Night Flying anyone?

[Tony]

I have been wanting to try night flying for a while but didn't really have any planes that I thought were suitable or that I was willing to risk to try something new. Last week I was at my LHS and came across a GWS Slowsitck NPS (No Power System) for $28. After talking it over with one of the guys at the shop I took it home figuring that for $28 it wouldn't kill me if I burned it in. Everything else needed to put it together I already had at home including a set of Tiny Brite lights LEDs. First thing I did was to take all the dihedral out of the wings and cut in the ailerons to make it a little more maneuverable. Friday afternoon I installed the rest of the electronics and wired up the LEDs. Just before sunset I took it to a field down the street from my house and got it all trimmed in and flying like I wanted and waited for dark.

I gotta say, it is not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. As a matter of fact it was surprisingly easy to track and keep orientation. I need to add a few more lights to the back of the wings because the plane all but disappears when going away from you at lower altitudes, especially in the turn.

The field I was flying in is right beside a church and they had some kind of function going on. By the time I was finished flying (4 packs worth) I had drawn quite a crowd. All in all I had a great time. Flew it again Saturday night and hope to again tonight...if the rain and wind will stop.

Here is a quick video of my first night flyer shot in my MAN CAVE (24x24 shop behind my house) ;D No flying though just showing the lights.

[19000rpm]

I've been reluctant to fly at night too for the same reasons. It looks like you've found a great solution to cut your teeth on. Maybe I'll do the same.

[akent]

How awesome is that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tony, you are bringing a whole new level to all of this, that I never knew existed.
I love it!
Thanks!
Kent

[Solitaire]

That's cool, Tony.
Way, way above my skill level.

[Tony]

Thanks Sol, Kent, and 19K. I would say that if you can fly in the light you can fly in the dark. It is really not any different...well...okay, maybe it is a little different, but not much. I had built it up in my mind that it was going so hard to do, and then I actually did it. It was really so easy that I felt a little silly for being so nervous about it.


I added some glow wire to the leading edges and moved the red and green LEDs to the trailing edges tonight. Now you can see it very well from most any angle. I shot another little video showing the glow wire but for some reason I can't get it to load on Youtube. I'll try again tomorrow. Also going to try and get some flight video this weekend.

[Tony]

Decided to try one more time before I hit the sack and it worked this time.

So, here ya go...

[fireguzzi]

Yes sir, I like it. I like it a lot.
Where did you get that glowey wire stuff from?

[dubehigh]

www.xerogear.com/ this some of the best stuff out there from what i heve read.

[Tony]

I got my glow wire and LEDs at my LHS, but that xerogear looks really nice too.

The wire I got is the Electrifly Flylites from Great Planes. The LEDs are Tiny Brite Lights.

[Tony]

Here is a little flight video of my Slowstick at the fly in I went to this weekend.

[Solitaire]

Excellent vid, Tony.
And your choice of music was absolutely bang on.

[19000rpm]

Neat.

[akent]

UFO's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's really awesome!

[Tony]

Thanks guys. Just a few minutes before this was filmed there were 3 other slowsticks and a PZ T-28 with night lights flying and it was a blast. Not really sure how but everyone made it out in one piece.

Mar 29, 2010 20:31:11 GMT -6 akent said:

UFO's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL!

It's funny you say that. The first night that I flew it after I added the glow wire I was at the field beside the church again. There is a fairly wide tree line and some houses between the road and the field. Every time I would get high enough for the plane to be seen from the road I could here cars slowing waaay down out on the road. One car even stopped and was shinning a spot light around for a minute.

My wife loves crime/detective shows and we have a police scanner in the house. When I got home from flying she said that just before I walked in she had heard on the scanner that there had been a report of "strange lights" in the area of the church.

[fireguzzi]

Thats really neat. just adds another level to the hobby for us to enjoy. That was a really funny story too.