Night Launch Gallery & Information

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With JAL3's permission I'm Hoping this Gallery can be used two fold:

A: As a photos Gallery of lots of really Cool Night flying Vehicles, with Detailed looks at their individual Lighting Payloads.

B: Be a place to share Night launch Hints, Tips, Cautions, club advisories, and some common sense rules for making Model Rocket, LPR & MPR launches up to 1500grams (3.3lbs) Safe for both the model flyer and most important the General Aviation Community (small aircraft) we share the skys with.

Please keep in mind most of the night launch rules (or suggested rules) are not intended to protect the night flying model rocket or it's owner but to help protect the General Flying Aviation pilot who may not be expecting to see a Rocket launch in his airspace:)

First I'd like to share a couple things I and the club I fly with (NARHAMS) have learned and helped the FAA with since my first introduction to Night Flights in the fall of 1989. Back then it was expressly forbidden for any rocket flight to take place between sundown and Sunraise.

A full Waiver was required for any mod-roc regardless of size or liftoff mass.
I'm very happy to say with the work done and ALL the sanctioned & Waivered launched logged since then the FAA in it's wisdom has combined LPR & MPR into a single group any model rocket under 1500grams with a propellant mass under 125g. can fly without FAA involvment anytime DAY OR NIGHT.
That said they would still like to have our models Illuminated from Liftoff to touchdown.
What that means is we cannot depend of the exhaust from our motors to illuminate the model.

Further over time and experience our club as adopted a few basic Night Launch rules that may help guide others New to the night flying activity.

Most important amoung them is to limit the use of Cylume Sticks (Glo-Sticks) to B Class motor models and below. Even todays High output cylume leave much to be desired on high flying C and above impulse motor models.

In the beginning FAA required our C thrust and above (1lb to 3.3lbs) to have a continuous light source of a minimum of 2000mcd @ 2000feet visibility. Even with the changes we've stuck with these minimums as they have proven to ensure safe visibility of in all night sky conditions.

Over time we have also discovered that blinking type LED, STROBE or incandescent light sources SHOULD BE enhanced by the use of a contstant ON lamp as will. As the model drift between flashes can be enough to cause a lost track in the night sky.

*Below is a one page rules page in jpg format (sorry the pdf was to big to post) that may be helpful.

*The second document is a 1st day flight requirement pdf.
We have also found it to be critical to first fly our Night flight vehicles in "ALL UP" working lighted mode during the daytime to make certain the model is safe and stable in flight. this also gives the Range crew and owner a better Idea of expected altitude and drift of the model. Both Really good things to know after the sun goes down.

That's it for now! Please keep in mind this information is BASICLY for new LPR, MPR Night vehicle flying as anything beyond 3.3lbs still requires a full FAA waiver.
Hopefully these couple pic will spark some interest.

CheckIn-NightLaunch-4-Regs-curves_Night launch Rules & Regs.jpg

View attachment CheckIn-NightLaunch-3_First Day Flight Requirement Sign.pdf
 
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In the beginning..There was darkness and we needed Light! and with a little work, a couple batteries and either incandescent, strobe or LED's...There was Light.

These were some of the first crude dim but passable Lighting set-up devised for use in existing standard "KIT" type Payload sections. Specifically the Standard Nova Payloader, Hercules, and Icarus BT-50 clear Payload sections.

A bit later we started custom designing arrays to fit some of the other payload bays as with the Warp-II BT-60 clear payload bay and White styrene NC & Transition.

* A hint for those first kit retrofits for night flying: Just about any thin styrene plastic nose cone and/or Transitions in RED, YELLOW Orange or White will light up very well with a single bulb or LED located in the shoulder. It is even possible to change the color of the Nosecone with a different color lamp. (See last photo below)

These days almost all the AAAA, AAA, AA & 9volt battery systems have been replaced with single or double 3V Lithium coin cell battery packs to GREATLY reduce battery weight without loss of too much burn time.
Some larger HPR Strobe and 350ma LED systems still use larger battery packs due to the heavy current draw.
For All but the largest current draining arrays most LPR & MPR models can use the lighter Coin Cells or very NEW Energizer e2 AAA lithium battery or packs saving a lot of unnecessary mass.

