Outdoors Fanatic said:
It's pure marketing BS!
Pilots don't need no ******* flashlight! Does any of you really believe there is no lights in the fricking cabin? You think aircraft engineers are stupid to let pilots in the total darkness? We are not in the WWII folks...
It's marketing people. The Lincoln Aviator SUV wasn't design for pilots either.
I was wondering if Surefire comes up with a new Model called "Astronaut A3" and people gonna say:- "yep, astronauts use this light to navigate around the spaceshuttle 'cause those NASA engineers were too dumb to put lights in the damn thing".
You sound pretty certain there. I'm a commercial pilot, and I use a light all the time when flying. One of the first things you learn as a pilot is to always plan for the worst and hope for the best. Electrical systems can fail, and when that happens you're left with a pitch black cabin. Always have a backup. And that goes for more than just lights. I always keep a trasciever w/ me in case the radios fail, and I always have an alternate airport if any closures occur at my destination. I always carry more fuel than I anticipate needing, etc. "One is none, and two is one." is quoted by members here from time to time, and it's true.
Second, many older planes have inadequate cabin lighting. That is, there is instrumentation lighting to illuminate the instrument panel, but not much else if you are trying to read an A/FD (airport facilities/directory) or God-forbid, trying to read an approach plate.
Third, many planes that do in fact have good cabin lighting only have white light. It is important to keep your eyes night adapted when flying so you can scan for other aircraft, see airports (yes, they're sometimes very hard to find when hidden among city lights), and in the event of an engine failure, quickly find a suitable emergency landing sight. For this reason, it's important to have some source of red light, or other night-adapted color.
Then there's the issue of pre-flighting at night, refuiling at night at an airport w/ no lights on the ground, looking for stuff in your flightbag in the dark.
Trust me, pilots use flashlights. Even in a plane that is well equipped and well illuminated, any pilot with common sense and half a head will keep one or two flashlights in his flightbag. When you fly, you quickly learn that it's all about margins. The bigger your margin of safety is, the better off you are.
===============================================
EDIT: I almost forgot. Here's a clip from the FAR's (Fedaral Aviation Regulations)
Sec. 121.549 - Flying equipment.
(b) Each crewmember shall, on each flight, have readily available for his use a flashlight that is in good working order.
