The 'scientific fact' that the human retina is most sensitive to green light is taken out of a real world context that is more complicated.  One person mentioned that green light is scattered more than red, so air clarity may play a role.  The green light idea helped a latecomer (Stefly) enter a market already dominated by two brands. 

One surprising experience that several people reported is that they have seen the flashing red light first when the approaching white glider is against a bright background.  I guess it is relatively hard to see a white glider against a bright background, so the red light provides a relative advantage.  The color contrast between red and 'bright/white' background may be part of the explanation.  A white flasher would not have that advantage.

[ma...@mmfabrication.com]

I did a bit of research while attempting to build a homemade canopy flasher as an experiment. I was unable to find the brighter CREE LEDs in an inexpensive, off the shelf emergency flasher, so I picked the brightest unit I could find, in both red and white. The red caught the eye better but was not as visible at a distance where the white could be easily seen. Further reading of the specifications bore this out; the red did not produce as high a value in lumens.

As far as red vs. green in daylight, I have used Bosch laser levels in both red and green. The units are identical, and the green is marginally more visible in daylight. Indoors or in low light conditions, they are indistinguishable as far as intensity. This is borne out when using laser pistol sights; green is slightly more visible. Of course, we are talking lasers, not LEDs. I once saw a sign at a National Laboratory that read, "WARNING! Do not look at laser with remaining eye!" The safety people made them take it down, as "Safety isn't a joke."

Finally, after flying for a season with the homemade flasher, I was unable to find any pilots who saw the flasher BEFORE seeing my glider. I suspect the light output simply wasn't intense enough. Maybe I will try again next year, but for now, the (expensive) European versions from Sotecc, Aeroflash and SteFly seem to be the way to go.

Here is a photo of the homemade red unit in my Pegase.

[Javelin 77]

Has anyone noticed issues with canopy fogging near the flasher unit? Wondering if the units cause enough interference with air flow that the canopy will not defog normally in and around the area where the unit is installed. Read on the Stefly site that this could be an issue. Has anyone noticed a problem?

Thanks!

[Ian Molesworth]

I have not noticed any fogging especially focussed around the canopy flasher. Here in Wales in winter, fogging can be a real challenge with us frequently having to close the canopy after hookup and as the slack is being taken up!

I have a red canopy flasher, white strobe on top of the fuse and red below. The white is far less visible than either of the reds.

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[Charles Mampe]

Bringing this back to the top. Another year later, have people installed flashers, and if so, what brand and comments on it?

Have people been seeing these in flight more, and comments on how visible are they?

I have seen a couple, one is based at NewCastle, VA and it's rather visible. I don't know the brand.

The ASW-24e I fly has Flarm and I'm thinking of adding a flasher. Sounds like there may be issues getting an AeroFlash.

Thoughts from anyone?

On Saturday, January 6, 2024 at 1:04:55 PM UTC-5 Dave Springford wrote:

[Ian Molesworth]

I have canopy and both top and bottom strobes. Do they make a difference? Opinion is divided but I get comments about my visibility all the time.

Yesterdays wave session was in a real 'pea soup' day.  A mate took this video ofvthe landing with the strobes doing their thing. https://youtube.com/shorts/Dxfaa1PS-g4?feature=share

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[Frghtdg]

Everyone will have to work together to turn off strobes (not canopy flashers) in close proximity or gaggles. I envision calmly  yelling at ‘Strobers’ to kill their invasive presence, which has already been done to some who had fin strobes options installed on their new gliders. 

Knuckleheads will be looking for the off switch while entering a busy gaggle…what could go wrong.

We have to be smart about this. Stobes, like Flarm has, can create a false sense of security that eventually mask other threats.

Gliders without strobes.

Reduce outside scanning.

Increase panel fixation.

Reduction in threat awareness responsibilities (becoming a idiot).

R

[Ian Molesworth]

Really????? 

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[son_of_flubber]

Aeroflash.de is bringing out a major product revision (aka new product) and I don't think it is in stock yet.  

https://www.stefly.aero/product/stefly-haubenblitzer-rot/ is now offering RED.  The EU market seems to prefer RED.  Stefly has some unique design refinement that might put it ahead of the other providers. 

I have two strobes.  One faces forward and the second faces down (aka belly flasher).   Other pilots have noted that the belly flasher makes my glider visible when I'm thermaling by myself and they're approaching at high speed.  I'd like to add a third flasher on top (turtledeck) so that I'm visible 360 to the horizon when circling and also from above and below.

Lipo4 batteries provide plenty of juice, but the original aeroflash draws current intermittently and synced with the flash.  This dropped my voltage at the panel so my Air Glide Butterfly Vario complained (unless I turned on both batteries).  Problem solved by upgrading the gauge of the main power feed wire from the battery behind my head to the panel.

Compatibility with aerotow is not settled.

[Frghtdg]

Ian…yeah really. I don’t see you’re a member of the SSA, therefore don’t race, in turn feel free to light your glider up like a Christmas Tree.

R

On Saturday, March 22, 2025 at 10:28:21 AM UTC-4 Ian Molesworth wrote:

[Ian Molesworth]

The FAI mandated red strobes in all sanctioned competitions. Tests showed them to be more acceptable as a danger signal over green.

Unfortunately Stefans choice for green proved to be a challenge but he is changing to red now.

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[krasw]

On Saturday, March 22, 2025 at 6:34:03 PM UTC+2 Ian Molesworth wrote:

The FAI mandated red strobes in all sanctioned competitions.

Red or white.

 

Tests showed them to be more acceptable as a danger signal over green.

Don't know about that, I would not consider any colour flashing in front of me friendly. People who know stuff told that EASA does not allow green strobe, only white or red, so that is what IGC mandated.

 

[Ian Molesworth]

Green is universally accepted as the 'safe' colour. Traffic lights etc.

Yes the FAI is Red or White.

I had a white top strobe previously, it was far less visible than the red.

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[Tony Condon]

started installation of a SOTECC canopy flasher in the Cirrus today. 

The Discus that Sylvia flew in Houston had top and bottom strobes as well. One red, one white. I agree the red showed up better.