Edit: as a side Note: The 13mm motor X-Ray kit & it's BT-20 size clear Payload bay & NC setup below in photo two have recently been reworked replacing the 6.4mcd leds in the payload bay with newer 2000 mcd Red,Orange & Yellow LEDs using the same 10mm CR-1025 3volt Lithium coin cell and custom holder.

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In the previous couple posts we've mentioned Incandescent bulbs, Strobes and LED's. Are their other NITE (Night Illumination Tracking Equipment) sources that can be used? ABSOLUTELY!!!! Lets talk about and list the major players.

Low Thrust Vehicles: (1/8A - B motors)
*UV activated glow-in-the-DARK powders, paints & stickers. Generally these can only be used as Secondary or accent sources I'll explain in greater detail shortly.

*Cylume Sticks (Glo-Sticks) Chemical break & shake lights.
For first time Night flying with no more then B motors, Limiting the flights to a couple hundred feet Glo-sticks can be used as a sole source Illumination as long as it or they can be seen during the entire flight. Some of the tiny 1" and 1-1/2" fishing lure Cylumes are Great if added to Gliders and Helipcopter rotors as well as in tiny micro-maxx clear payload bays.

* Electroluminescent Wire & Panels:
Generally these Illuminators require a fairly large and heavy battery pack and Driver package along with the glow wire or flat panel itself. I've seen both used on slightly larger models in the D12, clustered or Mid power AP motor catagories. Pretty KEWL stuff, also rather expensive.

Flashlight incandescent or small bulb lamps:
Since most are white light they really should be used in colored payload sections or Nosecones to preserve folks "Night Vision" on the field as much as possible. The major drawback to these type bulbs and lamps is they are quite breakable. Filiments of tungsten are pretty brittle, subjecting them to the vibration and shocks takeoff, ejection and landing has proven time and again these type bulbs are "Iffy" at best for night flying.

* Strobe lamps & flourescent tubes:
Over the last couple decades we've seen many excellant examples of these very high brightness fixtures in Model and HPR version night lighting. While the Strobe is a Very KEWL blinking beacon, they like the incandescent lamps contain contacts and filiments that are at best somewhat fragile. Same for flourescent tubes, blacklight or standard phosphor they also contain filiments subject to vibration breakage. Many make excellant secondary light sources but if used should be backed up with at least a second source. I've seen a 150 dollar model lost less the 50 yards from the launcher because of a broken Strobe tube. I've seen other Strongly flashing strobe models lost in the sky between blinks because a steady burn light of some sort wasn't added to the strobe payload package. Winds aloft may be higher then you think.

* LED's - Light emitting Diodes:
For my money these are the best overall value and "Bang for the Buck" of all the other light sources with the possible exception of the Cylume Stick for very low power flying. LED's are now available in a number of size (3,5,&10mm diameters)and any number of light level outputs from 6.3mcd to more then 5watts. Most in the 1200 to 10,000 mcd range are less then .50 each. Add a few inexpensive resistors and battery with holder you have a small package to light up the night:) On-line how-to's and circuit calculators make designing your system pretty easy for the first time tinkerer to electronic wiz. a very easy to use and helpful calcaluator can be found https://led.linear1.org/led.wiz which with basic specs from your leds you can design just about any led array you'd like to build.

**A bit more info about Glo-Powders and Glo-in-the-Dark products:
Many fun to play with Glo-in-the-dark products are easily available for the dollar stores and discount toy stores everywhere. While many claim long glow times after exposure to "any light source" these are all based on the product being in "total darkness INDOORS". I've been playing with glo-powders,paints & castings for almost as long as i've been flying Night launches... Most of these experiments have been expensive, time consuming and totally fruitless. The main reason is All of these products loose their "high charge" within the first minute after removal from a strong UV source. Outdoors even ambient STAR LIGHT of a moonless night is enough to cancel out nearly all the "glow" for the best of these products. There is another major reason in that our eyes adjust to the total darkness indoors and register the super weak after-glo from these Glo products as can be seen in emergency egress "wayfinding" markers in newer buildings these days which is where I first got involved with fluroluminenent products through my job in the sign industry. Long and sort of it is unless you are including an on-board UV continous light source with the glo-product don't expect it or them to be seen from any distance over a couple feet outdoors.
Below are a couple photos of some of the Glo-powered experiments done in the past. My conclusion is that I may add Glo products to my LED Illuminated night models as secondary accent lighting as long as I'm adding a UV LED or two to the array:) an example of this can be seen in the bright spots on the lower right and left of the 2-Stage UFO since the snitch was cast in "Glo-ble" plastic;)
Hope these comments help a little.

