From: Robert Donatz <robert.donatz@precisionint.com>
Subject: COZY: Cockpit lighting
Date: Fri, 5 Nov 1999 17:17:21 -0800 

I have some personal experience using "alternative" lighting in the cockpit.
I don't have military experience, so I can't speak for the methods of the
Armed Services. However, I have been quietly frustrated during my 21 years
of night flying. I've always wished there was another way (other than
resorting to turning on the white flashlight) to read the charts more
easily. I'll admit to my pacifist nature and just accepting the red cockpit
lighting. My awareness changed a few years ago and will never be the same. 

I was ferrying a friends Grumman from Missouri to Oregon a few years ago
during the dark of December. I didn't stop for sunset and my flying went on
close to midnight. Before my trip my friend gave me a sample of a flashlight
he had just built up. It had red and green LED light bulbs in it. WOW, what
a difference! It was like going from "formatted to fit your screen" to
letterbox. Suddenly I could see the rest of the story on the charts. I will
never go back to plain old red again. No more fatigue and frustration trying
to squint out the magenta lines. Recently, this guy has added a blue LED to
the flashlight and now I can see the yellows of congested areas clearly.

It's remarkable how long we can get stuck in a rut and not ask "how do we
get out of here." I've brought this flashlight to my EAA chapter meetings
and get the same reaction, "wow, this is great" and "why haven't we done
this yet?"  So, the bottom line to all this espousing is that red and green
LED's let you see so much more. When you add a blue you get the effect of
"white" light. His little light is about the size of a pack of cigarettes.
Even with all three lights selected, it isn't powerful enough to deteriorate
your night vision (you can still see around you after you shut the light
off). One other thing I like about this flashlight and LED's is their
solid-state design. They are much more reliable and need much less battery. 

How I'm going to apply this in my MK IV is to use standard lighting for the
panel and use the three-colored LED's on a hard-wired flexible post for
accessory/chart lighting. As for the details of how this works, I'll let
Dan, a pilot and experimenter, explain. 

(Disclaimer: I'm not an ophthamologist or expert, this is just what I have
been able to deduce from books and studies of the subject over the years). 
If you look at a response curve showing the response of the human eye to
different colors of light, you find that we are least sensitive to red and
most sensitive to blue. This is the reason that red light was chosen long
ago to "preserve night vision." But this response curve is misleading. The
real killer of night vision is INTENSITY, not color. That is, a BRIGHT RED
light wipes out night vision worse than a DIM light of ANY COLOR. But the
red-night-vision connection is woven so tightly in to aviation, that it's
been kind of a sacred cow until recently. A few years ago, the military
began using a blue-green mix for night operations, and this forced us all to
take a new look at the traditional red-only rule. The other problem with red
(or any monochromatic (single-color) light) is the color differentiation
problem: sectional chart magenta airports fade away, important notes printed
in red become invisible, and should you suffer a scratch (as one commenter
noted), you can't see the blood! A dichromatic light (a mix of two colors)
greatly increases color differentiation, though it does not let us see
"true" colors. For example, the blue-green light of the Gamma3 flashlight
makes almost any color visible, except for a very narrow range of
blue-green. Reds and magentas stand out strongly on a white background, but
they appear dark gray, not red. 
To achieve both differentiation and true color perception, the light source
has to contain all three primary light colors, which are red, green and
blue. To sum it all up, for preservation of night vision, use a DIM light of
any color; for color differentiation, use at least a two color mix; for
perception of true colors, use "white" light. I put "white" in quotes
because there is a huge range of mixtures of red, green and blue that the
eye (or really, the brain) will perceive as "white." Of course, all of this
is what led to the design of the Gamma3 flashlight--red for the classic
night-vision protection, blue-green for best color differentiation, and
white for true-color perception. You can read about the Gamma3 flashlight at
www.gdi3.com <http://www.gdi3.com>  or call 503-598-8079 and request a data
sheet.

