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prkaye

Well Known Member
I did my first night-flight lesson last night. The Diamond Katana has a "landing light", but also has a "taxi light". The taxi light was essential to keep track of the centerline during taxi (although I wish the light had been much brighter).
I thought of putting the Duckworks landing lights in my leading edges of my -9A. Question, what about taxi lights? Will the Duckwork landing lights serve both purposes?
 
HI Phil,, when were you up? I was working the last 3 nights. As for the duckworths,, I ordered 2, one for landing and one for taxing,, its just a matter of adjusting.

M
 
Between about 5:45 and 7:30. We did a touch&go at Carp. MAN IT WAS COLD!!! Minus 32 Celcius or something ridiculous. I think OAT was minus 38 at 3,000 ft. Katana cabin heat isn't made for that!
How do you find your RV cabin heat in these conditions? Did you do anything special for this when you built?
 
I don't have a completed RV,, Mark and John in carp have them. I have the qb in orleans. I was working tower during those times,,, which katana did you take out?
 
Sorry, why do I keep confusing you with Mark Richardson??
You're ATC?
I was in GDIB. At around 7pm we got stuck orbiting for a good 10 minutes waiting for clearance on 32 (we were number 5 behind a bunch of larger traffic).
 
In an "A" model RV, a Duckworks light setup or two will illuminate the centerline just fine. In my taildragger RV, I have one Duckworks light set up for tail-down and the other one set up for tail-up.

Can't speak to how well the wing tip landing lights do in terms of centerline lighting...I've been told not so well. Pretty sure there have been at least two threads about this in the past on VAF.
 
Yup,,, watched you orbit,,, I was working ground control,,, the reason you had to orbit was an IFR twit going to buttonville, taxied onto an active runway. (32 @ C) after being told to holdshort. The fella was kinda loopy,,, I had to give him taxi instruction 3 times, then had to remind him to readback the hold short. So,, because of him, lots of delays for the commercial guys, and we couldn't fit a light into the pattern. Anyway,, he'll be getting a call from Transport.. silly bugger.

You did great, btw I was the one that suggested to tower to land you on 7,, how did you like the x-wind?

Been ATC there almost 5 years (in October) we had a great day yesterday. 515 movements... not Atlanta,, but good for YOW in the winter time.

M
 
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Wingtip Taxi

I have the little 75W halogen taxi lights in the tips in my -9A and they light up the CL and sides just fine (mostly used wig wag). I have a Duckworks with a homebrew HID conversion for landing and with that on, everything lights up just fine.
 
how did you like the x-wind?
Click to expand...

Let me tell you, after last night's flight I wasn't so sure if I like this whole night flying business. If you saw my landing, you probably noticed I flared quite high. Did that on every landing last night... apparently commone when first learning night flying.

What really gets me nervous is the idea of an engine failure on a dark overcast night. Away from the city, I couldn't see a thing on the ground. How would i know if the dark patch I pick for force landing is a nice smooth field, or a forest??? During the day I'm never too worried about engine failures with so many fields around, but at night it seems to be a whole different ballgame!
 
prkaye said:
What really gets me nervous is the idea of an engine failure on a dark overcast night. Away from the city, I couldn't see a thing on the ground. How would i know if the dark patch I pick for force landing is a nice smooth field, or a forest??? During the day I'm never too worried about engine failures with so many fields around, but at night it seems to be a whole different ballgame!
Click to expand...
That is why a lot of the old flyers I hang around with refuse to fly at night. They tell me that if birds refuse to fly at night there must be something to waiting until daylight to do their flying. most birds I am aware of have excellent vision (there are some that even have excellent night vision, those owls come to mind) but never the less most will not fly in the dark unless forced to do so.
 
Midnight (Moon) Rider

Night flying can be beautiful, calm and a side of flying that should be experienced. Just select your nights carefully and go with the big Moon above the horizon.
 
A flight instructor once gave me the following instructions for an engine out at night.

Pitch for best glide
Spiral down to the darkest spot you see
At 500 feet AGL, turn on your landing light
If you don't like what you see, turn off your landing light.
 
As with anything, lots of opinions. I personally like to fly at night only when the moon is full and the stars are out. I fly for fun, not for a living. The other great reason to have your night rating Phil, is for that one or 3 (or many) times you come back from a x-country or the PA and you're 5 minutes over official night, you can land and know you won't be infracted.

M
 
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