***ANTI COLLISION STROBES ON GLIDERS***
Rian MONNAHAN
Dear All,
Does anyone have any information/experience with strobe/anti-collision
lighting systems for gliders? Perhaps there are differing opinions
regarding their ability to improve the glider pilots odds in the see and
avoid and be seen and be avoided game we all play.
Thanks for the input,
Rian MONNAHAN
F-CHAI (ASW24B)
Bert Willing
I had the same idea last week when I heard that - again - two gliders
collided near Sisteron.
So, I'd be much interested in any hints, such as mades and power
consumption.
Ciao
Bert
Ian Johnston
Bert Willing ("bert.willing"@epfl.ch) wrote:
: I had the same idea last week when I heard that - again - two gliders
: collided near Sisteron.
: So, I'd be much interested in any hints, such as mades and power
: consumption.
The Edinburgh University K13 has a bright yellow strobe on the deck just
behind the cockpit and is superbly visible on the ridge (which can get crowded
and murky) as a result. I'm all for them.
Ian
Eric June
In hang gliding, we use a "disco ball" suspended from the king post. A
king post is the tube which sticks up perpendicularly about 3 feet from
the top of the wing. The "disco ball" is a mirrored ball which can be
purchased from U.S. hang gliding shops for about $5 U.S. As we fly
along, the mirrored ball reflects sunlight. During turns or even slight
turbulence the mirrored ball appears to be a strobe to aircraft 5 miles
away or even further.
I started flying with one ever since I had a moderately close call with
two F-16's in the Owens Valley. I don't think they ever saw me (nor I
them) until they had passed abeam of me by a hundred yards or so. Not
that close, but certainly disconcerting when you aren't expecting it. I
hope that now the "strobe" will make me more visible. I suppose that a
disco ball could be suspended inside the canopy, or even attached to its
inside surface or to some other convenient mounting location in the
cockpit.
--
Regards,
Eric June
er...@kudonet.com
Hang Gliding Page: http://www.kudonet.com/~ericj/hang.htm
Wallace Berry
In article <6hfn3m$n0g$1...@news.ox.ac.uk>, engs...@sable.ox.ac.uk (Ian
Johnston) wrote:
A friend had a white strobe on the horizontal stab of his SGS-136
(Schweizer Sprite, "T-tail"). It was not very effective when viewed against
the sky or bright clouds. Also, it was effective only at close range and
was not visible from angles below the glider. Maybe a different color, like
the yellow mentioned above, or a brighter strobe would have made a
difference.
Take care, fly safe (keep them eyes out of the cockpit), have fun
Wallace
Bill Daniels
This is one of the best ideas for enhancing air-to-air visibility I have
ever heard. Cheap, lightweight and unpowered. How could it be modified to
fit under the canopy and behind the pilots head?
Eric June <ej...@intuitive-data.com> wrote in article
<0998032014312...@intuitive-data.com>...
Martin Yates
The ball sounds great, but why worry about having it inside the aircraft,
(unless you want to cut out panels in the fuselage and mount the rotating
disco ball inside with a business pointer laser aimed at it..hi) the usaf
and raf have AWACS with huge externally mounted rotating frizbee shaped
modules on a stalk and it doesn't seem to affect their low speed flying
characteristics
Martin
(see my reply note also on high intensity LEDs under this subject)
Bill Daniels <bil...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in article
<6hgd66$6...@bgtnsc02.worldnet.att.net>...