Dan

Date: Sun, 31 Oct 1999 22:39:55 -0400
From: kent ashton <kjashton@vnet.net>
Subject: Re: COZY: instrument panel illumination

I made some post lights out of radio shack #276-066B high-brightness red LEDs
(470mcd). I haven't wired the panel yet but I've experimented with them and I
think they will be just fine.  Hardest part was making a hood for the LEDs.  I
made the posts out of 1/4" soft alum tube with a piece of 3/8" tube flared to
form a hood and JB-welded into place.  They look like little aluminum flowers
that bend back at a 150 deg angle to shine on the instrument.  I plan to just
drill a 1/4" hole where I want them and lightly glue them in position.  About
$2.50-$3.00 each in materials.
	I like the LM317 idea.  Bob Nuckolls also discusses this in his Aeroelectric book.
--Kent A.


dewayne morgan wrote:
> 
> About 3 or 4 weeks ago, someone discussed a rheostat to dim the instrument
> panel lights. Has anyone considered using red LED's. A simple and
> lightweight circuit using a LM 317 voltage regulator and a potentiometer
> and a few resistors would work well and use little current. Also, the
> lifespan and weight of LED's and ponentiometer  vs. glass bulbs and
> rheoststat  would be another consideration (I think I have only replaced 6
> led's in 15yrs of electronic repair). I have used/abused a LM 317 in a
> homemade power supply for 10 yrs and it is still doing fine. LM317's are
> good to 35 volts and have short circuit and overload protection built in.
> 
> Dewayne morgan
> 
> cozy #815 chptr 4

Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999 20:57:34 -0600
From: David Domeier <david010@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: COZY: instrument panel illumination

Bulent,

    re "Dim white will be the best."

    There was a time when night fighter pilots sat around alert shacks
lit with red light.  Red lights improve night vision very much.  In
those days, all instrument panels were lit in red.

dd



Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999 22:00:30 -0500
From: Jim Sower <jimsower@mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: COZY: instrument panel illumination

I personally value my night vision more than the red markings on the instruments.
I am supposed to know where they are anyway.  Landing and taxiing at night I want
my vision to be 'the best that it can be'.  If I'm going to trade it away, it will
have to be something a lot more important to me than the red instrument marks.
Just a theory,      Jim S.

Bulent Aliev wrote:

> Blake Mantel wrote:
>
> > dewayne morgan wrote:
> >
> > > About 3 or 4 weeks ago, someone discussed a rheostat to dim the instrument
> > > panel lights. Has anyone considered using red LED's.
> >
> > Why red LED's?
>
> I would not use red lighting for the instruments. Red light will make all red
> markings appear white.
> Dim white will be the best.

Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999 23:02:46 -0400
From: Bulent Aliev <atlasyts@bellsouth.net>
Subject: Re: COZY: instrument panel illumination



David Domeier wrote:

> Bulent,
>
>     re "Dim white will be the best."
>
>     There was a time when night fighter pilots sat around alert shacks
> lit with red light.  Red lights improve night vision very much.  In
> those days, all instrument panels were lit in red.
>
> dd

You are right about that Dave. I have spent countless hours in the photo
dark room lit with red light only. Once had a bad cut from the film and
was bleeding all over the place, but did not see it since the blood did
look colorless.
Try reading chart under red light and all red and purple colors almost
disappear.
If the instrument lights are hidden and dimmed, very little light will
reflect from the black faces. I don't think the dimmed lights from the
dash in the car affect my vision much?
IMHO since the instruments have red limit zones marked in red, have them
disappear may not be a good idea? The rest of the lights used inside the
cabin should be red.
On the other hand I still want to hear from some real pilots what's the
best instrument lighting.




Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999 23:19:21 -0500
From: "L. Wayne Hicks" <lwhicks@erols.com>
Subject: Re: COZY: instrument panel illumination

David Domeier wrote:
Red lights improve night vision very much.  In
> those days, all instrument panels were lit in red.

-------> But red light makes red lines disappear.  If I'm not mistaken,
most military ops are going with blue-greenish interior lighting. Oh,
and the helo guys use night vision goggles!

Wayne Hicks

From: TRCsmith@aol.com
Date: Wed, 3 Nov 1999 00:04:05 EST
Subject: Re: COZY: instrument panel illumination

In a message dated 11/2/1999 6:59:08 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
david010@earthlink.net writes:

<< re "Dim white will be the best."
 
     There was a time when night fighter pilots sat around alert shacks
 lit with red light.  Red lights improve night vision very much.  In
 those days, all instrument panels were lit in red.
 
 dd >>
But today studies have shown that red lights cause fatigue to the eyes. Now 
most all aircraft use white lights for instruments.
tom

Date: Wed, 03 Nov 1999 08:01:31 -0500
From: Paul Krasa <p.w.krasa@larc.nasa.gov>
Subject: Re: COZY: instrument panel illumination

At 21:02 11/2/99 -0400, Bulent Aliev wrote:
>
>
>Blake Mantel wrote:
snip
>>
>> Why red LED's?
>


There were a series of human factors studies done by the military back
during WWII which showed that red light has the least degredation effect on
night vision.  

