A night preflight on a narrowbody or a widebody needs a bright, rechargeable white beam you can recharge in the hotel. The flight deck is a different job: a small red mode so you can find a switch without lighting up the whole cockpit. These four split that work. White-and-red lights meant to come on red first live on the GA flashlights page.
By a working airline pilot · How we pick · Last reviewed Sep 28, 2026 (ET)
What changed: new category page for airline walkaround lights and a flight-deck red option.
Top picks
The short version — labels come from our full write-ups below.
Lumen and runtime figures are the makers’ ANSI/PLATO FL1 numbers. Turbo and high runtimes include time after the light steps down for heat. Prices are what we saw on a live page on Sep 28, 2026.
PD35R $89.95, MSRP $120, on fenixlighting.com. E35R $79.95, MSRP $106, on the same site. Stinger 2020 model 78100 was $140.61 at Gritr Sports; BrightGuy listed the Stinger 2020 family from $156.69. NU25 MCT UL was $36.95 at Kittery Trading Post. A red LED on a Fenix charge indicator is a battery gauge, not a red beam.
Walkaround lights, and one red for the deck
On the ramp you are lighting a wing, a gear door, or a long fuselage. In the seat you want a few lumens of red. One flashlight rarely does both well: the three white lights here are 1,700 to 3,100 lumens, and the headlamp’s red is 5 or 15.
Airline framing: Carry the bright white light for the walkaround and leave it out of the cockpit on high. Fenix publishes overheat step-down at about 60°C on both the PD35R and the E35R, so a “1,700 lumen” or “3,100 lumen” number is the starting output, not two hours at that level. The GA page is the one for separate red buttons and lights that come on red without a white flash.
Fenix PD35R
1,700 lm · USB-C 18650 · White only · Pocket throw
Output: Turbo 1,700 lm / 353 m / 2 h 15 min · high 1,000 lm / 278 m / 2 h 55 min · med 350 lm / 4 h 45 min · low 50 lm / 38 h · eco 10 lm / 100 h · strobe 1,700 lm
Red mode: None. The side indicator glows red or green for battery level and charging. It is not a night-vision beam.
Battery / charging: Included ARB-L18-3400 18650, or two CR123A (turbo unavailable on CR123A). USB-C, about 3 hours empty to full. Light is off while charging.
Weight / size: 4.94 oz (140 g) with battery · 5.35 × 1.00 × 0.91 in (136 × 25.4 × 23.2 mm)
Other: Dual tail switches · remembers the last white level except strobe · IP68 · about 6500K
Price: ~$90–$120 — listed $89.95, MSRP $120, on fenixlighting.com
Longest beam in this set at 353 m, ahead of the Stinger’s 315 m and the E35R’s 260 m
140 g with the battery, against 350 g for the Stinger 2020
USB-C recharge of the included 18650, about 3 hours, and it still accepts two CR123A cells
No red beam — pair it with the NU25 if you also need the flight deck
Turbo runtime of 2 h 15 min includes step-down once the body hits about 60°C
Tail-cap lockout is “unscrew the tail,” which is slower than the E35R’s electronic lock
Choose the PD35R as the light that lives in a pocket for the walkaround. Vs E35R: you give up 1,400 lumens (3,100 vs 1,700) and gain 93 m of beam distance (353 vs 260). Vs Stinger: you give up 300 lumens and a 24-hour low, and you drop from 12.3 oz to 4.94 oz.
Output: High 2,000 lm / 315 m / 2.00 h · medium 850 lm / 200 m / 4.00 h · low 100 lm / 70 m / 24.00 h · strobe 3.25 h
Red mode: None
Battery / charging: Two included SL-B26 protected Li-ion packs. Charges in existing Stinger holders, by USB cord, or on an SL-B26 bank charger. Light-only kits include a Y USB cord.
