I'm a pilot - help me find some new flashlights

[scottm]

I will see if setting up the A2 on the glareshield does anything worthwhile for nightime landings.

Yer beginning to scare me.

 

[LED61]

Yer beginning to scare me.

He He!! me too. :laughing:

Guys, this is nothing short of ludicrous. Using the flashlight to check for ice in the wings is a good idea, or in other places where it may collect before the wing´s leading edges. And other tasks for pilots of course.

But shining a light out front, even mounted, in the hope it will aid you in visualizing even the runway numbers or centerline painted in white, is plain waste of time, and even dangerous. I assume you´re flying a single, you´ll get a lot of glare from the propeller and the windscreen. You´ll be distracted at a time when you need your night vision most.

Just get your night currency, practice landings without a light it´s no big deal, concentrate on stabilizing your approach. Flying skills will make your night landings safe and smooth, not fancy flashlights.

 

[yellow]

nice that "better knowing" members explained what I have meant
and immediately gave their better understanding of that this is wrong.

For sure the main reasons have been mentionned (in my post), but if You want a longer story:
1st: no twist action --> You need only one hand to get the light to the desired level
2nd: individually settable levels --> each level can be tuned by You to give a certain output = to consume a certain current = to give a certain runtime
3rd: THREE levels (because the "M" gives "just" two and these are - possibly - not exactly what You want).
... one very low (nightsight), one normal light chores (runtime), one very bright (inspecting)
... order of appearance settable by user, individual brightness settable by user

Yes, it needs a push(es) on the switch to get to level 2 or 3.
I admit: I like this UI very much, thats why I opted for the "normal" IBS models, not the "M"
I dont like twist action as well as fixed levels any more.

PS: looks like the A2 w. other led is also suitable - if it were not for the CR123 cells

 

[KD5XB]

It's a good point, and one I am going to explore. I (like most pilots) have tried several landings without a landing light (just using the REIL's or edge lighting), and it's not a huge deal. But, I need to up my night currency in the next week or so, and I will see if setting up the A2 on the glareshield does anything worthwhile for nightime landings. I do agree that if you need to use a hand to hold the light out of the window, the tradeoff doesn't make any sense. Thanks for your insight.

I guess I need to explain that the one time I used a Maglite when the landing light was out, I opened the window on the 172 and held the light out the window. Putting it up on top of the glareshield was not an option. This was a Valdosta, Georgia, the weather was calm, about 2AM, and in a 172, the approach speed was slow enough that it was about like shining a light out of a car window. In the end, it worked fine. Somebody flying somehting else might not do as well.

 

[LED61]

I guess I need to explain that the one time I used a Maglite when the landing light was out, I opened the window on the 172 and held the light out the window. Putting it up on top of the glareshield was not an option. This was a Valdosta, Georgia, the weather was calm, about 2AM, and in a 172, the approach speed was slow enough that it was about like shining a light out of a car window. In the end, it worked fine. Somebody flying somehting else might not do as well.

May I ask how you were flying the airplane on approach ?

If you were flying the left seat, you should have had your left hand in the yoke and the right hand in the throtle. No ifs here. You can use your right hand on the mike for the final clearance to land from the tower. If your approach airspeed was safe at 1.3X stall speed with flaps, you should have been around 65-70 knots. That´s about 75 MPH and would be pretty distracting.

I´m not saying I don´t believe you pulled off the maneuver, but I´m not endorsing it as a safe one. Why not just do the procedure which is to land without a light ? No flight instructor in his right mind will teach a student to land holding a flashlight out the window, and it is certainly not an FAA aproved maneuver.

 

[KD5XB]

Well you know -- some of us good ol' boys just do whatever it takes to make things happen! :laughing:

 

[scottm]

I guess anything is possible on the internet.

 

[KD5XB]

I did what I did, and it was some 20 years ago. The Mag lite was bright enough to let me see the runway.

However, that isn't what this thread is about. I hope you're not trying to draw me into an argument, I've tried really hard to avoid that kind of thing on this forum.

 

[scottm]

I apologize for continuing this detour, but perhaps it'll be clear why. The business of flying is far too unforgiving for much creativity. Pilots rely heavily on the experience of others. An inexperienced pilot is likely to stumble into this thread and keep your experience in mind, maybe try it some day when his landing light fails. Then an Accident Site Investigator like me will be puzzling over why the pilot's flashlight and left arm ended up so far from the wreckage. It's important to me that any pilot who reads this thread also reads that I think it's unlikely this can be done without crashing. Like my father and brother I have over 10,000 hours of military and airline flying, and I'm a mechanical engineer. I've flown a lot of different airplanes including the Cessna 172, I would not attempt to land any of them one-handed. Maybe a glider, but you still might need to work the speed brake while landing.

Scottm
Senior Pilot, USAF
ATP multi-engine land
Type rated: B-707, B-720, B-757, B-767

 

[LED61]

I apologize for continuing this detour, but perhaps it'll be clear why. The business of flying is far too unforgiving for much creativity. Pilots rely heavily on the experience of others. An inexperienced pilot is likely to stumble into this thread and keep your experience in mind, maybe try it some day when his landing light fails. Then an Accident Site Investigator like me will be puzzling over why the pilot's flashlight and left arm ended up so far from the wreckage. It's important to me that any pilot who reads this thread also reads that I think it's unlikely this can be done without crashing. Like my father and brother I have over 10,000 hours of military and airline flying, and I'm a mechanical engineer. I've flown a lot of different airplanes including the Cessna 172, I would not attempt to land any of them one-handed. Maybe a glider, but you still might need to work the speed brake while landing.

