White - Red STROBE LIGHTS and Anti-Col Lights
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White - Red STROBE LIGHTS and Anti-Col Lights
Helicopter safety is paramount and if all helicopters were fitted with White and Red Strobe lights (white on when away from persons, ie. red on when in the vacinity of people) as the standard rather than the dismal red anti-col lights the see and be seen would be very much enhanced.
From investigation it would seem that there are 'Authorities' around the world which do not allow white strobe lights to be fitted at all.
Do you have white/red strobes fitted?
If not why not?
Or do you use your landing light to enhance being seen?
From investigation it would seem that there are 'Authorities' around the world which do not allow white strobe lights to be fitted at all.
Do you have white/red strobes fitted?
If not why not?
Or do you use your landing light to enhance being seen?
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Landing lights are your friend...
I use landing lights quite often... a few miles out from airports until I'm in the pattern, whenever I hear "no contact," whenever I call "no contact" because I don't have visual with last reported position of other aircraft, whenever I'm on a helicopter route and I know another helicopter is coming opposite direction on the same route (even though we call altitudes and usually each aircraft is on the RIGHT side of the route - usually follows a road), whenver departing airfields while traffic is inbound (I rarely use the flight strip), whenever departing a confined area, etc. When in doubt... whip it out!
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This brings up the valid point not just about the aircraft but the pilots too... I notice in the UK that most pilots don't seem to bother with position lights in the day (even when conditions are poor) , don't use the landing light at all, and often even if white strobes are fitted don't bother using them either!
My personal preferance is to always have the position lights on, white flashers if fitted when airborne, and landing light on when coming into land or if ATC pass possible conflicting traffic info... Can never have too many lights!
My personal preferance is to always have the position lights on, white flashers if fitted when airborne, and landing light on when coming into land or if ATC pass possible conflicting traffic info... Can never have too many lights!
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On our 206 we have two red strobes, one on the tail fin, one on the belly we also have two white strobes on the horizontal stabs and i always use my nav lights.
Im in the opinion of Rickster, i will always use my landing light when approaching an ala, in reduced visibility situation where there is known traffic.
especially now here in OZ where we have a new airspace system which basically means there is no chatter between Vfr on area freq there has been a great emphasis put on seen and be seen.
Im in the opinion of Rickster, i will always use my landing light when approaching an ala, in reduced visibility situation where there is known traffic.
especially now here in OZ where we have a new airspace system which basically means there is no chatter between Vfr on area freq there has been a great emphasis put on seen and be seen.
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If ya got em, use em. But I minimise the landing light theory as they tend to burn out quickily.
I don't understand pilots that don't use any strobe white or red, in my opinion the only time they should be off (subject to one's personal prefference is at night whilst taxing, and at night in cloud.
Having said that I like to leave them on for night ops as they alert you when your in cloud. 'And the ice can follow quickily afterwards'.
If I'm operating in any airport enviroment I will operate all lights avaiable, 1st battery on with the tail fin red strobe and 2nd once the gene is on so are all the strobes and position lights.....not the landing lights. As I said above minimal use of these, sava'em for when you need'em.
Shocking watching a pilot sitting in their helo with landing lights blaring away. All unawares of whats happening, whilst doing pre-start and t/o checks.
Position lights don't do much during a clear and sunny day, but if catches someone attenchion then fantastic.
I think all oft the above is very important if operating in a nosy enviroment, such as around other helicopters and aircraft with apu's running,
I don't understand pilots that don't use any strobe white or red, in my opinion the only time they should be off (subject to one's personal prefference is at night whilst taxing, and at night in cloud.
Having said that I like to leave them on for night ops as they alert you when your in cloud. 'And the ice can follow quickily afterwards'.
If I'm operating in any airport enviroment I will operate all lights avaiable, 1st battery on with the tail fin red strobe and 2nd once the gene is on so are all the strobes and position lights.....not the landing lights. As I said above minimal use of these, sava'em for when you need'em.
Shocking watching a pilot sitting in their helo with landing lights blaring away. All unawares of whats happening, whilst doing pre-start and t/o checks.
