Good flashlight for night flying

RED isn't the issue. What you want Is DIM to save your night vision. Almost all the standard ones are too bright. Putting the red lens on them dims them down (there's nothing magic about red by the way) but it makes colors on charts hard to discern. Frankly, since I went to electronic charting, it's rare I dig the flashlight out of the bag. Mostly I use it for preflight.
 
flyingron said:
RED isn't the issue. What you want Is DIM to save your night vision. Almost all the standard ones are too bright. Putting the red lens on them dims them down (there's nothing magic about red by the way) but it makes colors on charts hard to discern. Frankly, since I went to electronic charting, it's rare I dig the flashlight out of the bag. Mostly I use it for preflight.
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A few studies (Hecht and Hsia, 1945; Hulburt, 1951) showed rods and cones react the same above wavelengths of 650 nm, while rods alone are much more sensitive at low wavelengths, where night vision is ruined. For the same level of lumens, the eyes will recover quicker if red light is used. So, my understanding is that its not that red will protect night vision, but it just doesn't ruin it as much.
 
It's not a "for the same number of lumens" issue. You first have to get the light intensity down to a low level then you can use red to further enhance things. A relatively bright red light will be as blinding as any other color.

And all this predicates that you're looking out at very low level darkness to begin with. This is fine when you're a submarine surfacing at night, but of less importance when performing pilot activities.
 
flyingron said:
It's not a "for the same number of lumens" issue. You first have to get the light intensity down to a low level then you can use red to further enhance things. A relatively bright red light will be as blinding as any other color.
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That's what I like about the Gerber Recon (the knife company, not baby food). Just about all online reviews about it are negative complaining about being too dim but I find it the perfect output for a cramped cockpit.
 
flyingron said:
... What you want Is DIM to save your night vision. Almost all the standard ones are too bright. ...
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Simon at Convoy flashlights makes single-quantity, semicustom, lights at reasonable prices. Search "orange S2+ flashlight, with XPL HI led inside and ar-coated glass,biscotti firmware" at aliexpress for an example. The U64C emitter, and 7135x3 driver, give a daylight color temp, and plenty bright enough, light output. The biscotti firmware allows you to dial back the output to 0.1% of max; such a moonlight mode gives a battery life of a couple of months continuous ontime--really dim, but there if you select the associated brightness sequence. Stock firmware only delivers a 5% dimming at the low end; way too bright. [I use 1% for around a dark house, it's still a bit bright.]. Price is 20 bucks or so; you may get a popup coupon for a couple of bucks from aliexpress.

Simon's Convoy store also lists a nifty UV(365nm) lite. A geologist favorite because of its high output. Careful with this one, especially if you order the black filter.
 
I have an LED with red and white options. White for preflight and (I thought) red for night flying. Problem is, I cannot differentiate my heading bug with the red light. Heading hug is orange in the sunlight. Anybody know of this is easier with blue or green led?
 
my tawood approved/recommended, compact, clip on, battery operated, red/white LED flashlights came in the mail yesterday. I turned off all the lights in the house and clipped this bad boy to my cap. only ran into a few walls before I realized I need to turn on the flashlight. then it worked like magic.
 
My favorite light of all time (I keep it on my kitchen counter when it isn't in my flight bag or being used for an overnight BBQ cook):

https://princetontec.com/product/quad-tactical/

Can't remember what it cost. It wasn't the cheapest, but wasn't too expensive. I've had it for about 4 years now.

It comes with R, G, and B filters. You pop open the front, install the filter you want, then pop the cover closed again. The filter then slides up and covers the LED when you want the filtered light, or you just slide it down when you want white. That prevents accidentally pressing the wrong button or button sequence and getting blinded by white when you wanted something else. Low, Med, and High seeings. 3 AAA batteries generally last me 2 seasons. I use it a lot for BBQ contests when I need to be up overnight and keep my hands free. Plus, it's waterproof so a good hose down to clean off grease is a simple thing to do.
 
Zeldman said:
Personally I like blue light in the cockpit at night.