Martin Yates
I've already discussed this with fellow pilots and the issue that always
came up was:-
where to mount them easily?
if put on tips of wings, then very difficult threading wiring through wing
internals to cockpit control/power area
if put on nose, then usually aero-tow hook in way
if put on tail tip, then gliders thermalling below you wont see you
conclusion so far is on belly of cockpit, forward of wheel, using a 360
degree viewable strobe lamp unit, maybe inset somewhat into belly skin to
minimise damage on landings, and as near CofG, should not disrupt
"balance/trim" of aircraft and elcectics/electronics far enough away from
compass to reduce any effect on that.
if one asumes that most potential mid air collisions could be when
thermalling up and neck wont crane far enough to see directly above and
behind that easily, or 2 aircraft heading towards each other.....fast, then
a belly light forward of the wheel/wheel housing may be the best place for
it.
the other factor is power...these aircraft designed strobes consume large
amounts of power, be it in short pulses, but my son (who works for the
manufacturer of these big screens) has shown me the new very high intensity
leds now available that are used in those massive screens at pop
concerts/football matches, and they are BRIGHT, almost blinding, and
consume almost no power at all and even the small red/white units that
cyclists now use that pulse, can be seen from quite a distance (500m). If
anyone wants to know where to get these ultr bright LEDs from, i'll ask him
for name of supplier, though you may have to get some local electronics
shop to design/build the pulse circuit for you that drives them.
regards
Martin
Rian MONNAHAN <rmon...@fr.oracle.com> wrote in article
<353B535F...@fr.oracle.com>...
armi...@oeca.otis.com
In article <01bd6ca2$d25aa6e0$e6f882c1@martin>#1/1,
"Martin Yates" <martin...@dial.pipex.com> wrote:
>
> The ball sounds great, but why worry about having it inside the aircraft,
> (unless you want to cut out panels in the fuselage and mount the rotating
> disco ball inside with a business pointer laser aimed at it..hi) the usaf
> and raf have AWACS with huge externally mounted rotating frizbee shaped
> modules on a stalk and it doesn't seem to affect their low speed flying
> characteristics
The ball suffers from a number of setbacks.
First, sailplanes are a heck of a lot more manoeuverable than hang gliders. So
having a ball dangling around like a mace, threatening to bash at the gel
coat and cause cracking (albeit probably not structural) on a FRP machine may
not be very appealing to the owner at all. I'm sure having it flopping/waving
around during a loop or chandelle might be less than preferable. And no-one's
going to spoil their ships sleek lines with a king post sticking out.
Second, inside a cockpit, the pilot already has enough distractions which
cause pilot overload and may cause flying mishaps, without the added problems
of being at a disco dance party with reflections on the cockpit, off his
instruments and in the back of his glasses to worry about. On a tricky
landing or takeoff this might just be the straw that breaks the camels back.
Third, in a competition, with many aircraft in close proximity in thermals,
the reflection off other gliders fitted with such mirror balls might be
downright annoying and perhaps even quite dangerous.
Finally, perhaps the better solution to follow is the use of flexible plastic
mirror (with adhesive backing) placed at several locations on the wings or
fuselage. Of course, the problem also comes down to the issue of breaking up
the otherwise ideally laminar flow over the sailplane. Short of embedding the
mirror surface in the structure itself, I don't think anyone with a seriously
competitive aircraft is going to be prepared to lose those few extra % of
performance.
Cheers and safe soaring
Jason
>
> Bill Daniels <bil...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in article
> <6hgd66$6...@bgtnsc02.worldnet.att.net>...
> > This is one of the best ideas for enhancing air-to-air visibility I have
> > ever heard. Cheap, lightweight and unpowered. How could it be modified
> to
> > fit under the canopy and behind the pilots head?
> >
> > Eric June <ej...@intuitive-data.com> wrote in article
> > <0998032014312...@intuitive-data.com>...
> > > In hang gliding, we use a "disco ball" suspended from the king post.
> A
> > > king post is the tube which sticks up perpendicularly about 3 feet from
> > > the top of the wing. The "disco ball" is a mirrored ball which can be
> > > purchased from U.S. hang gliding shops for about $5 U.S. As we fly
> > > along, the mirrored ball reflects sunlight. During turns or even
> slight
> > > turbulence the mirrored ball appears to be a strobe to aircraft 5 miles
> > > away or even further.