Position lights don't do much during a clear and sunny day, but if catches someone attenchion then fantastic.
I think all oft the above is very important if operating in a nosy enviroment, such as around other helicopters and aircraft with apu's running,
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OXI mentions strobes in clouds which brings up something called "Flicker Vertigo".....Look that one up its interesting. I have seen it during IFR approaches in soup at night in a UH-1. White Strobes off at night in the clouds for sure....
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I agree with B Sousa, but I'll turn them off if I'm in solid cloud and usually always if conducting an approach. I find they do help when you are in a very dark night enviroment, but yes you must be aware of the strobe effect and vertigo.
At my place of work, we turn off the Strobes at night, sometimes even turn off the red rotating beacon, and will consider even turning off the nav lights. Landing lights are an absolute no-no. We have absolutely no trouble seeing other air traffic....actually we can see way too many ...too far away.....almost creates a distraction. We also turn off the instrument and console lights too.....
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We have red strobes on the belly and tail and white strobes next to the nav lights.
Generally all are on day and night. I work on the "see and be seen" principle.
The landing light goes on when we're on shore and in an area of possible/ known traffic.
The white strobes go off in cloud, but if the other aircraft is close enough to see the strobes in cloud he's too close anyway!!
Generally all are on day and night. I work on the "see and be seen" principle.
The landing light goes on when we're on shore and in an area of possible/ known traffic.
The white strobes go off in cloud, but if the other aircraft is close enough to see the strobes in cloud he's too close anyway!!
Let's define our terms. An "anti-collision light" may be either a rotating beacon, pulsing light (think older Cessna), or a strobe, depending on which the manufacturer chose when he certified the aircraft. In the case of the civilian Bell 206, the anti-collision light is a strobe on top of the vertical fin.
Back in the 1970's, I did a study of auxiliary strobe light systems because the 206's we were operating in a very high-traffic area only had that dinky little vertical fin strobe. I discovered that putting a red lens over a white strobe light decreases its effective brightness by about 75%. Obviously, white is the way to go, which is why nobody offers red auxiliary strobes anymore. We went with the combination strobe/position light units mounted on the ends of the horizontal stab.
Whelen even came up with a half-red/half-white cap for the anti-collision light on the 206 (and other a/c that used a similar unit). Only God knows how many thousands of aircraft ended up with those new and improved lens covers over the years.
Until the FAA finally got around to noticing...
Oops! This explains why, in the mid-1990's, the FAA began insisting that all of those half-red/half-white lens covers be removed and the "standard" all-red covers be re-installed. I thought it was a giant step backward at the time, and still do to this day.
You may put as many white extra strobes on your aircraft as you like, as long as the certified anti-collision light is red.
It's always amusing to me to see helicopter pilots start up their ships at night on dark ramps with either no lights at all showing or just the anti-collision light (strobe). Don't they know the rules? U.S. FAR part-91 requires position lights anytime you operate an aircraft at night. (And for some reason, the FAA requires that if your a/c is equipped with an anti-collision light system, it must be on at all times, day or night. Go figure.)
I like lights. I particularly like having a "headlight" burning when I approach busy terminals. Ideally, the helicopter should have a forward-facing "taxi" light that can be used as a recognition light, and a downward-pointing landing light which should only be used at night, when landing.
Back in the 1970's, I did a study of auxiliary strobe light systems because the 206's we were operating in a very high-traffic area only had that dinky little vertical fin strobe. I discovered that putting a red lens over a white strobe light decreases its effective brightness by about 75%. Obviously, white is the way to go, which is why nobody offers red auxiliary strobes anymore. We went with the combination strobe/position light units mounted on the ends of the horizontal stab.
Whelen even came up with a half-red/half-white cap for the anti-collision light on the 206 (and other a/c that used a similar unit). Only God knows how many thousands of aircraft ended up with those new and improved lens covers over the years.
Until the FAA finally got around to noticing...
§27.1401 Anticollision light system.
(a) General. If certification for night operation is requested, the rotorcraft must have an anticollision light system that (snip) --
(d) Color. Each anticollision light must be aviation red and must meet the applicable requirements of § 27.1397.