My panel has all white light on it because the instruments came with white
lights and the miniature eyeball cockpit lights which are sold by Spruce
and Wicks.  The miniature eyeball lights are great.  All of my engine
instruments have backlighting, so I the only part of the panel which needed
lighting was the standard six flight instruments.  One eyeball light on
each side of the interior and about 1' back lights the panel of my Long EZ
perfectly.  I got the idea from a friend of mine who used the same concept
in his Cozy III except his eyeballs were mounted in the canopy.  The
minature eyeballs are a simple solution, (IMHO) elegant, and low cost
solution to cockpit lighting.  A miniture cockpit eyeball light is half the
cost of one post light.

Paul Krasa
Long EZ 214LP

p.s. Project status:  Flying, Flying, Flying .....  There comes a point in
test flying your airplane that no matter how large the test area is, its
just not big enough. :) 





Date: Wed, 03 Nov 1999 23:10:59 -0500
From: Blake Mantel <blakem@tiac.net>
Subject: Re: COZY: instrument panel illumination

"Monk, Dave" wrote:

>
>         Blake Mantel asked:
>         >Why red LED's?
>
> Blake,
>
> The red lights do not destroy your night  vision.  In astronomy, we use red
> lights to look at charts etc and our computers and RA/DEC readouts are all
> in red, and we can still see the stars clearly.  It has something to do with
> rods and cones in your eyes.  Since I am not a doctor, I do not know all the
> details but I do know it  works well.  The red lights in your airplane will
> preserve you night vision every  time you scan the instruments.
> Dave
> MK IV #831

Sorry Dave but I cant open the pod bay doors....      ;-O
(couldn't help it, just watched 2001)

Well, this is just one of those things that people have always believed in and
followed for the wrong reasons. Like hot water freezes faster than cold water
for ice cubes, etc.

Only recently has the data been widely disseminated to overturn this long held
belief. But a dim yellow-green or white light is the best for viewing dials,
etc. and not destroying much of the night vision. It does make sense that an
instrument is most efficient in the middle of it's operating range.

Later,
Blake
--
CUM CATAPULTAE PROSCRIPTAE ERUNT TUM SOLI PROSCRIPTI CATAPULTAS HABEBUNT.
(When catapults are outlawed, only outlaws will have catapults....)
Triumph Tiger Motorcycle page at: http://www.tiac.net/users/blakem/
My Email address is altered due to the prevalence of bulk Email senders.
To send me mail remove the two *'s before the TIAC.NET.


Date: Wed, 03 Nov 1999 10:52:57 -0500
From: Blake Mantel <blakem@tiac.net>
Subject: Re: COZY: instrument panel illumination (red led's

dewayne morgan wrote:

> I have always heard that red light doesn't impair night vision (as bad as
> white light). I will need a little help here with more experienced pilots
> as i have only 42 hrs toward my ticket . Green is also supposed to be good
> for reading maps and also doesn't impair night vision. Blue LED'S are
> expensive  and are not  very efficient (at giving off light) and i think
> they also aggravate an astigmatism.

Many years ago at Oshkosh I walked into a avionics tent discussion and was
surprised to find out something that I had wondered about for years. The
speaker was talking about a study commissioned by the USAF that analyzed night
vision vs. cockpit lighting.

It turns out that the use of traditional red instrument lights actually reduced
night vision. This was due to red light being at the outer limits of the visual
range and our eyes don't focus it very well. So the pilots would turn it up
bright enough to clearly see the instruments and destroy their night vision.

And the yellow green lights were used at the lowest levels by the pilots. This
is logical, since the center of our visual range is in this area and it is an
area of maximum energy as received from the sun. So it is the frequency that
our eyes process at their best.

Going back and attempting to remember some of my A & P studies (No, in this
case it stands for Anatomy and Physiology!!!) the low light "night vision"
chemical is a dark purple color.

Any ophthalmologists on the news list and could advise here?

And thus absorbs any light except for that wavelength of purple light. So red,
green, blue, etc. lights are all absorbed and cause it to break down. So the
least light is the best light and that is in the yellow-green area.


BLUE LED's:
As to blue LED's there is a newly designed doping procedure that should improve
the yields of the produced LED's. That is one of the reasons that the prices
are so high is that they have to junk so many of the units. Also the current
LED designs suffer from a fast (well this is a relative statement) degradation
of light output. A nice bight blue LED will be a pale ghost of itself 1000
hours later, bummer.