-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
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Bert Willing
Martin Yates wrote:
>
> I've already discussed this with fellow pilots and the issue that always
> came up was:-
>
> where to mount them easily?
>
Well, I would think that the best thing would be to have two strobes:
One approx. at the position of the rudder pedals, with a "window" that
fits with the surface of the fuselage so that on tow there is nothing to
rip off. As I have no tow hook on my glider, I've got space enough to to
install the electronics at tis place, too. One would have to cut the
skin, but this can be down without damaging the structural integrity of
the fuselage (although that is some work).
The second strobe could be placed as a fairing in front of the junction
horizontal/vertical stabilizer, but should be reasonably small (the L/D
points were too expensive to eat them up ...).
Maybe the whole thing looks strange, with a glider strobe firing across
the countryside (I guess those eagles would get nerve-racked), but the
RAL3000 tapes put all over are not very esthetic either.
Does anybody know any numbers of power consumption?
Ciao
Bert
Peter Lemmens
Bert Willing wrote:
> Rian MONNAHAN wrote:
> >
>
> > Rian MONNAHAN
> > F-CHAI (ASW24B)
>
> I had the same idea last week when I heard that - again - two gliders
> collided near Sisteron.
> So, I'd be much interested in any hints, such as mades and power
> consumption.
>
> Ciao
>
> Bert
Hi all,
I'm not sure this would work but the first thing I thought of when reading
Bert's post
was the LED tail and head lights you see on mountain bikes. They emit very
short but
(relatively) bright flashes of light red or green) which really 'catch your
eye'. I think this
works so well (for bicycles anyway) because the human eye/perception is very
sensitive to
changes and therefor sensitive to flashes. Maybe a little test with one of
these things is worth
while to determine effectiveness on a sunny day/ marginal visibility
...etc... I guess the
detection range doesn't have to be too large... (how much time do you need for
a crash-
avoiding jerk at the controls ??? May not be pretty but if it keeps you alive
....)
Power consumption of these lights can't be a problem; they usualy work on 4
penlite's
and last for several hours (rechargable). Permanently installing them on a
glider might pose
a problem.
Let me know what y'all think
( ) ( )
( ) ) 'May the Force ( ) )
( ( ) be with you...' ( ( )
(_ _ _ _) (_ _ _ _)
_|_
----------0----------
(hope this banner doesn't get messed up...)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter Lemmens Tel.: (+31-77-359)3863 Loc.: 3C52
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Hans L. Trautenberg
> Bert Willing wrote:
>
> > I had the same idea last week when I heard that - again - two gliders
> > collided near Sisteron.
> > So, I'd be much interested in any hints, such as mades and power
> > consumption.
> >
> > Ciao
> >
> > Bert
I don´t think that anti-collission lights will help much.
The problem is that many pilots are to much distracted from searching
the sky
for other aircrafts by looking at the instrumentation and at the
beginning of
the season just by flying the aircraft.
And if pilots don´t look outside, even the brightest flashing lights
will be
not detected.
So we have to ensure that pilots search more for other aircrafts, by
either
proper training (but how does a pilot that owns a glider and starts to
fly in
the alps every eary react, if he is required to fly with a safety pilot
in a
double seater until he is provison to fly alone) or by having more
intelligent
cocpit instruments, that give much more information by accustiv means,
so that
the pilot will spend not ime at the instruments in the cocpit but all
the time
observing the airspave around him.
Bert Willing
Dr. Hans L. Trautenberg wrote:
>
> > Bert Willing wrote:
> >
> > > I had the same idea last week when I heard that - again - two gliders
> > > collided near Sisteron.
> > > So, I'd be much interested in any hints, such as mades and power
> > > consumption.
> > >
> > > Ciao
> > >
> > > Bert
>
> I don´t think that anti-collission lights will help much.
