Inside lighting

[Kitfox Pilot]

What did you guys use for interior lighting, for night ops, on your kitfox builds?

[Benbell4140]

What did you guys use for interior lighting, for night ops, on your kitfox builds?

I don’t plan on installing lights in the fox but when I built my RV8 I used a simple led light strip with a sticky backing under the glare shield. I also used a 12v universal dimmer with a twist knob from amazon or eBay. The lights were similar to these.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/182359007531?var=690655806255&hash=item2a7571a12b:g:M6EAAOSwPW9a0~FY


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[Dave S]

I went with the light strip like Benbell did on his his RV. Got it from Stein Air and it came with a dimmer.

Photo is with the dimmer set to max - please disregard the lighter patches on the top half of the panel (glare from the building lights). Also have the map light with a separate switch just above the throttle and a red automotive LED located located by each rear spar attach point to provide a low intensity general red light throughout the cockpit.


FYI - the glare shield strip from Stein has worked perfectly from day one.

[efwd]

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/dualchannelpwm.php?clickkey=41872
I have a map light overhead then I also have the strip LEDs under the glare shield. This switch does turn on the LEDs at a fairly bright setting. Im on the ground within 30 min of sunset so Im doing OK with that. I controls the map light pretty nicely but I don't really have any use for it as I don't carry maps. I originally planned on flying at night but I didn't enjoy it as I once did when I was 20 years old.

[tracstarr]

I'm using an el ribbon on the underside of my glare shield as seen here (https://teamkitfox.com/Forums/threads/1930-Show-us-your-panel?p=94619&viewfull=1#post94619)

[Dave S]

Keith,

Nice panel; and, if I am seeing colors correctly, your under glareshield light is green - what I can tell you about that is your checklists with red text for important items will stand out really well. I like it.

With the standard red lights I have, I made sure my emergency checklist items were green, which makes them really stand out.

I have always thought it a little quirky that many flight schools have the standard red lights for night work, then have red text e-checklists:confused:

I am sure an artist could tell us more about complementary colors and ability to read text - all I know is I took my color samples, red flashlight and took them in a dark closet to figure out what worked best - if you do that, be real sure to tell you family what you are up to!:o