Weight / size: 12.3 oz (350 g) · 7.67 in (19.48 cm)
Other: Head and tail switches work independently · slide selects high, medium, or low (“set and forget,” Streamlight’s words) · IPX7 · 2 m impact · limited lifetime warranty · TAA
Price: ~$141–$157 — $140.61 for model 78100 at Gritr Sports; BrightGuy lists the Stinger 2020 family from $156.69
Highest sustained-style high in the set at 2,000 lm, and the only 24-hour low (100 lm)
Mode selector picks high, medium, or low directly, so you are not scrolling past turbo on a dark ramp
Two packs in the light, so a dead cell is a swap rather than a wait on the USB-C port
12.3 oz and 7.67 in — more than double the PD35R’s 140 g and longer than its 5.35 in
No red beam
High is 2 hours, the shortest high runtime here, against 2 h 15 min turbo on the PD35R (both include protection behavior on the Fenix)
Choose the Stinger 2020 when the light rides in the flight bag and the walkaround is a long fuselage. Vs PD35R: 2,000 lm and 315 m against 1,700 lm and 353 m, at 350 g against 140 g.
Output: Turbo 3,100 lm / 260 m / 2 h 30 min · high 1,000 lm / 138 m / 3 h 40 min · med 350 lm / 9 h 20 min · low 150 lm / 21 h 20 min · eco 30 lm / 69 h · strobe 3,100 lm
Red mode: None. Neck indicator is a battery gauge (green or red), same idea as the PD35R.
Battery / charging: Included ARB-L21-5000 21700. USB-C, about 3 hours on a 5V/2A or higher adapter. Usable while charging except turbo, high, and strobe.
Weight / size: 5.22 oz (148 g) with battery · 4.72 × 1.04 × 0.98 in (120 × 26.5 × 24.8 mm)
Other: Side switch, no tail switch · magnetic tail · remembers the last level except turbo, high, and strobe (those come back as medium) · about 6400K · Fenix calls the beam wide and soft
Price: ~$80–$106 — listed $79.95, MSRP $106, on fenixlighting.com
Most lumens here: 3,100 vs 2,000 on the Stinger and 1,700 on the PD35R
Shortest body at 4.72 in, against 5.35 in (PD35R) and 7.67 in (Stinger)
Magnetic tail for a metal surface, and an electronic lock (double-click)
260 m of beam versus 353 m on the PD35R — flood, not the long thrower
8 g heavier than the PD35R (148 g vs 140 g) despite the shorter body
If you shut it off on turbo or high, it returns on medium, not on that high level
Choose the E35R when the job is close — gear doors, a pitot, a cargo bin — and you want the higher lumen number in a shorter light. Vs PD35R: 3,100 lm and 260 m against 1,700 lm and 353 m, at $79.95 against $89.95 on the same site.
White: High 400 lm / 2 h 40 min · mid 200 lm / 5 h · low 60 lm / 13 h · ultralow 6 lm / 45 h · throw 132 m · 3,000K / 4,500K / 6,500K
Red: High 15 lm / 10 h · low 5 lm / 26 h · slow flash 15 lm. Two buttons, different in shape and feel, per Nitecore.
Battery / charging: Built-in 700 mAh Li-ion · USB-C charging cable included
Weight / size: 47 g (1.66 oz) with bracket and headband · 60.0 × 33.0 × 25.7 mm
Other: IP66 · 1 m impact · power indicator. This is the UL headband version, not the 50 g NU25 MCT.
Price: ~$37 — $36.95 at Kittery Trading Post for NUMCT-UL-BLK
Only red beam on this page: 15 lm for 10 h, or 5 lm for 26 h, against zero red lumens on the three handhelds
47 g on the head, against 140 g in a pocket for the PD35R
Cheapest light here at $36.95, against $79.95 for the E35R
400 lm and 132 m will not replace a 1,700 lm, 353 m walkaround light
High white lasts 2 h 40 min, then you are on a lower level
Built-in cell — you cannot drop in a spare 18650 the way you can on the PD35R
Choose the NU25 MCT UL for the flight deck and for reading a release in the bunk, and keep a PD35R or Stinger for the walkaround. Vs the handhelds: red is 5–15 lm; their white starts at 1,700–3,100 lm. Hands-free red for a GA cockpit, including lights that come on red without a white flash, is on the GA flashlights page.
Maker spec pages for output, runtime, weight, and charging, plus the shelf prices on those pages or on a retailer page opened the same day. Pilot talk about a bright rechargeable for a night walkaround, and about red that does not start with a white flash, is the reason the airline page and the GA flashlight page are split. We did not lab-test these lights.