>
> The problem is that many pilots are to much distracted from searching
> the sky
> for other aircrafts by looking at the instrumentation and at the
> beginning of
> the season just by flying the aircraft.
>
> And if pilots don´t look outside, even the brightest flashing lights
> will be
> not detected.
Not quite true. Of course, if you're busy playing with your GPS and
computer, any optical information from outside the cockpit won't help.
But on the other hand, in this region of the French Alps you have a hell
of a lot of gliders, lots of contrasts around the horizon and - at the
moment - a lot of snow lying on the slopes. I fly a double seater, and
we've got four eyes to watch out (what we do). Still, there is once a
while a glider you miss optically, and one of them might kill you.
Ciao
Bert
Martin Yates
Re LEDS....
you are quite right re the narrow angle of dangle, or lack of with leds,
and my
son corrected me on this last night. However, he did say that if you
cluster the leds into a half ball shape, they will be so closely mounted
that enough of them will make it look like a solid half ball of light, with
the "flatness" of the cut ball shape being the base of the ball of light
where you mount it on the surface of the glider.
I took him up on this idea, and asked him if his Big Screen company would
make me one to
test....he said he'd take on the challenge........
so i'll let you know what the result looks like....
Martin
G'day,
>As a side note on these LEDs, they are indeed very bright, and they can
>ctually blind you for a while if you look directly at them from a close
>distance! (I once had for 15 minutes a 'blue spot' on my retina, where one
of
>these red led's projected it's image...).
>The trouble though is that they are bright only when looked at from a very
>small angle; where a lightbulb radiates in all directions, these led's
only
>radiate a small 'beam' (not so small as a laser, but, say, 17 degrees of
>angle). When standing outside the light of the beam, they're about as good
to
>notice as normal leds are in bright surroundings (i.e., bad).
Greetings,
Rian MONNAHAN
Dear All,
Since my original message, I have found two web sights specializing in
aeronautical quality strobes (100 candle flash):
http://www3.pair.com/kgebhart/skymart/strobes.html
http://www.thomasregister.com/olc/aeroflash/plane.htm
I've wrote these outfits for information concerning...
1) power consumption
2) dimensions
Aeroflash wrote back saying their strobes for ultra lights pull from 4 to 6
amps depending on the model. Skymart boast a 1.5 to 2 amp consumption for
one of its models. Both run off 12VDC through some sort of coil device. I
don't know a lot about electricity... So, these figures don't tell me a
whole lot about the viability of my idea. Perhaps someone out there can
figure this out for everybody. The batteries we use in Europe are typically
12VDC/7amp/h.
As for the dimensions of the drivers and the lights themselves... The
drivers look they would fit inside the fuselage and Aeroflash confirmed you
can run up to 35ft of cabling out to their lights and still expect them to
work. I have no information concerning the dimension of the lights, whether
it would be practical for us to have them hanging out their in the slip
stream generating some more drag.
The input from everyone has been very interesting, especially the bit about
the LED bicycle lights. I wonder if they are bright enough, what their size
is etc... I thought about flash units on miniture cameras too wondering if
the light they give off is bright enough to be of any help. And those of you
who say they have friends or seen glider with strobes, do you have any more
precise information or leads. I hope the exchange continues.
Now, we've of course avoided all the legal issues... like what will the FAA,
the DGSA or other annoying bodies say about such a device.
Thanks all,
Rian MONNAHAN
F-CHAI (ASW24B)
armi...@oeca.otis.com
In article <353DD808...@fr.oracle.com>#1/1,
Rian MONNAHAN <rmon...@fr.oracle.com> wrote:
>
> Dear All,
>
> Since my original message, I have found two web sights specializing in
> aeronautical quality strobes (100 candle flash):
>
> http://www3.pair.com/kgebhart/skymart/strobes.html
> http://www.thomasregister.com/olc/aeroflash/plane.htm
>
> I've wrote these outfits for information concerning...