Also, this new mix will slow the degradation as well in operation.

Later,
Blake
Cozy Mk4 Plans #0008
--
CUM CATAPULTAE PROSCRIPTAE ERUNT TUM SOLI PROSCRIPTI CATAPULTAS HABEBUNT.
(When catapults are outlawed, only outlaws will have catapults....)
Triumph Tiger Motorcycle page at: http://www.tiac.net/users/blakem/
My Email address is altered due to the prevalence of bulk Email senders.
To send me mail remove the two *'s before the TIAC.NET.


From: ArlenBell@aol.com
Date: Fri, 5 Nov 1999 20:40:30 EST
Subject: COZY: LED Cockpit lighting

For all of you chasing this subject take a look at the following web pages.
http://www.americaworks.net/lighting/
http://www.americaworks.net/lighting/cockpit.html
http://www.americaworks.net/lighting/low-voltage.html
-- Arlen Bell

Date: Wed, 03 Nov 1999 09:24:56 +0200
From: "Rego Burger" <BurgerR@telkom.co.za>
Subject: COZY: Night vision

Any medical guys on our group to add to this discussion?

2c worth....
If the idea is to be able to see all instrument markings including RED ones then using a red light is going to defeat the object.
I think night vision ( viewing outside the cockpit ) requires the pupil ( of the eye) to have a wide opening in order to gather the low light intensity, now any bright light in the cockpit will cause the pupil to reduce in size.... every adjustment is stress and makes life a bit difficult. 
So I would guess that any light inside the cockpit red or white, should be set at the lowest intensity as possible to avoid rapid pupil changes.
If a candle worked in years gone by then maybe even a light with an orange tint would work fine as long as it was not set too bright.

Having flown at night some, the red "old" system does take a bit of getting used to.... but even modern cars have adjustable panel lights, and they are white!
Anyone have an idea if the frequency of the light has anything to do with the eyes response?


Rgo Burger
RSA

Date: Wed, 03 Nov 1999 11:51:48 -0400
From: Al & Bev Sweeny <asweeny@ibm.net>
Subject: COZY: Night Vision

   Strongly echo dd comments. Another 2c worth from ex-night fighter p,
present heavy jet civil p. We needed
the red cockpit lighting to save our night vision when looking for
targets  and maneuvering heavily (in fact in two seaters I'd turn all
lights OFF and let the GIB (guy in back) be the gauge monitor.) We
masking-taped the undimmable warning lights and were careful not to mark

maps in red or blue inks - black was always best. This was Vietnam era
technology, the present systems may accomodate night vision concerns
better.  Today, though, civil night vision need  isn't so critical, and
amber, dimmable lighting systems work fine without having to doctor maps

and charts. For me though, the plan is simple - no single engine Cozy
night flying.
Al Sweeny , Cozy 823, Prebuild

From: N64DW@aol.com
Date: Sat, 6 Nov 1999 02:14:39 EST
Subject: Re: COZY: Night vision

Builders,
    I have been flying Army helicopters for the past 14 years, with 700-800 
hours flying low level night (25 to 200 above the highest obstacle).  
Lighting in them was red, back in the late 80's they changed over to 
blue/green lighting for aircraft that use night vision goggles.  The reason 
for the change was that the red lights shut down the goggles due to their 
sensitivity to the red side of the spectrum.  The Apache helicopter sill uses 
the red lights because we don't use goggles.  
    The red lights don't effect your night vision as will white or even the 
blue/green.  The red light doesn't effect your peripheral vision as will the 
blue/green.  Blue green will seem overly bright when viewed off center where 
red will not.  When viewed directly the red will be brighter than the blue 
green.  As you know most of your night vision is in the peripheral.  There 
should be an FAA pub that explains how the eye works.
    As for instrument markings being washed out by the red light.  You should 
know the where limits are marked on the gauge by position, so when the needle 
points to that position you need to do something.  
    Another thing that is a must for night flying is, blind cockpit drills.  
That means you should be able to put your hand on any switch, lever or knob 
required for flight without looking.  Another thing that would be wise is to 
have different shaped switches for critical systems, so you can feel which 
switch your fixing to move.

