Anyone with Strobe lights fitted to their Microlight?

[ozzietriker]

Hi Folks,

 

Just wondering whether if there is anyone out there who has strobe lights fitted to their microlight? if so,

 

(1) are they AC or DC? which is better?

 

(2) has it ever caused you grief with interference through the comms or radio or other problems?

 

(3) are you happy with your strobe lights and if so, where did you get them from?

 

I fitted a 12VDC strobe light (alarm box style) from Dick Smith to my base tube as a trial and it just wasn't bright enough to be seen.

 

any info apreciated

 

Dennis

 

 

[Guest J430]

Dennis

 

Regardless of anything anyone says on this thread after my post this will be the best advice as follows;

 

1 Save the money and the weight..... DO NOT BOTHER.

 

2 If in doubt refer no. 1.

 

In reality unless you fly at night, and you don't then nobody will see them, you see the plane before strobes.

 

If you want to be seen during the day with strobes get the ones Boeing and Airbus use, anything smaller is a waste of time.

 

Anything else and you are kidding yourself!

 

J

 

 

[Captain]

I understand the point that J is making and there is no doubt that the basic strobes are not as bright as those on a 747 .... but neither is the cost.

 

I have the usual tail strobe (on a Jabiru, not a trike) and also fitted them onto the wings with separate switching.

 

They are valuable IMHO in a busy circuit or in dull conditions.

 

Given the importance of visual sightings & the ultimate fallback for the blame game of "see-and-be-seen", I reckon it is worth the cost and effort to have them.

 

As an example, on departure from Wagga at 1st light, the strobes are bright cause I can see them flashing on the ground, and it is "nice" to have them on when there are RPT's around.

 

 

[Guest J430]

Captain has a point, for about 5 minutes a day.

 

I have found that in a busy circuit and YCAB is about as busy as they get, even on a dull day, the training school Jabs with the 3 strobes fitted are far more visible thana the strobes. You see the plane before the strobe.

 

Last Monday (public Holiday) it was clouds and rain and murky with a base of 1500 and SCT ST around 080-100 and we had a bright Blue and Yellow Savanah with strobes doing some trim tab tests....... the plane was spotted long before the strobes (so colour helped) and the landig light straight ahead was by far more valuable.

 

Spend the money on a good landing light and save the weight and fuss of the strobes. Some very good LED lights around now.

 

The strobe kit will also create far more electrical noise for your radios etc to contend with!

 

J:thumb_up:

 

 

[Guest Crezzi]

They were quite popular on trikes in the Uk & IMO a good setup probably did improve visibility in the typical claggy weather.

 

In the UK, fitting them is classed as a minor modification but this still has to be approved. The BMAA website has a technical information leaflet which provides a lot of useful info -

 

http://www.bmaa.org/upload/techdocs/20069191720440.013_2%20Strobes.pdf

 

Cheers

 

John

 

 

[Captain]

I agree with the four thirty about a landing light, & I suggest that anyone who is interested should also have a look at Claus Grimm's solid state landing light flasher unit that makes them even more visible-er.

 

 

 

Mine works great.

 

 

 

As a matter of interest ... how much electrical load can be supported by the charging circuit of a 582? Do they make plenty of juice?

 

 

 

[Guest brentc]

Interesting that I was discussing this on the weekend. The aircraft I was flying on the weekend is a J230 NVFR model. It has a red flashing beacon because of the NVFR gear on board. Later on we were watching it doing circuits and noticed that the red beacon was FAR MORE VISIBLE than the strobes. I have heard people say this before but hadn't put much thought into it, however I now agree.

 

If on a budget for my money, the red beacon is the way to go.

 

Strobes can cause problems if you are coming home late and it gets dark on you as they will upset your vision. On the other hand red lights are anti glare so should not affect your vision.

 

Something to consider.

 

 

[Captain]

(1) are they AC or DC? which is better?(2) has it ever caused you grief with interference through the comms or radio or other problems?any info apreciated

Dennis

Sorry Dennis. Did not answer your points 1 & 2.

 

 

 

The Kuntzleman units are a single strobe on the tail that is their "Smart Strobe" which can run on 12 v battery power or direct from the alternator's AC lighting coil. Their dual strobe unit is 12 V powered only.

 

 

 

Have a look for Kuntzleman's (That is definitely spelt with "K" and a "zleman") website.

 

 

 

Ah ....... here it is at http://www.kestrobes.com/

 

 

 

They are considerably brighter than my house alarm strobes.

 

 

 

I can't hear any noise at all thru my radio but have flown other Jabirus that do hiss and fizz a bit. Care is needed on location of the strobe boxes and wiring and a good radio with suitable filters driving good coax is essential.

 

 

 

Regards Geoff

 

 

 

PS ... interesting point, Brent, about the red flashing beacon.

 

 

 

[ozzietriker]

thanks Gents for the very interesting feedback and info, :clap:I initially thought the same as J430 about strobes. The red beacon idea does sound interesting, I fly from a busy GA airfield, although I do have good comms - I often worry whether if others can see me as microlights are difficult to see particularly from the front & rear due to the small cross sectional area. I can usually see most of the local/circuit traffic but I can't see directly behind me and as I do only 50 kts, I get a little paranoid on a busy day that someone could plough into the back of me.

 

cheers

 

Dennis:thumb_up:

 

 

[Captain]

There is one other point I would make on this .... and that is that I do suspect that while a strobe in daylight may well be visibility challenged on a bright day (& under circumstances as described by 430 and bc), that strobe might also become increasingly bright and visible as an aircraft gets closer .... and closer .... and closer, perhaps particularly if the fabric of your machine is darkish.

