[Swamp Critter]

This is not my plane, but one just like it with some nice looking modifications (wing struts and antenna above the cockpit) and navigation lights installed. I can't say for certain, but the "antenna" is probably not functional. Most likely just for realistic looks. The plane's actual antenna that picks up the signal from the transmitter is a small copper wire maybe a little over an inch long, attached to the receiver on the circuit board inside the plane. Now, obviously these lights on an rc plane are not for "navigation" in the same sense as they would be on a full size piloted plane. I mean, they're not meant to indicate right-of-way to other aircraft. Unless someone's flying these things WAY too close to an airport, shouldn't be any full size "real" aircraft anywhere nearby. But their purpose is for visual orientation from the ground. Red is left, green is right. Even in broad daylight and keeping a constant eye on these planes as it fly, you'd be surprised how easy it is to lose track of which direction they're going. On my old plane (HobbyZone Firebird Phantom, pictured earlier on this thread) I painted green stripes on the right wing and tail surfaces and red stripes on the left for that purpose. I only flew my old plane during the day. The green and red stripes helped but if it's really far out or high up there, it just appears as a silhouette against the sky, or sometimes just a white spot (even with the stripes the plane was mostly white) that sort of blended in with the clouds. However these lights are should be visible at night, even small as they are, from quite a long way.