Good flashlight for night flying

tawood

tawood

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Tim
I seem to do a large amount of night flying...at least, that's what other people tell me (my last flight review, the CFI looked at my log book, whistled, and said, "Man! You fly a lot at night!"). I've tried different flashlights, some which have worked alright, and some not. About a year ago, I found a cheap little flashlight that is the bomb!
Its just a $10 cap light, but I like this thing so much, I bought 4 more of them, just to be sure I'll always have one if they stop making them. What I really like about it, is that it has a single button that if you click once, it first provides red light. If you immediately click again, it provides bright white light. But, if you pause a few seconds, then click the button again, it shuts off. I've had flashlights in the past that ALWAYS cycle through red then white, and it ruins your night vision. This one won't do that.
Being that this flashlight is considered a "cap light", it has a small clip which clips perfectly on my sun visor, or on my headset. Its LED, so after a year of repeated use, I have yet to replace the two AAA batteries. Also, I have to say that its nice to find something that works so well, that also doesn't break the bank.

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Nice! I like the kind that you’d use for spelunking with the strap that has a soft red light.

Similar to these:
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I have a couple of cap lights similar to yours that I got at Gander Mountain. I also have a red/white headlamp. Both are useful for walkarounds and in flight. The nice thing about these is that the red light is quite good and points where you are looking. They will illuminate the panel quite nicely and are good insurance for one or more of the brow light bulbs going kaput. The lamps with lithium batteries will go a long time and store well.
 
I had a coupl'a bucks left over on an amazon gift card so I just ordered a couple. I was on the fence, but I opted NOT to go with the additional expert installation they so kindly offered me:

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I also have the head strap red led light and have always really liked those. hands free and whatnot.
 
Gosh darn it, y’all have influenced me to go night flying!

Wednesday night it is! :)
 
As a non-pilot, this is becoming one of my favorite threads! :)

I bought a mini-flashlight at a big-box huntin' an' fishin' store a few years ago. It has been used extensively while right-seat in a '172 and an Arrow. The switching mechanism is squirrelly now, and flips from red to green to white strobe without warning. Not good in a dark cockpit!

Just a few days ago, I bought one of the headlamp versions on impulse. I haven't used it while flying yet . . .

I'm a firm believer in never having too many flashlights, so I'm looking forward to more options from this thread.
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I like a small one I can hold in my mouth, harbor freight gives them away.
 
teejayevans said:
I like a small one I can hold in my mouth, harbor freight gives them away.
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I do too. I don't care for the head-strap ones...I put on/take off my headset too much during flight...my Cherokee is quiet enough that I do about 75% of my flying sans-headset.
 
tawood said:
I do too. I don't care for the head-strap ones...I put on/take off my headset too much during flight...my Cherokee is quiet enough that I do about 75% of my flying sans-headset.
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How do you hear atc then? lol


I always have a flashlight in the pocket in the footwell, and use a headlamp when flying at night. Put the headphones over the strap.
 
Personally I like blue light in the cockpit at night.

If I could find a strap on light that is blue I might try it.
 
kc4wsd said:
Do they make that in a pocket version?
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Nowadays they actually do. Or close enough.

Not too useful in a cockpit unless you want to completely trash your night vision though.

I’m pretty partial to a Petzl headlamp my sister got me as a Christmas present. By far the most useful thing I’ve received for a present in years.

It’s their higher end line that has a light sensor in it and adjusts output based on reflectivity. Using it at home at night it’ll light up objects at the edge of 2 acres away. For airplane use it automatically dims way down. Also has a red LED mode for the cockpit.

They’re marketed to runners and bikers and outdoorsy types and Petzl hasn’t ever figured out to do aviation marketing. A bit pricey. The lowest model they currently have (mine isn’t available anymore) that has the light sensor feature is about $80.

I keep a cheap $10 big box hardware store AAA battery one in the plane as backup to the rechargeable Petzl but have never had the Petzl die in flight even when it wasn’t fully charged.
 
I have one of these. I like it because it only uses a single AA (in a pinch, I can pull a headset battery or vice versa). It's small enough that it doesn't interfere with much when it's strapped to my wrist and in a pinch I can clip it to a baseball cap for use as a headlight. And with the multiple lenses I can use red for cockpit lighting, green for map reading and white for pre/post-flight. I haven't quite figured out a use for blue, though.

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I use a red/white LED lamp with a headstrap, that I've had for nearly 10 years now. I don't understand the OP's comment about a headstrap getting in the way of taking a headset off and on repeatedly. The headset goes over the headstrap, as someone said. I've even been known to wear the headlamp, a hood, and a headset, donned in that order, for shooting practice approaches at night with an instructor or safety pilot.
 
azure said:
I use a red/white LED lamp with a headstrap, that I've had for nearly 10 years now. I don't understand the OP's comment about a headstrap getting in the way of taking a headset off and on repeatedly. The headset goes over the headstrap, as someone said. I've even been known to wear the headlamp, a hood, and a headset, donned in that order, for shooting practice approaches at night with an instructor or safety pilot.
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It doesn't really get in the way...I remove the headset, because I don't always like things on my head...same for the flashlight I guess.
 
Blue is useful for NVG, and supposedly good for tracking blood trails.
 
I have a headlamp with a left-white-right-red switch that I use for working on the plane. Don't do much night flying though.
 
A few years ago I finally gave up on "cheap" flashlights. I've now got a good Anker rechargable handheld flashlight (https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Tactical-Flashlight-Rechargeable-Water-Resistant/dp/B01KH2JP5G) and a nice Black Diamond headlamp that has a red light function (https://www.blackdiamondequipment.c.../spot-BD620634_cfg.html#cgid=lighting&start=7). Both work great, and they're very bright (good for preflights and maintenance). Neither are "break the bank" expensive, but they're not the cheap Harbor Freight crap that I can't always count on working.
 
No offense, but there is no way you can wear a headlamp without looking like a geek. Thought you wanna know.
 
teejayevans said:
No offense, but there is no way you can wear a headlamp without looking like a geek. Thought you wanna know.
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there's a definite geek factor that can be tough to explain to first time pax but the benefits of the hands-free, 'shine where you're looking' capabilities far outweighs any geekiness, in my book.
 
As an astrogeek, I have a variety of red/white light combos. Heck, the little woman and I both keep one on our nightstands, for those middle-of-the-night runs to the bathroom. All that I have are selectable for white or red. I also have some that cycle through colors, those never get used!
 
Kenny Phillips said:
As an astrogeek, I have a variety of red/white light combos. Heck, the little woman and I both keep one on our nightstands, for those middle-of-the-night runs to the bathroom. All that I have are selectable for white or red. I also have some that cycle through colors, those never get used!
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That's what happens to my "failed flying" flashlights: I use them for astronomy. Right now I'm using a mini-mag light, with both the diffused and the red lens installed together.
 
eman1200 said:
there's a definite geek factor that can be tough to explain to first time pax but the benefits of the hands-free, 'shine where you're looking' capabilities far outweighs any geekiness, in my book.
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Or you can use a short stubby flashlight, hold it in your mouth like a cigar, and look like you mean business while still shining it where you want without constantly turning your head:

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Or you can be like this guy:
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teejayevans said:
No offense, but there is no way you can wear a headlamp without looking like a geek. Thought you wanna know.
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I agree. But it's highly functional, and I don't care what others think, and the few folks who fly with me at night don't care what I look like either.
 
Just be careful as some flashlight combinations have a helpful magnet built into them so they can be stuck in anything steel. They will totally mess up the compass readings and probably even the compass correction card.
 
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