FlexPro Adds Lightn’n Rods To Their N-Vison Line
Oregon City based FlexPro is moving full steam ahead in the night flying department with a new addition to their N-Vison line of night flying accessories. The “Lightn’n Rods” use LED technology to broadcast a brilliant 180° range of light which is very visible and vibrant without being harsh on the eye. Available in a variety of colors, the Lightn’n Rods cast a glow superior to the best chemical glow sticks, yet do not impair the viewer’s vision like an LED can when viewed directly from certain angles. Combined with the FlexPro N-Vison lit tail fins, heli night flyers now have another option to light their bird for night without using glow wire.
Project: TREX 600 Electric Night Flyer
I have had a TREX 600 electric dedicated to night flying for some time, and when the chance came up to test the Lightn’n Rods I immediately set about tearing off the glow wire the model had been set up with. Glow wire works reasonably well, although it does not produce a vibrant light, but more of a dull glow. I used FlexPros own mounting clips and set about placing the Lightn’n Rods around the canopy so the wires were easily routed. In the areas I had to make a slight bend, I was able to heat the clear side of the rod until the material was pliable, and then bend it to the desired shape. I used 10 Lightn’n Rods on the canopy, two on the fuselage, two on the boom, and two prototype 600 sized landing gear Lightn’n Rods. The rods all come with their own lead and individual connectors. First install the lights, then cut the wires to length and add the JST connector. I chose to wire all of my canopy lights in parallel onto one lead. FlexPro also offers a power bus for powering all the lights and can be fed with 5-13 volts. The bus can be plugged into either an extra channel on the receiver, an extra battery, or in parallel on the main pack. I chose to use the deans jumper version of the power bus, and plugged it in between my receiver battery and regulator. I attached the power bus to the side of the fuse with zip ties and proceeded to cut the wires to length and add the connectors.
With the wires all plugged in and everything lit up, I did a range check on the ground first before flying. No glitches were noted then or since. After bringing the heli into a hover to check the blade tracking, I put the system through the ringer! I was very happy with the visibility of the lights, and happier yet that they weren’t too bright. I have been less than impressed with other systems that shine the LED’s directly outward, I find them very hard on my eyes and they confuse my orientation. The Lightn’n Rods showed up with intensity, and painted a bright patch of colors across my time-delay pictures of the flying, without hurting my eyes. I have flown a lot of models at night, and this model exemplifies some important ideas in night flying. In my experience, people often try to add lights to their model which point outward. Imagine a bicyclist riding down the street at night with a single headlight. The rider may see the road, but drivers won’t see much of the bicyclist. It is very hard for the driver to judge the distance, direction or speed of the bicycle in these conditions. If you light up that bike however, it is much easier to see what is going on and avoid a collision. Models are similar, if you add a light to the model pointed outward, it is very hard to orient yourself to the model, and the focused beam of light is too bright from some angles while not being bright enough from most other angles. Glow wire works well because it is a dull glow, but is not bright enough to be clearly visible next to the vibrant disk of light the night blades put out. The FlexPro Lightn’n Rods offer all the brilliance to be easily seen, but none of the too-bright syndrome which plagues other LED based night setups.
Check out FlexPro’s website for more information
www.flexyourrex.com