CW3 David West
Apache Maintenance Test Pilot
Comanche Base Bosnia

From: "Doug Shepherd" <DougSheph@home.com>
Subject: COZY: Night vision & LED's
Date: Tue, 2 Nov 1999 21:14:57 -0800

Builders,

As I understand eyesight, the eye's sensitivity to any particular wavelength
is reduced by exposure to that wavelength ONLY.  If you use red light, your
ability to see dim red objects will be reduced, but your ability to see dim
objects of other colors will be mostly unaffected.  But this works with any
color -- a dim green light will work as a night light also, and won't spoil
your dark vision except in the green band.  Red is used mostly for
traditional reasons; red is used in darkrooms because black & white film
isn't sensitive to red light.  You could make the argument that red vision
is more important in the cockpit because of sectional shadings and
instrument markings, so maybe a different color light would be preferable.
Sectional markings can simply disappear with the wrong choice of lighting.

LED's are monochromatic light sources, which means they won't spoil your
night vision too badly.  They also draw much less current than light bulbs
and essentially never burn out, so they're not a bad choice for panel
illumination.  Since they don't draw much current, you could just use a
potentiometer as a dimmer (fewer parts, better reliability than with a
regulator).  Because of the chemical properties of the materials involved,
red LED's can be made brighter than any other color -- the third brake light
on most new cars is made out of LED's.  Next brightest is amber, followed by
green and blue.  Bright enough LED's of any color are available that you can
make a flashlight out of them, but they're more expensive in green or blue
(not very expensive in any case!).  Watch out for narrow angles; to get the
most light out of their LED's, the manufacturers focus them into a cone as
narrow as 7 degrees for some LED's.  A super-narrow LED like that has a
higher brightness spec and makes a good flashlight but a really lousy area
illuminator.

I would suggest amber for panel illumination.  You can crank them up to
surprising brightness at full rated current, sectional markings should be
relatively decipherable, and I find the amber light far more pleasant than
red.  Green or blue would be okay except they're more expensive and just
won't give as much light as amber.  You might also play around with two
colors at once (bichromatic).  Bichromatic light can appear nearly white, so
sectional and instrument markings will look almost normal, but it will
affect your night vision more than monochromatic light.

Doug Shepherd

From: "Doug Shepherd" <DougSheph@home.com>
Subject: COZY: Night vision and LED's
Date: Tue, 2 Nov 1999 21:22:01 -0800

Or is that dichromatic???

From: "dewayne morgan" <dmorgan@mis.net>
Subject: COZY: panel illumination
Date: Tue, 2 Nov 1999 23:51:15 -0500

I have always heard that red light doesn't impair night vision (as bad as
white light). I will need a little help here with more experienced pilots
as i have only 42 hrs toward my ticket . Green is also supposed to be good
for reading maps and also doesn't impair night vision. Blue LED'S are
expensive  and are not  very efficient (at giving off light) and i think
they also aggravate an astigmatism.  


From: TRCsmith@aol.com
Date: Wed, 3 Nov 1999 00:07:44 EST
Subject: COZY: re.instrument panel illumination

<< re "Dim white will be the best."
 
     There was a time when night fighter pilots sat around alert shacks
 lit with red light.  Red lights improve night vision very much.  In
 those days, all instrument panels were lit in red.
 
 dd >>
But today studies have shown that red lights cause fatigue to the eyes. Now 
most all aircraft use white lights for instruments.
tom

From: jhocut@mindspring.com
Date: Wed, 03 Nov 1999 08:59:53 -0500
Subject: COZY: Re:Night Vision / instrument panel illumination



>There were a series of human factors studies done by the 
>military back during WWII which showed that red light has 
>the least degredation effect on night vision.  

I recently attended a night vision training class put on by the Navy opthamologist who developed the program for the Navy, (and as I recall was adapted by all our armed forces as well as the Isreali armed forces).  Anyway, the new concensus is to use dim white light.  It takes our eyes about 30 minutes to fully adapt to darkness, and once adapted a suitably dim white light doesn't seriously degrade our night vision.

Jim Hocut
Cozy IV #448 - ch 19

From: ArlenBell@aol.com
Date: Wed, 3 Nov 1999 10:23:18 EST
Subject: COZY: Re:Night Vision / instrument panel illumination

This is my first post so if I've screwed up the message by not following 
proper format, please let me know -- and bear with me.

Regarding Night Vision and light colors, I certainly second the idea of using 
a full-range dimmer and white lights. Sometimes we NEED to see the 
instruments more than whatever might be outside and being able to control the 
light level is important. I as I recall from my father in WWII, one of the 
reasons red light and night vision was so important was that the planes often 
flew with no marker lights and there was little if any lighting on the 
ground/runway--bet you know why!

