Lights!

[DarkHelmet]

Almost had a mid-air last night with another trike, fortunately he had lights - I was in a circuit pattern and if it was not for his lights I would not have seen him.

Some advice and direction please folks? Where to go? What to get? How to do it? What must I expect to pay?

[gertcoetzee]

Almost had a mid-air last night with another trike

Surely you meant at twilight/sunset/nightfall/sundown/dusk, not night?

[DarkHelmet]

Last night = after sunset, apologies - It was dusk - at about 17:40, 2 minutes after sunset.

I refer to morning and evening flights and I like to be rolling at 10 minutes before sunrise and like to be on the ground 5 minutes after sunset.

[Junkie]

..sfunny ya should say that... same thing could have transpired this duskiness (a time within 15min of sunset) at Morningstar, if it had not been for the ol' lights on the trusty trike - darned hard to see a trike at that time

Got a pair of small spotlights (any spares shop) mounted under the pod and good to light up the ground ahead of you on short final from about 20' up - they make great lights to be seen by others, but dont rely on them as landing lights if you accidently find yourself having to land in the dark

It like the Dam busters movie - too high and you see zilch, lower and all you see is spot(s), lower stil and the lights loose their reach / effectiveness.

Anyone tried one mounted on the nose of the wing, pointed down?

[kb]

Got a small light on the front, like the one's that the guys put on their dropped-suspension-with-go-faster-stripes type cars, mounted above (duh) the nosewheel, and it's always on. you'll be amazed that other ppl do actually see it. but remember the angle at which your trike sits when flying, so when on the ground, aim it down a little.
Know someone that has 2 hella 500's on the front, and one under the seat facing down, he does sometimes get home a little late.

[Cloud Warrior]

I have a strobe at the back and a PIAA driving light for a landing light on the front. Everybody at Saldanha always used to comment on how effective the strobe was - when I switched it on they spotted me immediately. Don't know what the make is but it is one of the self contained types. Looks similar to the one sold by Eagle.

I replaced the original landing light that came with the trike as it was crap quality. Did a bit of searching around until I found the right replacement - looked at Hella and PIAA. Had to buy online from UK as nobody stocks the specific models in SA and nobody was willing to make the effort to order it for me.