>
> 1) power consumption
> 2) dimensions
>
> Aeroflash wrote back saying their strobes for ultra lights pull from 4 to 6
> amps depending on the model. Skymart boast a 1.5 to 2 amp consumption for
> one of its models. Both run off 12VDC through some sort of coil device. I
> don't know a lot about electricity...
Most Neon strobe tubes require at least 90 volts to trigger them. That's why
you hear a camera flash charging with a high pitched sound of the oscillator
which is part of the voltage doubler used to get to that voltage level.
> So, these figures don't tell me a
> whole lot about the viability of my idea. Perhaps someone out there can
> figure this out for everybody. The batteries we use in Europe are typically
> 12VDC/7amp/h.
Well, quite simply the amp hour rating gives the capacity based on providing
so many Amps for a given number of hours. e.g. A 7 Amphr battery could provide
7 Amps for one hour, or 1 Amp for 7 hours, or 2 Amps for 3.5 hours.
If Aeroflash's information is to be believed, then the battery you've
indicated would only last for 1.16 to 1.75 hours maximum - hardly long enough
for a glider. However, if the rating is a PEAK current, rather than an
AVERAGE, then the story could be a bit different. You need the average
consumption to work out battery lifetimes. I think that you're seriously
going to need a second strobe battery so the critical avionics continue to
function even after the strobe has dwindled and died...
> As for the dimensions of the drivers and the lights themselves... The
> drivers look they would fit inside the fuselage and Aeroflash confirmed you
> can run up to 35ft of cabling out to their lights and still expect them to
> work. I have no information concerning the dimension of the lights, whether
> it would be practical for us to have them hanging out their in the slip
> stream generating some more drag.
The 35ft of cabling would have to be fairly low resistance (i.e. expensive)
stuff. Voltage loss depends on current and resistance, and even 2 ohms
(R) based on 2 amps current (I) flow would cause a voltage drop (V=IR) which
is 4 volts so that the end-line voltage is now 8 volts.
Methinks this is far too impractical based on todays technology and battery
weight penalty (same sort of issues that are slowing Electric Vehicles).
Perhaps spending the money on promoting better pilot lookout techniques is a
better solution.
Regards
Jason
Shaber CJ
Of course bright anti-collision paint would be as effective as strobes. We
have a Pik 20 with Flouresent pinkish/reddish anti-collision paint and it hurts
to look at the paint. If anti-collision paint was required noone would be the
odd ball with the funny paint job.
Cheers
Kai Lindenberg
Rian MONNAHAN wrote:
> Dear All,
>
> Does anyone have any information/experience with strobe/anti-collision
> lighting systems for gliders? Perhaps there are differing opinions
> regarding their ability to improve the glider pilots odds in the see and
> avoid and be seen and be avoided game we all play.
>
> Thanks for the input,
>
> Rian MONNAHAN
> F-CHAI (ASW24B)
When I was in La Motte du Caire (Fance Alps) this March I saw a Janus with
anti collision light.
It was in the evening without direct sun and it was a very good way to call
attention to this glider.
At least at this weather conditions it was an impressing way to support the
"see and avoid"- concept.
bye,kai
SZD-55, D-9551, LY
JohnPegase
In article <199804230317...@ladder01.news.aol.com>, shab...@aol.com
(Shaber CJ) writes:
Why not just paint a small section such as the wing tips and rudder with
_silver_ paint and polish it well? Or use glitter paint to make them sparkle
and atract your attention?
Coloured paint on the tips tends to make the wings shorter and harder to see,
until they are a bit too close.
John Wright, 742
armi...@oeca.otis.com
In article <199804230317...@ladder01.news.aol.com>,
shab...@aol.com (Shaber CJ) wrote:
>
> Of course bright anti-collision paint would be as effective as strobes. We
> have a Pik 20 with Flouresent pinkish/reddish anti-collision paint and it
hurts
> to look at the paint. If anti-collision paint was required noone would be
the
> odd ball with the funny paint job.