If someone wants to play around with it, there are now LEDs which give off a 
white light. Also if one is really into absolute maximum night vision, one 
can go with two types (white & red). Personally, I don't see the need for the 
red lights -- just keep the white lights at lower levels for normal flight.
Remember the Nav lights you may be looking for are red/green -- you don't 
want to reduce your acuity for either by running a red or green lit cockpit.

But someone asked the question about light color. Red has been covered 
thoroughly so I'll address only blue and green (incandescent or LED-- doesn't 
matter). The eye is most sensitive to green light -- if you need to know the 
exact wave length, I can send that to you, but again -- it doesn't really 
matter. STAY AWAY FROM BLUE! Blue light is the least efficient wavelength 
handled by the eye. Blue light has one advantage -- it can be seen well in 
peripheral vision (wonder why those taxiway lights are blue). However, the 
eye has a difficult time focusing it. I wouldn't use blue for any general 
lighting in the cockpit.

I think it's been said best, stay with a light source which will allow you to 
read sectionals and see the instrument makings -- just keep it low -- with a 
full-range dimmer you can go all the way down.
-- Arlen Bell 

Date: Wed, 03 Nov 1999 09:30:36 -0600
From: David Domeier <david010@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: COZY: Re:Night Vision / instrument panel illumination

Jim,

    re "Anyway, the new consensus is to use dim white light."

    I'm sure you, Bulent and the US Navy are correct....I was just
rattling the cage on how things were long, long ago, before radar and
all the magic stuff we have today, when fighter pilots had to have good
night vision to stay alive.  Fact is, before I left the USAF in '67, red
was no longer the standard in cement.

    I flew many  a all-night flight in my "junior" years with an airline
and "dim white light" is by far the least fatiguing.  It seems the eye
muscle is most relaxed when the iris is open.  I know for a fact that
bright light, which keeps the iris opening small, is very fatiguing.  I
flew with an old geaser on international who kept the lights up bright
all night, probably 'cause he was afraid of the dark, it was very hard
on the eyes and your entire system.

    I'm not much on flying single motor, experimental airplanes at
night.  Especially a take off.  Ending a cross country after dusk is OK,
but that critical 3 minutes after take off is no time to be dark.  If
anything goes wrong, you're going to get hurt.  As a matter of accident
record, a most risky approach is night VFR without a glide slope or
VASI.  It is very difficult to judge the visual slot unless you're
intimately familiar with the slope of the runway and local terrain.  A
steep runway slope can screw you up in day light, not to think about it
at night.

dd

Date: Wed, 03 Nov 1999 18:46:35 -0600
From: Michael Link <mglink@bellsouth.net>
Subject: Re: Fw: COZY: panel illumination



extensionsystems@mindspring.com wrote:

> Just a thought.
>
> The best looking and most eye friendly panel I ever flew was on a rebuilt
> Beaver Float Plane.
>
> This panel used a black painted plastic cover that at each instrument and a
> reversed chamfer. The light was "Injected" with screw in bulbs from the
> front. At all switches & breaker the name was engraved through the paint.
>
> The effect was breathtaking, Just a slight glow of red that you could adjust
> up or down.
>

Hi,

I have the above described system on my Cozy. Not a new idea really....the 50's
vintage B-52's and KC-135's that I was so intimately associated with while in
the U.S.A.F., had the same system.
The results, are still spectacular.

Regards,
Michael Link    COZY MK-IV    N-171-ML

From: cdenk@ix.netcom.com
Date: Wed, 3 Nov 1999 21:23:51 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Re: Fw: COZY: panel illumination

If one notes the angle of the inside of the plexiglass bubble, and angles of incidence and reflection of the light from 
instruments, it understandable how nearly all illuminated instrument panel objects will reflect off the plexiglass at near to 
below pilot's eye level. Have thought about extending the panel cover aft to shade the instruments, but it will project 
something like 6" aft of the panel to be effective. Instruments include King KX-155, and internal lit VOR, White post lights 
on unlit instruments, JPI slimline LED readouts with dimmers. All instruments are on separate dimmers (electronic similar to 
Bob Nuckolls) for each type illumination (Post light, internal, etc.) if not self dimming. Chart and clipboard illumination is 
by "Littlelite" gooseneck with dimmer base mounted forward face of arm rest pocket, they set nicely over your lap, totally out 
of way of hand/arm movement, stowing against the fuselage inside skin.   