Scottm
Senior Pilot, USAF
ATP multi-engine land
Type rated: B-707, B-720, B-757, B-767

I fully second this more experienced pilot than me. His posts, and mine, are all about debunking a wrong act suggested in this thread as a matter of safety.

My credentials are not as heavy as Scottm,

Commercial certificate, multi-engine land
Instrument rating
Certified Flight instructor-instrument

One more thing, I still insist that if Surefire still has that "true story" about the person using the Surefire flashlight to land his aircraft, it should be removed. It sets a poor example for the flying public, as do some posts in this thread.

 

[KD5XB]

I'm done with this thread.

I tried to help someone with a flashlight choice and ended up in an argument over how to land a box kite at night with no landing light. That certainly isn't where I wanted to go.

I also have a Commercial, but for single-engine. Instrument Airplane, and a private in single-engine seaplanes. Never flown anything larger than a Piper Saratoga. Certainly wouldn't advocate trying to use a flashlight to replace the incredible landing lights on a -130, -141, -135, etc. A good flashlight, though, is probably getting close to the inadaquate light they put on loits of light singles.

Oops, I forgot -- I took some dual in a Ford Tri-Motor once.

Now to unsubscribe from this thread.

 

[scottm]

Seaplane, nice, always wanted to try that and snow skis. Tri-motor time would be cool, I've only done it with one engine on fire. Did you attempt to land the Tri? I've heard tail-draggers are tricky, wondered if big ones would be easier or harder then small ones.

What were we talking about again?

 

[notamchris]

It is good to see some experienced pilots chime in and set the landing light issue straight. I completely agree. On approach it would be very unsafe to be using a flashlight as a landing light. There is a reason that people are taught to land without landing lights at night. Having a good flashlight (or a couple) is important for all pilots, but the use should be limited to times where your attention can be safely diverted from the most important task: flying the airplane!

I fly a lot of night cargo and so far I have found the RA Twisty to be a great light for the task! I also know that I can count on the lithium batteries to hold up in our chilly winters (I get to go fairly far north at times - not quite to the arctic circle, but still to places that get fairly cold (-40).

Edit: I wonder how many flashaholic pilots there are? I am sure that it is one of the few jobs where having a flashlight is a legal requirement, but on the other hand I see a lot of people going flying with mini-mags.

 

[LED61]

Back in the good old days--circa 1981 in Provo, Utah where I got my private-- I used to fly with a small sanyo white flashlight. It had two white bulbs one over the other, one was surrounded by a red filter, rechargeable Nicads. The bulbs were not very powerful at all, but it was sufficient to preflight the singles I used to fly and to do inside the cockpit chores using the red filter. I remember the light cost around $10, it was sold in the sporty pilots shop too. My instructor had one just like it.

I guess Minimags are still sufficient for most tasks, but I personally would not trade my yellow green A2 available now.

I like you wonder how many flashaholic pilots there are in the forum also. It would be interesting to start a thread in that sense.

And, I don´t really like to argue over things either, it´s just that flying is very procedural to me and not inventive. As you know, you don´t mess with checklists and procedures. Some things are substantiated and really not open to debate for the sake of safety. It is important that discussions address that properly.

 

[scottm]

Back in the good old days--circa 1981 in Provo, Utah where I got my private-- I used to fly with a small sanyo white flashlight. It had two white bulbs one over the other, one was surrounded by a red filter, rechargeable Nicads. The bulbs were not very powerful at all, but it was sufficient to preflight the singles I used to fly and to do inside the cockpit chores using the red filter. I remember the light cost around $10, it was sold in the sporty pilots shop too. My instructor had one just like it.

My dad had one, a big one he got overseas, and he gave each of his sons the smaller version. That was sometime back in the 70s, it stopped holding a charge long ago. It had a rubber plug in the back that was used to change light bulbs, and the electrical wall plug rotated out on the bottom so you could stick the flashlight onto the wall outlet. I'm pretty sure it was designed for pilots. Thanks for the memory!

 

[LED61]

My dad had one, a big one he got overseas, and he gave each of his sons the smaller version. That was sometime back in the 70s, it stopped holding a charge long ago. It had a rubber plug in the back that was used to change light bulbs, and the electrical wall plug rotated out on the bottom so you could stick the flashlight onto the wall outlet. I'm pretty sure it was designed for pilots. Thanks for the memory!

YES!! that was exactly it!! To bad the batteries could not be replaced. I took one apart once trying to do it. I miss that flashlight, I would hold it as a memento.

 

[scottm]

This:

 

[LED61]

This:

OH YEAH!! That little flashlight helped me in a night emergency in a Grumman Tiger back then. Fond memories thanks for the pic ScottM!!!

My mother gave this light to me for Christmas 1975, it was love at first sight and she noticed. I didn´t fly in 1976. The light wore out and I bought another one when I started flying.

 

[scottm]

Grumman F-11 Tiger? Shweet!

 

[DM51]

Ooooh, I like the look of that one - it's got a nice sun-roof. If your landing lights failed, you could stick your head out the top with a Maglite in your mouth, then you'd still have both hands free for flying, lol.