Light signals

[BackPacker]

18greens - that's all I remember too!
I learnt them just enough to pass my PStar exam then promptly forgot them

I now remember I was visiting a tower somewhere a while ago. They had one of these signal lamps (with quite a layer of dust on them, I might add). And they had a nice little crib sheet attached to the lamp that listed all the light signals.

So it's not just pilots who promptly forget the signals after their exams. It's the ATCOs too.

[India Four Two]

They had one of these signal lamps (with quite a layer of dust on them, I might add)

Backpacker, you've reminded me of a night-flight as passenger in a friend's C140. The radio failed enroute so when we arrived, he did a circuit and go-around to attract the attention of the tower - there was no other traffic. After the second go-around, with still no signals, he landed off the third approach. Later when phoning the tower to report in, the controller apologized for not giving us any signals. He said that the lamp had been unused for so long, that it fell apart when he picked it up!

[RTN11]

Depends where you do your night rating, but when I'm teaching one I always try to get the tower to give us the light signals, usually some red so we fly a go-around then green to land, just to show the student what it looks like and where to look at their home field.

It's surprising just how difficult it is to see, especially the red one when there are probably already a few red lights on top of the various obstacles around.

[Sir George Cayley]

Try this for size CAP 637: Visual Aids Handbook | Publications | About the CAA

SGC

[pudoc]

I've filled an A5 folder with loads of useful stuff that I will probably forget, it just sits in my flight bag until I need it.

I have things like light signals, morse code, marshalling signals, VMC minima etc. It's not an excuse for not knowing it but it's better than not knowing it and not having a reference on board.

[abgd]

Learn them, forget them, then learn them again a few times over. Eventually they'll sink in. I keep my air law book in the flight bag, and read over a list of things I read every time I fly, simply because I know there are certain things like signal squares and light signals I'm prone to forgetting.

My impression is that even CPLs and flight instructors are prone to forgetting certain things - this being one of them. The only time I've seen a flashing red light, the pilot I was with promptly stopped the aircraft, whereas in fact it means 'move clear of the runway'. Luckily, we were already clear of the runway. Perhaps the tower had the signals mixed up - why else would they have shone a flashing red light at us when we were already clearly off the runway?

[JAKL]

I might of missed it in the earlier posts, but have any of you noticed the morse code printed in the bottom right hand corner of the half mil chart?

As for the lights, you only have to remember that the flashing lights are different to the traffic lights you use everyday, if you drive that is.

Red for stop or giveaway (circling unless rotary)
Green for go. Flashing green is inbetween so join in (the pattern/circuit)
Flash red you'll end up dead, so p... Off.