 

 

 

Just a thought as anything that makes you more see-able might encourage another closing aircraft to turn away just that little bit earlier, and you only need to have them miss you by a little bit to make it worthwhile.

 

 

 

Strobes are certainly not "useless" in daylight in my view.

 

 

 

[Guest brentc]

Maybe you could hook up something like these:

 

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/avi_strobepower1.php

 

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/whelena750.php

 

From what I recall, this link is of the red beacon that Jabiru are fitting to their NVFR models:

 

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/redLedBeacon.php

 

Note: 'It has a flash rate of 60 per minute and will not produce EMI or RFI interference.'

 

These are the units that Jabiru fit for their NAV and Strobe Combo's on the wing tips:

 

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/doubleMagStrobes.php

 

 

[Captain]

These are the units that Jabiru fit for their NAV and Strobe Combo's on the wing tips:http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/doubleMagStrobes.php

You wouldn't think that you would need to mount a spark-plug out there like that, would you? That will add some weight & drag ..... plus I would have thought that it is likely to strip the thread in the fibreglass after a while.

 

 

[Guest J430]

Get a Faster Machine :thumb_up:

 

J:wave:

 

 

[Kev]

Dennis,

 

I had Kuntzleman twin flash strobes fitted to my previous trike (Edge 582), one on top of king post, and another just in front of the nosewheel. According to other flyers, they did make a difference in anything other than bright sunlight conditions.:thumb_up:

 

That is enough for me. If they prevent just one mid-air, or incident then I consider it money well spent. I shall be fitting the same setup to my current trike as soon as I have resolved my radio issues (one step at a time).

 

I heartily endorse Crezzi's recommendation to read through the BMAA's minor mod on the subject. It will cover issues that you might not otherwise consider.

 

By the way, on my 582, I mounted the driver box all the way forward in the nose, and then subsequently had to move the radio antenna from the nose out to the mainwheel, to minimise interference.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Safe flying

 

Kev

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

Are strobes worth fitting? I Went to natfly several years ago and towards the end of the day everyone seemed to be in the air. light was fading and all these aircraft ripping around the area and circuit with no lights or strobes. there was even a camoflaged storch in amongst it. more good luck that there were no incidences.

 

fitting a strobe,even a cheap one makes good sense. I have a small portable one that i use when light drops. i also have fitted to the lazair small cold neon nav lights in the wing tips.

 

ozzie

 

 

[Ultralights]

i have a SC10(?) self contained strobe on my vampire, they run off 12v DC, no separate flasher unit, just the light, visibility is tested to 30NM, which is apparently GA standard in the US, got mine from aircraft spruce for about $70

 

on the bottom of the pod is a pulsating beacon, it doesnt flash, just goes from dull to very bright once a second. i have been told the beacon can be seen easily when im on final, as its a constantly varying light its easy to spot.

 

 

[Guest hatrack]

Strobes are compulsory on gyros above 500' or within 8 kms of a liscenced aerodrome. My machine has no fuselage, pod or large wing so is more difficult to see than other aircraft. However I have a Kuntzleman SC-10, and am getting interference on my handheld vhf. I find best collision avoidance is below 500'!

 

 

[Guest dazdru]

Strobes

 

Hi all, I was also looking to fit "strobes" to my Trike but found the cost soon stopped me in my tracks. I have since purchased a "budget" pair of LED strobes (very bright) and now after reading these threads, not sure on where to place them. Side mounted so as to avoid side collision ? One front-one rear, as we all don't enjoy being run down from behind by RPT aircraft in the circuit. What do you think ?

 

Any thoughts appreciated.

 

Darren

 

 

[Guest J430]

as we all don't enjoy being run down from behind by RPT aircraft in the circuit. What do you think ?

Fit a Mode C transponder and encoder, and have it turned on!

 

If you are at an aerodrome with RPT it will be a CTAF R so make sure you are on the radio.........and hopefully they are too not the PAL!:confused:

 

This way when you appear on their TCAS they may actually have an idea where to look to see your tiny strobes and you attached.

 

You are not so easily spotted from the cockpit of an A320/B737. Unless you are flying at night the small strobes will only help them find you after a TCAS traffic alert.

 

And you wonder why I go on and on and on about transponders. I do not really think they should be mandatory, I actually think we all should fit them without being forced. Just seems others will not do it for various reasons.

 

Its a bit like educating your kids to use condoms if they decide to have sex! Its not law, but its a pretty smart idea!

 

J

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

[. I find best collision avoidance is below 500'!

 

i second that !!

 

 

[Guest Crezzi]

Darren

 

The BMAA (pommy equivalent to RAAus) strongly recommend the kingpost and under the trike. See http://www.bmaa.org/upload/techdocs/20069191720440.013_2%20Strobes.pdf

 

Cheers

 

John

 

 

[Yenn]

ozzie.

 

Fly around here and you will collect a chopper!

 

 

[ozzietriker]

thanks guys, some really good information you've given me (and some with great humour)

 

thanks again

 

Dennis

 

 

[Guest dazdru]

Thanks John, good document. I have fitted my lamps on the weekend and will post some pics and video for all to see.

 

Darren

 

 

[Guest The Bushman]

I know this is a little late but I use a strobe built in with Nav Lights each wing tip and veryyy bright i can get them in the state and have second hand unit for Sale opn a Supa-pup contact me if you are interested

 

The Bushman