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While I'm adding component pictures and parts I thought I'd add just a Night Launch Vehicle or two hopefully to spark some interest in building your own.

Nothing really special about these models, they are all standard size 18mm motor mount models most with BT-50 clear Payload sections. The last two have currently available Red Transparent payload sections by Quest. Skybird is a Quest model. Do remember just about any unpainted, light color styrene nose cone will light up wonderfully with only a little LED or glow. Red, Pink,Yellow and of coarse White are all candidates for illumination. Stick a flashlight on the base and see what happens.

All 5 can swap just about any of the small LED payloads in the b&w photo previously posted. Very little extra packing is needed beyond a cotton ball above and below the LIGHTING unit. It's always a good idea to add a line of masking or other tape around the nosecone-payload bay joint to prevent a hard ejection charge popping the cone and Lighted payload out. Doesn't happen often but often enough I warn folks to do this even if the Light source is just a Glo-Stick:)

I'm gathering photos of Dollar store finds that are instant Night launch illuminators, some picked up in drug store clearance tables, others special ordered light-up novelties. Generally these little "goodies" run on 2 or 3 (3.0 to 4.5volts) small hearing aid size 1.5v coin cells a little cheaper to buy but add more weight then a single 3v Lithium cell. Most also have some sort of Magnet or magnetic clip-on device that can easily be eliminated to reduce some of the bulk.. Soon as I can I'll upload the photos of some of these items. also some interesting but a little more complicated Fibre Optic, Electorluminescent Wire & Ribbons, Personal Strobe, and more LED stuff to help light up the night;)

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One of my favorite Night flying models was/is a 4- D12 Clustered 3+X Upscale Nova Payloader scratch built model. Orginally completed in June of 1997 using a PNC-80K (Phoenix) White styrene Nosecone and 12" piece of 2.55 OD, 2.606" OD Polyethylene Mailing tube payload section. loaded with 42 -(6- 7LED strings) 6.3mcd to 500mcd Radio shack various color leds and one 12,000mcd 10mm orange LED pointing up into the nose cone..at the time is seemed very nicely lit.
As the years and flights rolled by LED technology, color and brightness steadly increased until today the Ol'e Nova Payloader seemed dim. In April I decided it was time to rework the Payload Lighting system to hopefully extend it's useful Night Flying life. With 14 logged flights it is my most flown night vehicle. Followed closely by the Night Warp-II built in 1994 but not flown quite as often (12 logged fights).

I decided to document this rebuild in the hopes of showing the relative ease of converting most Payload Mod-Rocs or Upscale payloaders to Night flying models.
To begin I removed the entire payload section from the Upscale Nova Payloader body, stowing the 36" nylon hemi chute and body while the payload section rebuild went on.
First things first I removed the chrome Monokote tape used to hold the NC in place on the Mailing tube clear section. Pic uc01a shows the lighted section on with NC removed. Pic uc01b shows the 10mm 12,000mcd orange led pull out recessed nose plue.
Pic uc01c shows the Standard JT-80C heavy cardboard coupler used as model mounting shoulder as well as battery & switch Housing with added hinged bulkhead door. You can also see one of the 3 #4 pan head Sheet metal screws used to attach our clear mailing tube to the coupling.
Looking inside the Clear cover we can see the BT-50 support/wire tube and 14ply heavy cardstock centering rings covered with Chrome Monokote that help support 90lb fishing line web that hold the LED strings out close to the inside face of the mailing tube.
A close look at pic uc01d will show the twisted wire connections under the base ring using telephone 26ga solid copper wire.