Sounds fine, except that to keep fibreglass below its critical temperature of
54 degrees C requires the colour white. Any other colour absorbs too much
heat and risks damaging the fibreglass.
So, flourescent colours, apart from wing tips, will never get a widespread
following IMHO.
In Australia, hot days that threaten to cook your ship are a regular reality.
Cheers
Zulufive
I'm surprised that no one has talked about an article that Dick Johnson did on
strobe lights. It was in the Feb. '91 Soaring. In it he tests 2 kits that are
(were?) available from Great Planes Aircraft (PO Box 304 St. Charles, IL. 60174
in the article). Both kits used a xenon flash tube measuring 1.2" high and
.22" wide so not much drag. The 12V kit with a visable range in bright
sunlight of 480' and 700' in bright overcast was $38.00. Some of our German
friends will want to test this against a calibrated strobe of course to see if
these are true values.
Steve Bralla
Armand A. Medeiros
What about chrome? It is reflective in the extreme...Maybe the same kind
of reflextive stuff we were required to sow on our flight jackets in the
airforce so people could see us at night?
Tom Wilschut
Just before the discussion on strobe lights started I happend to run in to a
hand held stobe light which is used in the sailing environement.
It runs on a 1.5 V battery and gives a very powerfull flash. I bought one
for our technical expert in our gliding club. It turned out, that he has
been assigned to make a report on the pro's and con's about using strobe
lights in gliders. I paid about $ 22.00 for a set. I havened yet tested its
duration, working on a fresh 1.5 V battery. If any positive results cpme up,
I wil put on rec saoring.
Safe flying
Tom Wilschut
t....@consunet.nl
Zulufive heeft geschreven in bericht
<199804240153...@ladder03.news.aol.com>...
Larry Goddard
Zulufive wrote:
> <<snip>
> Some of our German
> friends will want to test this against a calibrated strobe of course to see if
> these are true values.
I presume that you are referring to the Akaflieg's 'sacred cow' flashtube. :-)
--
Larry Goddard
"01" LS-3a USA
fiba...@iniaccess.net.au
Just a quick note to tell of an intruiging N4DM I saw at the factory
last during the week. This is an aircraft that will be out trying to
set new distance records. The glider was set up with position lights,
fuselage and rudder strobe lights and a landing light in front of the
nose wheel. It was all very impressive - especially the instrument
panel lights. With every concievable instrument in the aircraft, the
650kg empty wieght left a little to be desired. I hope for the owner
that it was all worth it.
Chris
fiba...@iniaccess.net.au
Tel +61 2 6584 1022
fax +61 2 6584 2822
jeffrey l rothman
Rian MONNAHAN <rmon...@fr.oracle.com> wrote:
>Dear All,
>Since my original message, I have found two web sights specializing in
>aeronautical quality strobes (100 candle flash):
>http://www3.pair.com/kgebhart/skymart/strobes.html
>http://www.thomasregister.com/olc/aeroflash/plane.htm
>I've wrote these outfits for information concerning...
>1) power consumption
>2) dimensions
>Aeroflash wrote back saying their strobes for ultra lights pull from 4 to 6
>amps depending on the model. Skymart boast a 1.5 to 2 amp consumption for
>one of its models. Both run off 12VDC through some sort of coil device. I
>don't know a lot about electricity... So, these figures don't tell me a
>whole lot about the viability of my idea. Perhaps someone out there can
>figure this out for everybody. The batteries we use in Europe are typically
>12VDC/7amp/h.
>As for the dimensions of the drivers and the lights themselves... The
>drivers look they would fit inside the fuselage and Aeroflash confirmed you
>can run up to 35ft of cabling out to their lights and still expect them to
>work. I have no information concerning the dimension of the lights, whether
>it would be practical for us to have them hanging out their in the slip
>stream generating some more drag.
