Maglite In Flight
-by Kenogo
In 1990 I enrolled in the flight program at Alabama Aviation & Technical College. I graduated cum laude with my commercial pilot certificate with single/multi engine Instrument and advanced ground instructor. I was gonna be a big shot pilot and make $250,000 a year! WRONG! I never made dollar one. I flew for free a few times and fell into computers which now pays the bills and BUYS FLASHLIGHTS...YEA!
Anyway, this one quarter I to make so many cross-country flights at night. They taught us about night vision, that is takes about 20 min in the dark to get your full night vision. You would use the ambient light from cities and the moon, whatever, to gave whether you were straight and level, or climbing, turning, descending, etc during flight. Also you needed it to watch for other planes!
The best light, they said, to use at night is red filtered light, so we all had red filtered Minimag 2-AA lights. The favorite Minimag sold to cops and pilots and soldiers and such is black. More on THAT later!
After my preflight I take off one night bound for some place I can’t remember, but if I know me it was Panama City Beach Airport. It’s beautiful there – you all should go. To the beach not the airport! So I am in flight on the way back, when the controller says, “Cessna 55266, turn right 135 degrees and climb to 6,000ft. Watch for towers on your right.” Ah shoot I am thinking – I am gonna have to read the map and see if I am gonna be too close, but I don’t think so. I did not expect this turn and it wasn’t on my flight plan.
The cockpit is very dimly lit in red. All the instrument are backlit or have red bzel lights. Checkout any Microsoft Flight Simulator and set it for night flight to see what the cockpit light is like at night – it is realistic. If you use bright light inside the plane, it will reflect off the windows and everything, and you won’t be able to see outside well. Not to mention you will have messed up your night vision. SO I can make out the map and grab it, and go for the Minimag in the side pocket of my flight bag. I grab it – and – DROP THE DARN THING. I could hear it thump on the floor but I could not see it. I reached around as best I could with one hand while trying to fly my new heading and altitude with the other. I couldn’t find it!
The controller came back, “Cessna 55266 do you see the towers?” Well, I did not answer. What was I gonna say, “No, stupid me dropped my flashlight.”? No, I would only admit that to a fellow flashaholic and then only reluctantly
So now I have no choice but to turn on the dome light, just like the one in your car. I found the towers on the map, and they were well below me, and I flip off the dome light. I could barely see a thing! But I finally saw the flashing red beacons on the tower and reported that I now had the towers in sight and I would clear them no trouble.
So I am now flying around blinded, mad at myself for dropping the light, for buying a black flashlight, and for not having a SPARE!!!! So that’s why my wife never complainded about me buying another flashlight. But it’s everyone after THAT she doesn’t get
Until my next story that is!!!! Anyway, the flight home was uneventful besides that. I did not buy a another flashlight right away, but I got a lanyard that would fit around my neck so if I dropped it again, it would still be in reach.
Now the moral of the story is, you can never have too many backup flashlights. Tell your wives I said so! And TWO – unless you are a soldier in combat, a swat team member, you have some need to be inconspicuous, or you just have a love for black flashlights, you really should take Ken’s advice and buy silver, gunmetal, chrome, reflective type flashlight – especially if you are REALLY gonna use them or need them fro a task, and not just for fun. That way if you drop it before you can turn it on, you may see light glinting off it and recover it! But you don’t have to buy ugly ones, Ken never said that! Then again, ARE there any ugly flashlight? Naahhhh...
So for the cockpit, I now have a Silver Minimag 2AA with removable red filter and lanyard, and the back up is a Rayovac Swivel-light 2AA with red filter and has a clip so I can clip it to my shirt. I though it was ugly at first, but fell in love with it’s functionality. The hypocrite in me still takes my BLACK Z2 everywhere I go, because it is my favorite, it’s my baby, and I love it. But I think I need that Arc AAA, and I want a Streamlight for the collection…..
HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED THE STORY! It is all true and happened around 1990 or 1991.
