Conquer the Night – As pilots we logged time over the water, mountains and desert on many moonless nights as military aviators, and used first generation lip lights to help accomplish our flights safely. After leaving the military, we started to attach our old lights to our new ANR headsets, especially after an electrical power failure in the Mooney M20E (fixed and now for sale).

We made a list of things that needed to be improved, to make the lip light truly engineered. The project grew in scope, and we formed a team with NASA, New Mexico State University MTech, W.M. Keck Center at University of Texas El Paso, and XL Synergy. The evolution of the team meant we could discard the mechanical switch which would stick on, required pushing it the pilot's face instead of a true lip switch, lowered the power requirements, protected the circuit with an auto-off, made custom adapters to attach the light without bailing wire and zip ties. Prototype Number One:

We perfected the software, sensor package, selected protective epoxies, batteries, etc. The evolution lead to FLITELite Generation One. Launched at OSHKOSH 2006, the new lip light saved it first pilot as they flew home from OSHKOSH. Another pilot was saved by the light, a young student.

Customers provided feedback, and we continued to improve the product, adapters, and introduced the coin cell battery pack.

Early in the development of our patented technology, we developed a package to power the light through intercom power, deleting the requirement for an external battery pack. We partnered with AVCOMM, makers of the bulletproof AC900, to build the FLITELite 1.5 headset. This headset is available through our web site, and AVCOMM has always been an extremely CFI friendly business. One of the reasons we selected AVCOMM was that CFI's are able to buy wholesale through Wing Aero Products, and actually earn some profit on their efforts! With the new headset, you have the best in a headset, paired with the light that never needs a battery replacement. The intercom powers the light, and it has an internal backup power system for emergencies.

With the completion of the intercom power project, we decided to move into the next generation of NVIS (NVG) compatible lighting for the military market. The key issue was the GEN One IR Sensor. This sensor was perfect for general aviation use, and was able to detect light to shut itself off in the daytime, however, the emitter was visible to night vision goggles, and needed to be replaced. We decided to go nearly clean sheet in design, and produced the GEN II FLITELite.

The new light is now dual sensor, embedded on a flexible circuit board inside the housing that is nearly 30% smaller than the GEN One. The new light has a number of other features, making it the ideal NVIS (NVG) lip light. These are just some of the new mic light features:

• 11 Degree Angle on the lights to place the lights exactly in front of the face for pilots with larger frames (tested on Marine Major Chris Rosen, a person with possibly the largest head to body size ratio on the planet)
• 3mm LED's to reduce size, and use newer LED technology
• NVIS Filter Material to meet MIL-STD-3009 NVIS cockpit compliance
• CE Compliance and markings for export to the EU
• Rear sensor on/off with sensitivity and timing set to customer requirements (larger orders)
• Factory Programmable Auto-Off settings to customer requirements (larger orders)
• Front sensor controls a smooth, wide range dimming feature.
• Dimming setting memory - the unit remembers the last brightness setting.
• Compatible with all previous adapters

Future plans are closely guarded, but look for new product to evolve..