All this internal structure and much of the wiring will be reused in the upcoming rebuild Adding new 5500mcd Red,Yellow,Blue & Green S-Flux 5mm LEDs in 6- 8led strings mounted on .030" lexan strips.
I decided to retain the 12,000mcd Orange steady burn Nosecone LED adding two 500mcd RGB flashing LEDs hoping it would brighten the NC.

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Taking out the retainer screws the 2.606" OD clear Polyethylene mailing tube cover easily slips off the BT-50/BT-80 ring and support structure. After a good soap and water bath and a rubbing with a bit of Plastic Polishing rouge the 14year old tube looks as good as new.
I had planned on replacing this tube but after a little attention replacement isn't necessary.

Uc01e shows the various LED/resistor strings mounted and resting on the Fishing line monofiliment.

Uco1f gives a close up look at the recessed nosecone LED plug with kevlar pullout string and forward wiring soldered connections.
I didn't take pictures of the rig after removing the old LED strings but did save the strings for future use as sort of before and after examples for use at an upcoming club Night vehicle build session.

Pic uc02a thru Uc02b2 are preparing the 6- 3/8" x 10" x .030" clear Polycarbonate S-Flux LED mounting strips used in this rebuild. I drew up these pre-spacing patterns in CorelDraw printing them on a sheet of light cardstock, cut into strips adding a line of double faced masking tape, centering the strips on the .030" polycarb strips before center punching and drilling the mounting holes for the LED packages.

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Once a 6 strips had patterns applied Uc03a and Uc03b show the Center punch process down each strip 4 per led.

Uc04a & Uc04b Give a look at using a dremel tool with #51 (.067") Drill bit to open 32 holes in each strip and removing the pattern sheet leaving a clean clear strip on which to mount our S-Flux square package 5mm leds.

in pic-Uc05a we begin the process of mounting LED's alternating colors down the strip. Becase Red & Yellow require under 3V they are grouped on one strip with 6v eating Blue & Green are added to the others will end up with 3 strings of each. Which will be alternated around facing out of the payload section.

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continuing Uc05b mounting leds to strips I found it easier to keep them straight by skipping a space working all 4 of each color at a time down the strips.
Uc05c shows the 1st of 6 strips with all 8 LED mounted ready for soldering on of the common wire and individual resistor & jumps. didn't take photos while doing the solders which takes two hand lol! nuf to say it takes a bit of time but all 6 strings and the 2 extra blinking NC additions were completed in one sitting on a Saturday (a little under an hour pre strip). All exposed payload section wiring was done with telephone 26ga solid copper wire to keep it as light and invisable as possible. wiring from the Battery holders is #18 stranded copper.
Uc06 shows the location of the two blinking RGB LED's set in the BT-50 Recess tube after rewiring and soldering.
Uc07 shows the Payload section with cover reinstalled two check the fit. Everything looked pretty good.
Uc08a shows the addition of the second dual 3V lithium coin cell holder powering all the over 3v blue and Green LED's.

Over time we've learned Switches are generally not required for Night flying vehicles as they are not powered up for that long and Switches are a Weak point that if not very carefully positioned and protected can be a failure point both in the air or on landing. " When in doubt Leave them out" ;)
I did however leave this miniture altered bat toggle in the system as it's been used on all 14 flights and hasn't failed the system yet. Rest assured the very first time it winks at liftoff or turns off on landing it's GONE.

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Again looking into the Battery compartment/couping you can see the recessed mounting lite-ply bulkhead and 3/16" Lite-Ply hinged door which fastened with a single #4 Pan head Type b (Pointless) stainless Sheet metal screw.
Uc08b shows the Battery holders sitting nearly side by side with plenty of space around the switch and extra wire.
Uc08c give a good view of the close,locked door and revised makings and completed Payload mass...at 225.1g (7.94oz) our rework only added 26grams to the payload.

