I've noticed that most giant scale light systems are externally-lit, wingtip mounted devices that are super bright and uncomfortable to look at. Are there better solutions than sticking strips of LEDs on the surfaces? Has anyone here tried internally lighting covered wing panels? Do you have pics of your setups?

If the right LED's are used the wingtip setup is the way to go. You need a lensed LED that focuses 90% of the light within 30 degrees.

How do you keep those from blinding you? I have a set of Aurora lights on a parkflyer and it's still tough to look straight at the plane, and it doesn't actually appear to light the plane itself that well.

By using a lensed version of the LED's which centers 90% of the light within a 30 degree beam. I do not know for sure, but I have seen the Aurora's and you are right, they are bright. However, I believe that the LED's used spread the light 60%-70% within 120 degrees, causing the "aurora" around the plane and glare.


I actually designed the first ever light set for Yuri back in 2007!! And this was one of the design features we tested. Yuri's set of lights though very bright, do not blind you as the LED's lenses concentrate most of the light within a 30 degree beam. OF course if you look at them directly they all blind you, but with a lensed version it is less likely, as we had tested way back when. So the secret is LENSED LED'S!!! This will minimize the aura/glare and glow around the airplane.

Here are the first original lights:


https://www.flyinggiants.com/forums/...ad.php?t=37428

Those are cool! They dont look quite as glaring as the Aurora lights, but how can I obtain something like this?

I don't know. The ones I made for Yuri were for fun. I never did market them. Nor did I ever want to. Many have contacted me over the years about them. I think there are only two options Aurora and RC Flite Light, or make your own. I am not sure if you can still get the LEDs we used. However, the LEDs we use were made in the US and were from LEDEngine and we used the lensed version.

I was just looking at the commercial lights available and the RC Flite Lights are lensed! However, you are going to have to angle them down to the plane as the heat-sinks look like they are at 90 degrees. Should be easy enough to do. Not sure what the lens on that LED is set for. Lenses can focus 90 percent of the light within 30 degrees or more. The Aurora's are not lensed from what I can see.