Need a little help, USAF Air-To-Air Refueling!

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tlyon1022

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Aug 17, 2011
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Hi all,

To make a long story short- I'm in the USAF and am in need of some advice and/or guidance. I'm involved in the process of in-flight fueling Helicopters and Tilt Rotor assets from my aircraft in radio-silent environments . In this scenario, we use light signals to communicate commands and or directions with our receivers. The colors used are White, Green, Red, and Yellow. Currently we use a light "paddle"- literally a 1x4 wooden plank with some colored filters hot glued into holes just larger than the head of a surefire 6P series flashlight, and we just use the SF itself for white. While I can't say it doesn't work, it certainly is cumbersome and un-21st century.

I've been looking for a W/R/Y/G light for some time now, to no avail. So I've come to you guys for help.

Please, either recommend me a light that has these capabilities, or recommend someone who can mod one to do so.

Currently I really like the LED LENSER P7QC light, but it has Blue instead of Yellow. I think they are on a quad color cree chip, is anyone around here able to swap it with a Quad Color Cree Chip that meets my WRYG requirement? I'd be willing to pay for parts, labor, and shipping of course.

Thanks in advance for the help.
 
tlyon1022 said:
Hi all,

To make a long story short- I'm in the USAF and am in need of some advice and/or guidance. I'm involved in the process of in-flight fueling Helicopters and Tilt Rotor assets from my aircraft in radio-silent environments . In this scenario, we use light signals to communicate commands and or directions with our receivers. The colors used are White, Green, Red, and Yellow. Currently we use a light "paddle"- literally a 1x4 wooden plank with some colored filters hot glued into holes just larger than the head of a surefire 6P series flashlight, and we just use the SF itself for white. While I can't say it doesn't work, it certainly is cumbersome and un-21st century.

I've been looking for a W/R/Y/G light for some time now, to no avail. So I've come to you guys for help.

Please, either recommend me a light that has these capabilities, or recommend someone who can mod one to do so.

Currently I really like the LED LENSER P7QC light, but it has Blue instead of Yellow. I think they are on a quad color cree chip, is anyone around here able to swap it with a Quad Color Cree Chip that meets my WRYG requirement? I'd be willing to pay for parts, labor, and shipping of course.

Thanks in advance for the help.
Click to expand...

tlyon1022,

I thought the military had a strict and vigorous equipment acquisition process, that you cannot just "bring something from home."
 
scs said:
tlyon1022,

I thought the military had a strict and vigorous equipment acquisition process, that you cannot just "bring something from home."
Click to expand...

True, if the equipment is military owns it and a member uses it, like a weapon, body armor, chemical warfare protection suits etc.

However, in the case of simple tools like a flashlight, if I feel the need to spend my own dime I'm more than allowed to. Also, small tools like flashlights, knives, gloves, multitools etc, are "individually issued" meaning that I own the item once it's been given to me.

There are rules, for example if I'm given a SureFire 6PX, I can't eBay it just because "it's mine now".

But, if I choose to purchase a flashlight that I like more than the one I'm given, I can use it as long as it meets (or exceeds) the capabilities of the one I've been given then it's ok. There is a "common sense" clause on some things in the military!
 
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I haven't seen amber in any of the quad color LED's.

The Fenix LD75C has white, red, green and blue. It's possible to place an amber filter over the light lens to get amber.

Fenix has plans for the TK41C which has a white, red and blue and is both smaller and less expensive while running on AA batteries. Only problem is that the light is delayed.

The Nitecore SRT-7 has white, red, blue and green, but again no amber. It runs on two CR123 or one 18650 battery.
 
Tlyon, did you get an answer you can work with?

I'm curious, even though I can't help with the electronics. Do you need to switch between colors rapidly, or is is more "green light = begin fueling" and doesn't need to instantly switch between colors?

A surefire 6P is very 21st century, although not as it comes from SF themselves. This is the base host of way too many cool modifications to even begin to list. Here's links to a couple modders that I think should be able to work up something for you.

Vinh
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?140-Vinhnguyen54

VestureOfBlood
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?194-Adventure-Sport

Both have online stores but also do modifications, and are a big part of this crazy community we have here

Thank you for your service!
 
The only one I'd need rapid access to would be Red. We use that for emergencies aka "Breakaway" where we literally need the Helo/Osprey to just peace out asap for safety reasons. Other than that I have a few seconds to cycle through a selector ring or whatever.

In a perfect world, I'd be willing to shell out for individual buttons preferably with colored glow paint or trit vials.
 
you'd likely need something custom for this purpose..specifically tanker duty


the receivers would need to vet out any changes, plus approval from brass


finally, your special light fails. now what ? the board with filters can be used with any light
 
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I've been thinking about this (in the scant few minutes I have spare per day 🙂, but cannot come up with a simple solution.

It sounds like it really needs to be something like a D-cell maglight with a custom head that has separate LEDs for each color. A row of buttons to control on/off for each one. You don't need fancy modes or strobe, but merely on/ off, correct?

There are two modders I know of that handle maglights, VestureofBlood, linked above and Fivemega. Here's FM's link

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?208918-Original-Elephant-70-discount
 
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