Uc09a gives a first look at the overall completely reassembled payload/nosecone section with a 1" wide translucent yellow adhesive backed vinyl strip that should also light up rather then the previous opaque chrome silver tape strip. I'm hoping adds just a bit to the overall look.\
One more note about the white styrene nosecone, I was amazed at how yellow the styrene had turned over it's 14 years of very limited exposure to UV....that is about two days a year..sometimes 3 when the model was on display at outdoor airshows. it took about an hour of fairly hard sanding with 320 & 600girt sandpaper to remove the yellowing. followed by a good finessit-II rubbing then a couple coats of nu-finish polymer. Though seriously about giving it a coat of Krylon UV clear but decided to see how long it took for this old cone to again yellow just for S&G's.

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Here are the first views of the old illuminated (First Pic) and reworked Payload section (Uc09b, c1 & c2).
Haven't taken an overall photo of the model reassembled as that will have to wait until Sept. 24th.
I think it does make a great difference:) Blinking the Nosecone seems to help a bit once they get going.

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Ok, this is a cool thread...

Here's some pics of some stuff that's been done by me and guys in our club.
We usually hold a night launch toward the end of summer when the weather turns cooler but is still pretty settled... Everybody flying a night launch rocket flies it IN ITS FULL-UP NIGHT LAUNCH CONFIGURATION during daylight to ensure stability and get a feel for recovery. Of course usually the winds die down and/or change after dark, so it's not foolproof. Anyway, a few observations:
1) glow sticks are practically useless unless you COVER the rocket in them. The weight adds up quickly, so that means a bigger motor is necessary. The light output is quite low, ESPECIALLY at a distance and the glow sticks are not a particularly intense source of light, so they become virtually invisible in flight, under parachute, and laying on the ground. Mikus launched a Blue Ninja with about 6 glow sticks taped around the center of the rocket, and we never saw it after burnout-- and even after an hour's plus search on the ground, I never saw it (until three months later feeding cows found in laying there in HEAVY frost one morning by chance!)

2) flashing LED's and such are really neat looking and easiest to find on recovery.
3) a night rocket doesn't have to be terribly complicated-- Dave Montgomery's was just an Estes Hijax payloader with a blinking LED beer bottle lapel pin turned on and slid into the clear payload tube... neat flight and even with a long drift on recovery, it was visible from 30 feet away or so in the pasture because the LED was merrily blinking away, lighting up the surrounding grass for 5-10 feet in front of it.
4) directional light sources aren't as good as omnidirectional ones... had Dave's beer-pin Hijax landed "face down" on the ground, it would have been virtually impossible to find unless you were standing on it. A second light source 180 degrees out would have prevented this and improved visibility under chute (second beer pin inserted back to back with the first one).
5) LEDs such as "finger lights" and other such contraptions can light up a plastic nosecone with a cheery glow for a VERY nice effect. Some of the best flights we've seen have been from such rockets.
6) make sure that whatever 'finger light' or other such device you use, that the BATTERIES and SWITCHES will remain "turned on" or "in contact" during flight... lotsa gee forces have a habit of pulling slide switches mounted vertically toward the rear, which usually means TURNS IT OFF. Even small watch batteries can lose contact under the heavy gees of acceleration, and if the device is controlled by a single 'on-off' button using a latching relay or SCR or whatever that turns off if it loses power, even when the gee forces abate and the battery is pushed back up into contact, the light WILL STAY OFF (until the button is pushed). Same thing goes for buttons-- make sure they're mounted in such a way that the gee forces don't "push the button" (gee forces can pull "heavy" plastic push inserts against the switch or contacts with enough pressure to "push the button" under thrust) at liftoff or during flight! (We've seen several that this happened to). Shim batteries using balsa or cardstock to ensure they maintain contact throughout the flight (shims between/behind the battery contact spring coils-- of course you have to maintain contact of the spring with the battery!)
7) forget about glow-in-the-dark paint and other such stuff-- the light intensity is too low. In flight and in the air, and even on the ground after recovery, it's practically invisible. I came within a foot of running over a rocket painted with glow in the dark paint whose LED nose light had quit (see #6), and only saw it by pure chance.

