Glow in the dark instruments

[whee]

Anyone remember those old radioactive instruments that would glow in the dark? They were great to see when the lights went out weren't they😃 Has anyone one seen a modern equivalent?

[Bcone1381]

Those old instruments used Radium Paint and were thus radio active. Fine watches also used the same paint once upon a time. I have not seen any modern equivalent.

[Bdflies]

Well, there are SOME products that use Tritium as a light source. My son has a couple of gun sights with Tritium illumination that are pretty neat! Don't think there are any flight instruments, so equipped. Considering the history of those radium dials, I don't think I'd put Tritium in my plane, if it were available. Now, don't get me wrong, I wouldn't be afraid of the Tritium. I'd be concerned about the beurocrat who deems it dangerous and illegal, at some point in the future...

Bill

[whee]

It's my understanding the the radium painted dials are still legal to have in the plane but their sale/transfer are federally controlled. Am I wrong? The dose from those old gauges is so low I wouldn't hesitate to install one it my plane if I had it and it was serviceable.

[marcusofcotton]

border crossings can be a problem

[jaredyates]

I'd say that LED backlighting or flood lighting is the most functional modern equivalent. In researching watches, I've read that some jewelers can apply tritium to a watch face. If you are really wanting to go that route, you might ask around with them and with instrument fixing shops. But what would be the advantage of going to all that trouble vs using LEDs?

[whee]

border crossings can be a problem

Huh, I hadn't thought of that but I can see you being right.

I'd say that LED backlighting or flood lighting is the most functional modern equivalent. In researching watches, I've read that some jewelers can apply tritium to a watch face. If you are really wanting to go that route, you might ask around with them and with instrument fixing shops. But what would be the advantage of going to all that trouble vs using LEDs?

Advantage would be the ability to still read the instruments after an electrical failure while the passenger fumbles through the flight bag for a map light. But yeah, I'm not going to go through that trouble. I was just wondering if there were instruments available with something similar.

[jaredyates]

Put some work into building a robust electrical system and your odds of being without it will be greatly diminished.

[whee]

Absolutely. I like to fly my cross countries at night so I'll be very careful with the electric system but having a backup to the backup that doesn't add any weight or complexity would have been nice.

[JimParker256]

Whee, check our these LED eyebrow lights... Fresh Aero EasyBrow Lights Available in red, blue, green, or white, are fully dimmable, and have a rechargeable battery backup option... I think this would meet your "backup to the backup" power source requirement and weighs very little!