If I could find a strap on light that is blue I might try it.
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Strap on comment already addressed several times. I too like a blue light at night. I would like to find a blue lens for the overhead light. I saw one in a picture on someone's Cherokee but can't find one. All I've seen is red like the one I have now.
 
Not to disparage the OP or crap on this thread (hopefully this isn't perceived that way) but this type of thing is a great example of the little things that separate a more modern plane like my Cirrus from the bulk of the legacy GA hardware out there. My plane has very good internal lighting that is thoughtfully designed to provide clear illumination of what you need to see while preserving night vision and it wouldn't occur to me to use a flashlight while night flying any more than it would while driving my car at night. I think these types of small usability things often get overlooked when people compare airplanes based purely on specs as often happens here. Individually, this isn't a huge deal and I wouldn't suggest anyone pick a plane based solely on whether it has good night lighting or not but there are dozens of examples of this type of small attention to detail type stuff that collectively make it feel like a very different experience when I fly an older airplane and require a lot more preparation and attention from the pilot.

And before someone tells me that not having backup flashlight is a bad idea, I do have two backup flashlights and fresh spare batteries in the airplane (and of course everyone's phone has a flashlight feature these days) but I have only ever used them for preflight on a dark ramp or things of that nature.

That all being said, looks like a very nice find OP and I hope no one takes this as denigrating other GA airplanes, I'm not one to do that and I have a soft spot in my heart for many of the older airplanes that I have flown in the past 3 decades of flying GA.
 
eman1200 said:
I opted for the $10 flashlight in lieu of the $700,000 plane built around modern flashlight technology.
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I figured I'd get some snarky responses... Haha

BTW - there are 7000 used Cirri out there. I paid a LOT less than $700K for mine...
 
RudyP said:
Not to disparage the OP or crap on this thread (hopefully this isn't perceived that way) but this type of thing is a great example of the little things that separate a more modern plane like my Cirrus from the bulk of the legacy GA hardware out there. My plane has very good internal lighting that is thoughtfully designed to provide clear illumination of what you need to see while preserving night vision and it wouldn't occur to me to use a flashlight while night flying any more than it would while driving my car at night. I think these types of small usability things often get overlooked when people compare airplanes based purely on specs as often happens here. Individually, this isn't a huge deal and I wouldn't suggest anyone pick a plane based solely on whether it has good night lighting or not but there are dozens of examples of this type of small attention to detail type stuff that collectively make it feel like a very different experience when I fly an older airplane and require a lot more preparation and attention from the pilot.

And before someone tells me that not having backup flashlight is a bad idea, I do have two backup flashlights and fresh spare batteries in the airplane (and of course everyone's phone has a flashlight feature these days) but I have only ever used them for preflight on a dark ramp or things of that nature.

That all being said, looks like a very nice find OP and I hope no one takes this as denigrating other GA airplanes, I'm not one to do that and I have a soft spot in my heart for many of the older airplanes that I have flown in the past 3 decades of flying GA.
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I’ve never needed a flashlight in any plane I’ve flown at night and none of them were built after 1970. But I keep one handy for when the electrical gives up and leaves me in the dark. It’ll happen someday.
 
Compass? No more compass in my plane. Not that I’ve ever had one that worked anyway. I just pitched SIRS into the trash last night. Besides, you probably don’t have much steel in your panels. In my Cub? With all the tubes overhead? Magnetic mount flashlights are perfect.
 
My dad bought me this for lobster fishing. It has a dial that rotates one way for three levels of white and the other for red and then blue light. It has a battery level indicator on it. I wear it under the headset. Originally I started with a mini-mag with electrical tape wrapped on the end to hold in my mouth, but this is so much better.
61LHgxwixTL__SX679_.jpg
 
RudyP said:
...but this type of thing is a great example of the little things that separate a more modern plane like my Cirrus from the bulk of the legacy GA hardware out there. My plane has very good internal lighting that is thoughtfully designed
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Apparently not modern enough. If you had an all glass panel with all glass backups and charts on an iPad, would you even need lights? :)
 
asicer said:
Apparently not modern enough. If you had an all glass panel with all glass backups and charts on an iPad, would you even need lights? :)
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I am all glass but there is still red accent lighting throughout the cabin so that you can see things like the throttle quadrant, the ignition key, the breaker panel, the alt/battery, exterior light and deicing switches, the pen you dropped in the footwell, your cup holders, etc... there are also five individually controlled soft light spots that can be used for writing down clearances on paper if you’re old school or a passenger reading a book, etc...

