i recently bougt a pair of halogen lights for my barn for extra light and found out they produce enough light, that i can fly at with them set in my backyard. most times it is calm at night and i fly my pico stick untill i get tired. just thought id share my use for these. i dont fly really high up, but buzzing around my yard at 11:30 at night is sure a new thing for me.

When I fly at night I go to a baseball field that seems to have enough street lamps around that light it pretty well. I don't take my Tigermoth up that high, but I can see it pretty easily when it's buzzing around. I also find the wind seems to be more calm at night versus the daytime. Its always fun to take the moth up on 'night patrol' when I get home from work...

James Kern

Sure, that works... but.... wheres the fun in that?! =)

Just in case that comes off as sounding rude, take note at a recent development in "Navigational Lighting Systems". Just 2 nights ago we were out in the middle of a small lake, about 3 hours after sun-down flying our small float plane around only guided by its lighting system and had people running over asking us what was going on, figuring a full-size plane was attempting to land in this lake that was obviously too small. I then had to give a couple speeches about how much it costs to get into the hobby. I swear our lights alone have made people get into the R/C hobby period. Take care all.


Regards,
Matthew J. Currie
Curtek Systems - http://www.curtek.com

With my first slowflyers about 4 years ago I use to go to the Home Depot parking lot at closing time (9:00PM). Even in the winter it was more likely perfectly calm than not. There was always a far corner with no cars and the parking lot lights still on. No one ever seemed to notice me in that corner. I'm gettin' all misty just remembering. I thought it was SOOOO cool to be flying at night. In my part of the country it gets dark by quittin' time during the winter months so there was no winter daylight flying after work for the first 14 years I was in this hobby.

Now, with my mini IFO, I can actually fly in my postage stamp front yard at night. And I have lights on my Tiger Moth and regular sized IFO for flying at the field as people are putting there planes away because it's gotten to dark for them to see.

Long live the small electrics!

Life sometimes gets busy for us all. Had to visit someone in the hospital last night. My wife and I went shopping afterward for my grandson's birthday. End result, home after 10 PM without flying. Wife knew about my Curtek Nav Lights on my Slowstick, but had never seen them firsthand.

At 10:30 PM, in the street in front of our house, with minimal wind, I fired up the Slowstick with my wife watching in the front yard. Eighteen minutes later, the pack started to fade, so I brought it in for the third night landing inthe street. She thought it was so cool she said I "needed to get more of those for your other planes."

Matthew, are you listening? I need more lights!

Actually, my point is I didn't even have to waste ten minutes driving around the block to the park. Didn't have to spend any time loading the truck. The battery stayed warm until I took it outside. There is a lot to be said for the sponteneity of night flight in our northern latitudes.

Regards,

Dale Case

In case that came off as an advertisement, flying without the lights is still a thrill. We did it for quite some time in a local Tim Horton's parking lot and those were around the times the Curtek Lighting System was birthed =) It was too long of a drive to the coffee shop parking lot and we had a huge field near the airport that was begging to be 'crop dusted' after hours.

Yes Dale I hear your outcry. =) The parts are officially headed my way and now I am working aggressively to refine the system while I can before the parts show up.

How about chemical luminescence? I found a company that manufactures and sells the appropriate chemicals (somewhat expensive), normally used for such processes as production of the glowing portion on the hands of a watch. One could easily mix it with a clear coat or something else and make some brutal glowing leading edge strips.

And with that I will cease my comments and return this thread to "Flying at night without lights on your plane". Anyways have fun guys and I am always around to answer questions about this stuff.


Regards,
Matthew J. Currie
Curtek Systems

im gonna be doing some night flying once I get my plane TX and RX. There is a well lighted church not even 1/2 mile from my home I will be flying in with around 3 acre parking lot with grass around it. Very large flying area.

Is it possible to get a black light or dark purple light to put on planes?? having my plane lit up is not enough I want crepy looking psycodellic glowing plane... with the white bottom of the tigermoth wings it would be cool...what about those lights that have a fan blowing on a flame colored fabric to simulate fire..just put them on a plane with a light and you could have a flaming plane

Be brave!

Fly at night, guided by nothing but the sound of your motor:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...threadid=66061

pics

Funny, while anxiously waiting for Mathew's lights I spotted some glow in the dark acrylic paints (red/pink, green, and plain glow-in-the-dark) in the local craft store. I tried airbrushing them on my DuskStik wing. To bad the glow only lasted for a minute or so. The red and green were a total failure. There was some ambient light from distant street lights which washed out what little glow there was.

my dogs eyes look a little spooky

1 more

Just installed a kit from http://www.glowire.com/ and took my Twinjet out for a night trial....ABSOLUTELY AWSOME! It was a breeze to fly and the different color lights on the entire leading edge of each wing and tail made it easier to make out its direction & orientation than in daylight.

I just ordered 2 more kits and cant wait till they arrive....