Once I saw retractable landing lights as a scale detail, I knew I had to share them in this column. After years of bugging him, I finally talked Tim Cardin into showing us how he created his retractable landing lights. I first saw the operating lights on his beautiful Nick Ziroll scratch-built Beechcraft Staggerwing. Since then, Tim has installed them on a P-47 and they could be modified and applied to almost any World War Ⅱ aircraft. The exact lights that Tim used for this aircraft are now only available out of Europe. However, I've found that it could easily be adapted from a number of high-intensity LED lights that are available here in the U.S. from other RC manufacturers. LED lights that are available for RC car headlights or truck off-road light bars fit the bill perfectly for this type of adaptation. The key point here is to get high-intensity LED lights so they are easily seen during the day. If you are going to add that added scale detail of lights to aircraft, they should be able to be noticed either day or night. Enjoy!
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