(a) General. If certification for night operation is requested, the rotorcraft must have an anticollision light system that (snip) --
(d) Color. Each anticollision light must be aviation red and must meet the applicable requirements of § 27.1397.
You may put as many white extra strobes on your aircraft as you like, as long as the certified anti-collision light is red.
It's always amusing to me to see helicopter pilots start up their ships at night on dark ramps with either no lights at all showing or just the anti-collision light (strobe). Don't they know the rules? U.S. FAR part-91 requires position lights anytime you operate an aircraft at night. (And for some reason, the FAA requires that if your a/c is equipped with an anti-collision light system, it must be on at all times, day or night. Go figure.)
I like lights. I particularly like having a "headlight" burning when I approach busy terminals. Ideally, the helicopter should have a forward-facing "taxi" light that can be used as a recognition light, and a downward-pointing landing light which should only be used at night, when landing.
Yes Bert, there is a message....I fly one of those legendary "Black" helicopters...dark gray actually with black belly and trim. In our small piece of turf, we wish not to be seen at times but we do retain the ability to see others. On NVG's....other aircraft cockpit lights are easy enough to see, position lights really stand out....and we can see strobes from maybe 200 miles away. On a clear night, we can watch the airliners lining up for two major airports in two other states. It makes for quite a show.
When in "normal" situations we too use all of our lights to include the landing lights for recognition purposes. Our aircraft is equipped with white strobes, red anti-collision lights, and nav lights. In a pinch, we could also turn on the Nightsun and shine a wee 30 million candlepower white light towards someone. You would have to be an OLOG management type not to see that kind of light.
When in "normal" situations we too use all of our lights to include the landing lights for recognition purposes. Our aircraft is equipped with white strobes, red anti-collision lights, and nav lights. In a pinch, we could also turn on the Nightsun and shine a wee 30 million candlepower white light towards someone. You would have to be an OLOG management type not to see that kind of light.
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I keep the landing light or searchlight on all the time, from takeoff to landing, in the daytime. I want people to see me coming. At night, I turn it off when I'm outside the traffic pattern or away from most potential traffic, because it hurts my night vision. I keep all the strobes that are installed on all the time, unless I'm in clouds. I want everyone in the sky to see me, I don't want to sneak up on anyone. If the landing light burns out, my employer has plenty of money to buy more. Better to buy a landing light than a new helicopter and pilots, and lights are the best things available for preventing collisions.
In a past life, I flew formation flights and landings with no outside lights at all, using the instrument lights of the ship I was flying on to maintain position, and landing in formation with no lights anywhere, other than one handheld strobe the pathfinder used to mark the landing area for the lead ship. I still can't believe I was once so young and stupid.
Oh, and PF1, some helicopters can't be started with the nav lights on. On the S76, they don't work until you have at least one engine running. Don't blame me, I didn't design the electrical system on the thing.
In a past life, I flew formation flights and landings with no outside lights at all, using the instrument lights of the ship I was flying on to maintain position, and landing in formation with no lights anywhere, other than one handheld strobe the pathfinder used to mark the landing area for the lead ship. I still can't believe I was once so young and stupid.
Oh, and PF1, some helicopters can't be started with the nav lights on. On the S76, they don't work until you have at least one engine running. Don't blame me, I didn't design the electrical system on the thing.
Last edited by Gomer Pylot; 14th Dec 2003 at 14:45.
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I think the UK also still requires an anti collision light for helicopters to be red. As far as I know, navigation lights are only mandatory by night here, they are all but useles by day anyway.
I try to use my own good judgement as to which lights should be on, the brighter the better in most circumstances.
A good few years ago the RAF began to fit selectable combined red/white strobe anti-colls to Puma aircraft, replacing the older filament type. I flew the first aircraft fitted with one back to UK from Germany. On arrival at Manston, ATC told me to switch the red strobe off whilst taxying, as it was too bright in their opinion, even by day! I explained that it was either that or the even brighter white one, that's all we had.