Basically like your car, someone spent some time thinking through ways to provide consistent, soft lighting throughout so that you’re never fumbling in the dark for something or having to use a flashlight and risk messing up your night vision. Plus it looks cool.
 
RudyP said:
the throttle quadrant, the ignition key, the breaker panel, the alt/battery,
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Muscle memory.
deicing switches
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IFR at night?:eek2:
the pen you dropped in the footwell, ...a passenger reading a book, etc...
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iPad
cup holders
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Wait. What?
takemymoney.jpg
 
RudyP said:
Not to disparage the OP or crap on this thread (hopefully this isn't perceived that way) but this type of thing is a great example of the little things that separate a more modern plane like my Cirrus from the bulk of the legacy GA hardware out there. My plane has very good internal lighting that is thoughtfully designed to provide clear illumination of what you need to see while preserving night vision and it wouldn't occur to me to use a flashlight while night flying any more than it would while driving my car at night. I think these types of small usability things often get overlooked when people compare airplanes based purely on specs as often happens here. Individually, this isn't a huge deal and I wouldn't suggest anyone pick a plane based solely on whether it has good night lighting or not but there are dozens of examples of this type of small attention to detail type stuff that collectively make it feel like a very different experience when I fly an older airplane and require a lot more preparation and attention from the pilot.

And before someone tells me that not having backup flashlight is a bad idea, I do have two backup flashlights and fresh spare batteries in the airplane (and of course everyone's phone has a flashlight feature these days) but I have only ever used them for preflight on a dark ramp or things of that nature.

That all being said, looks like a very nice find OP and I hope no one takes this as denigrating other GA airplanes, I'm not one to do that and I have a soft spot in my heart for many of the older airplanes that I have flown in the past 3 decades of flying GA.
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I got your meaning Rudy. Knew you were gonna catch flak for it too. Lol. Good points in general.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk
 
RudyP said:
Not to disparage the OP or crap on this thread (hopefully this isn't perceived that way) but this type of thing is a great example of the little things that separate a more modern plane like my Cirrus from the bulk of the legacy GA hardware out there. My plane has very good internal lighting that is thoughtfully designed to provide clear illumination of what you need to see while preserving night vision and it wouldn't occur to me to use a flashlight while night flying any more than it would while driving my car at night. I think these types of small usability things often get overlooked when people compare airplanes based purely on specs as often happens here. Individually, this isn't a huge deal and I wouldn't suggest anyone pick a plane based solely on whether it has good night lighting or not but there are dozens of examples of this type of small attention to detail type stuff that collectively make it feel like a very different experience when I fly an older airplane and require a lot more preparation and attention from the pilot.

And before someone tells me that not having backup flashlight is a bad idea, I do have two backup flashlights and fresh spare batteries in the airplane (and of course everyone's phone has a flashlight feature these days) but I have only ever used them for preflight on a dark ramp or things of that nature.

That all being said, looks like a very nice find OP and I hope no one takes this as denigrating other GA airplanes, I'm not one to do that and I have a soft spot in my heart for many of the older airplanes that I have flown in the past 3 decades of flying GA.
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No disparaging...but I think you might underestimate some lighting in older planes...mine is just fine, I just prefer to also have a light for things like preflight, checking the wings for ice, looking for something dropped on the floor, electrical emergencies, etc...
Here's a pic of my '66 Cherokee panel at night. You can see it is completely usable (the lights are turned up to "high" for the photo, to help the camera, but I fly with them turned down):

upload_2018-8-24_17-51-35.png
 
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