8) it's good to have someone on recovery duty... since the club launches from my farm, I've spent at least an hour or two after everything winds down (usually around 9-10 pm) out looking for night launch rockets in the pastures after everybody left, usually on the golf cart. Actively illuminated rockets are easiest to find at night, but their power supply won't last 24 hours, so it's good to do any searches at night. Any that can't be found probably have a 50/50 chance of being found the next day, because they may have landed somewhere or in such a way that they're impossible to see at night but readily apparent in daytime. I've recovered several rockets after every night launch and usually end up storing them for awhile until they find their way back to their proper homes...

Hope these tips from experience help...

Here's the pics!

First I'll show you the pic and see if you can guess what it is...
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DSCF3093.jpg

Any luck??
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These are pics of Mikus's BABY BERTHA with an LED finger-light taped to the bottom of the nosecone in the moulding hole, shining up into the cone and illuminating it. He painted the nosecone flourescent pink, and it's VERY visible! Just be sure your batteries maintain contact throughout flight, and the switch is securely taped "ON". Also, I'd recommend against painting the body tube BLACK... it looks cool in daytime, but it's impossible to see at night. His batteries lost contact in flight and didn't get good contact again until a breeze tugged the chute enough to rattle the rocket enough to turn the light back on by chance after landing, which is how I found it an hour after everybody had left.
DSCF3101.jpg
Here's another one... guesses??

This is a modified stormcaster (IIRC) for night launch-- the tip of the nosecone has been trimmed back enough for an LED light using some sort of plastic rod with bubbles in the plastic to be glued into the tip, turned on by twisting the tip down tight against the batteries. It was also painted with glow in the dark paint (the white chalky stuff) that liked to come off on everybody's hands more than it liked to stay on the rocket and actually light the thing up, and it was practically invisible anyway. Make sure your batteries maintain contact, because this one lost contact in flight and was virtually impossible to see under chute (too small and directional a light source in the nosecone tip) and with the nosecone laying on the ground, I nearly ran over the thing with the golf cart before I saw it... literally a foot away from it! Neat idea, but could have used more lights...
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Later! OL JR :)
 
Here's my night flyer... I call it the "Warp Drive"...
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This is a Big Bertha clone (a cheap and dirty one at that-- paper towel tubes covered with printer paper and the fin pattern grabbed off the net for a CHAD clone!). It's powered by an Estes "D" or "E" motor and equipped at the top with a spinning LED globe toy (spinning ring of LED's inside the plastic globe) powered by AA batteries. The push and hold to turn on switch is kept depressed by using some electrical tape and a strategically placed bit of balsa, so the rocket can be prepped and loaded on the pad before it's turned on by shoving the balsa bit under the tape. The "handle" of the whirlygig toy slides right down inside the BT-60 sized paper towel body tube for a nose-cone "shoulder" and the globe sits against the end of the tube. There's a standoff for a launch lug and the rear lug is mounted halfway out the fin in lieu of a second standoff, so the rod clears the fatter globe. It's REALLY cool looking in flight!

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That's all I have for now... we didn't have a night launch last year due to club problems and haven't been able to fly here since early spring due to drought, so I'm don't think we'll get to do one this year either... though I have some plans in the back burner...

Later! OL JR :)
 
Turely Night flying conversions don't have to be complicated or expensive. A visit to your local dollar store around Halloween or just about any time can turn up all kinds of easy to convert night flyers.
A buck Halloween flashlight can be converted into a LED illuminated flying thing with just a little time and a couple bucks worth of supplies.
A Plastic Bat and Ball can be turned into something fun for night flights and adding a couple taped on cylumes as well as the internal LED's will make it even more visible.

Not to mention things like Lighted fishing bobbers which almost fits a BT-50 perfectly... and flashing body lights etc.

Keep your eyes open you'll run across all kinds of things that will fit easily in BT-50 and larger clear or red payload sections. it's important that at least part of it stays on with a constant glow, as flashing things can get lost in the night sky if the winds aloft are blowing faster then expected. Our group has lost a number of rather expensive flashing strobe vehicles that way.

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