I just heard it again today. “Your lights are so bright your plane is lit like a Christmas Tree!” A few weeks ago, a pilot friend texted me and said, “Hey, what lights do you have on your Beaver? Dang, they show up great!” I love it! And I don’t love it like, “Wow, look at how cool looking my plane is!” I love it like, “Wow, these babies could really save your life!” You’re probably thinking, “What are you talking about?”
OK, Alaska has some marginal weather, and we fly out there in it regularly, or we wouldn’t fly much up here. Also, as I mentioned in another blog about ADS-B, we frequently fly near other planes because we want to see the same cool places in Alaska for bear tours, Denali tours, etc. So when you put a bunch of airplanes in the same area in challenging weather conditions, it’s really good to be seen!
Enter technology. I can’t think of many areas where technology has made such a leap in recent years as it has in lighting. LED lights are everywhere, and they are truly a genius advancement. Super bright, long-lasting, more power efficient, and lighter weight, LEDs are all the rage in auto light, home lighting, flashlight, spotlights, and, yes, aircraft lights! Perfect for flightseeing Alaska!
For those airplane geeks out there who might be interested, my light array includes the following;
- Whelen Parmetheus landing lights on each wing (I added the second one on the starboard wing this year) are controlled by a Maxpulse Landing Light Controller/Pulser (for a variety of wigwag pulse speed options).
- Whelen Orion 650 position and anti-collision strobes
- AeroLED’s Sunbeacon II for the beacon light
- AeroLED’s Liner Suntail as the tail strobe
All this makes for a dizzying display of flashing and strobing that gets your attention. But, of course, when it’s dark out, you can’t look at it without averting your gaze. Heck, even when it’s not dark, for that matter.
The FAA refers to some of these lights specifically as “Anti-collision Lights” for a reason. The theory is that you won’t run into each other if you see each other. It seemed like sound reasoning, so I took it to the extreme and got the best and brightest lights possible. I’m proud of this Alaska Air Transporter’s whole project, and I feel like the time, effort, and money (yes, it was thousands of dollars because they’re made for airplanes) was worth it because, after all, when exploring Alaska by air, it’s good to be seen out there!
