Love my D Cell rechargeable Maglite. At least 30 years old and still works as an amazing light AND protection when going out to investigate “goings on” at night.
( Actually, only 10 years old. The switch went faulty after 20, contacted Maglite, brand new one arrived a couple of days later. Proper service.)
Standard port/starboard at the correct angle (ie you can see both or only one or in fact none) combined with a beacon allow far great orientation over larger distances. That’s literally why the system exists.
If you see just a red blurry blob you know which way its facing. A green blurry blob the same. No blobs also tell you the same.
Much better than pointless flashing green LEDs on all sides on the current setup which tell you nothing except “its in the sky”.
And all addons add weight, add drag, reduce performance and battery life and adversely affect handling in wind and so on. Avoiding if at all possible is a good option. Even more of an issue on the <250g drones where the issue of orientation is more of a problem.
I completely agree. On a Boeing 737 with a wingspan of +35m. Not on a <250g with a span of 6".
As above, send that 6" wide toy drone up to 80m and put it 50m away from you. At that angle and that distance you’re not seeing anything but a single coloured blob. I’m not winding you up, please, try it
If we’re talking about your typical strobon type leds then absolutely not.
There is no possible way a 4g piece of plastic stuck on a <249g drone will add drag, affect performance or reduce the battery life in any measurable way. The software based GPS speed restrictions will kick in long before the drag of adding something 5mm in height would would factor in to it.
Im assuming you have no idea how nav lights work?
If you can differentiate the colour (even 1) then you know the orientation. Thats the whole idea.
A red blob tells you all you need to know, so does a green blob, so does no blob just a flashing beacon.
All of these, with no modifications would allow orientation to be judged further than the current setup which already has the LEDs but arent of the correct colour and angle.
And software based GPS kicking in still doesnt mean an effect on the battery from extra weight.
A single strobe also isnt going to help determine orientation.
Which is great - providing that six inch wide drone is only 10m above your head.
But:
Agreed, but I don’t think anyone was ever going to suggest that.
Anyway, I’m going to duck out of this one now as I can’t think of any other way to express that the human eye simply cannot separate a red light and a green light when they’re only six inches apart and 80m away.
Why do you think a human eye needs to separate red light from green light in order for correctly angled and coloured navigation lights to work?
That really isnt how the system is designed.
It’s a pity the mini 3Pro only has green lights at the front, (port and starboard ) whilst in the air. Then if you try and video at night, it turns the buggers off
Just to add a bit more misery, Autel Evo II, 2.1.2 Flight LED Indicators
An LED indicator is located on the end of each aircraft arm. The front LEDs will light up solid red to help you identify the direction of the aircraft’s nose. The rear LEDs will display the current flight status of the aircraft. The chart below shows the meaning of each status indicator.
RGY - Alternate Flashing
System self-test is activated YG - Alternate Flashing
The aircraft is warming up G - Slow Flashing
The aircraft is in GPS mode, ready to fly… and whilst flying, easy to see, very bright to at least 200m especially at night… BUT you are now not allowed to use or rely on them, I have asked AUTEL for a price of a new model without any safety features as now required in the UK… still waiting for a reply… Cheers
They wont, that’s what the CAA and more, likely the DfT are hoping for, everyone seems very casual about this subject as they dont really grasp the full implications, all controllers with a Display, Telemetry, GPS, Camera etc, cannot be relied on anymore to see where your drone is or what it is doing,
> you have to be able to see it with your eyes, and its orientation…
so all of those safety features are now superfluous, so there will be two things, it will make drones in the UK much cheaper as the controller will be very basic as will be the drone itself, or and more likely the hobby will gradually disappear under this new regulation, no matter how many people say they will just carry on, fine but eventually there will be so many people caught as the regulations will soon be imposed more rigorously, wait and see !! the end is neigh, but I’ll just carry on ha-ha… Cheers, Lets hope the CAA read this and think again… still waiting to hear back from AUTEL…
Sadly you cant rely on them anymore, fine to see but, and I agree it is a big but obviously, if something went wrong and you said you were relying on two powerful led lights, they would / will do you now… and this applies to daylight use as well dont forget…
It won’t change the way I’ve been flying for the last 10 to 15 years, either VLOS or FPV. If the powers that be can prove their case with irrefutable evidence then I’m all ears. Other than the obvious, such as don’t enter NFZ’s, respect other peoples boundaries, properties, and personal space, there’s no need for any further overreach. Recreational drone flying and FPV was a thing long before the alleged Gatwick incident and the subsequent changes and enforcements, and nobody died.
Yes, recreational drone technology has advanced significantly and made it accessible to almost anyone. But with its advancement it has become more reliable and safer so logically regulation should be relaxed, not increased. Mandatory registration has not increased safety one iota, if anything it is a hindrance to all concerned parties.
So that must be applicable to all ILS fitted to aircraft, so unless the pilot can see exactly were his aircraft is, using just his eyes, he is also breaking regulations. . .