>The input from everyone has been very interesting, especially the bit about
>the LED bicycle lights. I wonder if they are bright enough, what their size
>is etc... I thought about flash units on miniture cameras too wondering if
>the light they give off is bright enough to be of any help. And those of you
>who say they have friends or seen glider with strobes, do you have any more
>precise information or leads. I hope the exchange continues.
>Now, we've of course avoided all the legal issues... like what will the FAA,
>the DGSA or other annoying bodies say about such a device.
>Thanks all,
>Rian MONNAHAN
>F-CHAI (ASW24B)
>Rian MONNAHAN wrote:
>> Dear All,
>>
>> Does anyone have any information/experience with strobe/anti-collision
>> lighting systems for gliders? Perhaps there are differing opinions
>> regarding their ability to improve the glider pilots odds in the see and
>> avoid and be seen and be avoided game we all play.
>>
>> Thanks for the input,
>>
>> Rian MONNAHAN
>> F-CHAI (ASW24B)
For reference Nicad "D" cells have about 4 Amp hours of capacity and
1.2 volts per cell. With a stack of 10 batteries you could run one of
the small lamps for about 2 hours.
Jean-Marie Clément
I got one from Schempp-Hirth installed on top of a Nimbus 4, just behind the
canopy. Current drain is only 130 mA, power is sufficient to get
certification for night flight. Aerodynamics are OK, good fairings. Ask
Schempp-Hirth or Tom Knauff in the US.
Rian MONNAHAN wrote:
> Dear All,
>
> Does anyone have any information/experience with strobe/anti-collision
> lighting systems for gliders? Perhaps there are differing opinions
> regarding their ability to improve the glider pilots odds in the see and
> avoid and be seen and be avoided game we all play.
>
> Thanks for the input,
>
> Rian MONNAHAN
> F-CHAI (ASW24B)
--
Jean-Marie Clément
Via delle Forze Armate, 26
I - 20147 Milano
Tel. +39-(0)2-4870 5377 Fax: +39-(0)2-4870 5352
Mobile +39-(0)335- 6049 302
Karl-Friedrich Weber
Shaber CJ schrieb:
>
> Of course bright anti-collision paint would be as effective as strobes. We
> have a Pik 20 with Flouresent pinkish/reddish anti-collision paint and it hurts
> to look at the paint. If anti-collision paint was required noone would be the
> odd ball with the funny paint job.
>
One year ago we startet some experiments with anti-collision lights.
There is the problem that either you cannot improve the visibility of
the glider because of low brightness or the electricity consumption is
too high.
If you want to have an effective brightness, you need such a strong
strobe light that the consumption will be around 2 Amps. Even with a
battery of our DG-800B with 22 Ah it is too much.
We couldn`t find a satisfying solution of this problem and stopped the
further development. For flying in the dark the power of a small strobe
light might be okay, but when we tested it in sunlight, we first saw the
glider and later on the strobe ... :-(
Did anybody make better experiences?
--
Always happy landings
Karl-Friedrich Weber
http://www.dg-flugzeugbau.de - Manufacturer of DG Gliders
Karl-Friedrich Weber: DG Flugzeugbau GmbH:
k-f-...@t-online.de dg-flug...@t-online.de
Ron Tabery
AT the WGC in France last year, the organizers required a series of 30-cm-wide
vivid orange self-adhesive film strips applied to each wing tip. Nearly everyone
was resistant, including me at first. In point of fact, the visability improvement
was considerable, particularly against white backgrounds like snow or cloud (which
is how it is with Alpine soaring). Anyway, the "penalty" in performance was
certainly small and who knows, it may have saved a life or two.
The film (something like thin sticky-back shelf paper) was easily applied and
removed later. For contest soaring, it makes sense to me to sport these stripes on
the tips. It has the added benefit of "screening" those in the race from club
ships by their markings. It is cheaper than a strobe and probably more efective in
daylight.
Ron Tabery