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Just on a whim, I sent out my Mavic tonight without my usual complement of Strobons and landing lights just to see how far I could see the front and rear LED's. My hypotheses was the rear flashing LED / indicator would be visible for a farther distance than the front red running lights, just because flashing lights usually have a higher intensity than steady burners. Well, that was proven wrong as the results will show:
- The rear LED (green when all is AOK) could be seen to just beyond 5,000 feet or about 1,500 meters, so close to a mile.
- The front red running lights were visible to just beyond 7,000 feet or about 2,100 meters.
A couple of things:
- The test was done 2 hours after sunset, but done in an area with some city lights illuminating the sky. In a remote area, I would expect the visibility distance to be greater (more testing to come!)
- As you approach the extreme ranges of the lights, if you look away for even a moment, it can be very difficult to re-acquire the Mavic visually, which happened when I was testing the rear light range. I'd look down to check the distance on the remote and when I looked back up I couldn't see it. So I'd spin the Mavic so the front red LED's were facing me to re-acquire VLOS, then I'd spin it back and be able to see the rear again, now that I knew where it was in the sky.
- While the stock light system meets the AMA requirements for recreational night flights, I don't think it provides much (if any) collision avoidance. Just because you can see you're Mavic, doesn't mean others can, mainly helicopters and other quads. A small investment for a set of Strobeon's is well worth it.
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Anyway, I hope this is helpful. I'll be testing a variety of lighting systems over the next couple of months and posting the results. With daylight savings coming, I'll be able to start night flights a lot earlier.
- The rear LED (green when all is AOK) could be seen to just beyond 5,000 feet or about 1,500 meters, so close to a mile.
- The front red running lights were visible to just beyond 7,000 feet or about 2,100 meters.
A couple of things:
- The test was done 2 hours after sunset, but done in an area with some city lights illuminating the sky. In a remote area, I would expect the visibility distance to be greater (more testing to come!)
- As you approach the extreme ranges of the lights, if you look away for even a moment, it can be very difficult to re-acquire the Mavic visually, which happened when I was testing the rear light range. I'd look down to check the distance on the remote and when I looked back up I couldn't see it. So I'd spin the Mavic so the front red LED's were facing me to re-acquire VLOS, then I'd spin it back and be able to see the rear again, now that I knew where it was in the sky.
- While the stock light system meets the AMA requirements for recreational night flights, I don't think it provides much (if any) collision avoidance. Just because you can see you're Mavic, doesn't mean others can, mainly helicopters and other quads. A small investment for a set of Strobeon's is well worth it.
-----------------------------
Anyway, I hope this is helpful. I'll be testing a variety of lighting systems over the next couple of months and posting the results. With daylight savings coming, I'll be able to start night flights a lot earlier.
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But there's more to the story: I'm also testing the effectiveness of different physical placement of lights on the Mavic, and how the different colors perform at various distances, weather, and lighting conditions. I may even have a helicopter pilot have a look from his POV and give his thoughts. 