We used to use the white mode away from the circuit, as it was far brighter, red was selected with the pre-landing checks. We liked to use the searchlight at low level as it reduced the chances of a birdstrike.
The HISLs on the a/c I fly these days are so bright they light up the ground by night from 2000ft, you could probably take photos by them! They aren't supposed to be used at night or IMC as the reflections into the aircraft are disorientating to the crew and possibly make some pax fall to the floor, twitch and pee their pants.
I try to use my own good judgement as to which lights should be on, the brighter the better in most circumstances.
A good few years ago the RAF began to fit selectable combined red/white strobe anti-colls to Puma aircraft, replacing the older filament type. I flew the first aircraft fitted with one back to UK from Germany. On arrival at Manston, ATC told me to switch the red strobe off whilst taxying, as it was too bright in their opinion, even by day! I explained that it was either that or the even brighter white one, that's all we had.
We used to use the white mode away from the circuit, as it was far brighter, red was selected with the pre-landing checks. We liked to use the searchlight at low level as it reduced the chances of a birdstrike.
The HISLs on the a/c I fly these days are so bright they light up the ground by night from 2000ft, you could probably take photos by them! They aren't supposed to be used at night or IMC as the reflections into the aircraft are disorientating to the crew and possibly make some pax fall to the floor, twitch and pee their pants.
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The JAR' regulation are:
JAR-OPS 3.640 - Helicopter operating lights
Date: February 1, 1999
An operator shall not operate a helicopter unless it is equipped with:
(a) For flight by day:
(1) Anti-collision light system;
(2) Lighting supplied from the helicopter's electrical system to provide adequate illumination for all instruments and equipment essential to the safe operation of the helicopter;
(3) Lighting supplied from the helicopter's electrical system to provide illumination in all passenger compartments; and
(4) An electric torch for each required crew member readily accessible to crew members when seated at their designated station.
(b) For flight by night, in addition to equipment specified in paragraph (a) above:
(1) Navigation/position lights; and
(2) Two landing lights of which at least one is adjustable in flight so as to illuminate the ground in front of and below the helicopter and the ground on either side of the helicopter; and
(3) Lights to conform with the International regulations for preventing collisions at sea if the helicopter is amphibious.
JAR-OPS 3.640 - Helicopter operating lights
Date: February 1, 1999
An operator shall not operate a helicopter unless it is equipped with:
(a) For flight by day:
(1) Anti-collision light system;
(2) Lighting supplied from the helicopter's electrical system to provide adequate illumination for all instruments and equipment essential to the safe operation of the helicopter;
(3) Lighting supplied from the helicopter's electrical system to provide illumination in all passenger compartments; and
(4) An electric torch for each required crew member readily accessible to crew members when seated at their designated station.
(b) For flight by night, in addition to equipment specified in paragraph (a) above:
(1) Navigation/position lights; and
(2) Two landing lights of which at least one is adjustable in flight so as to illuminate the ground in front of and below the helicopter and the ground on either side of the helicopter; and
(3) Lights to conform with the International regulations for preventing collisions at sea if the helicopter is amphibious.
GNZ....does that mean the S-61 with its amphibious boat hull...and the CH-47 Chinook being certified for amphibious operations....that they must have different lights in addition to those required for mere aerial navigation? Do they have to display other signals and flags if they shut down upon the water?
What would those lights and signals be I wonder?
What would those lights and signals be I wonder?
Why don't pilots keep their landing lights on ALL THE TIME
Why keep them off with the associated risk of being less conspicuous? especially if you aren't paying for the odd filament now and again??
I fly with all lights ON during the day, reds at night....
[And no, I'm not one of those posers who drives everywhere with fog lights glaring either
]
Why keep them off with the associated risk of being less conspicuous? especially if you aren't paying for the odd filament now and again??
I fly with all lights ON during the day, reds at night....
[And no, I'm not one of those posers who drives everywhere with fog lights glaring either
]
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GNZ:
You are quoting from an out of date JAR-OPS 3: Amendment 2 at 01.01.02 modified this text so that only (a)(1) anti-collision light was required by day, other elements are now required at night only.
You are quoting from an out of date JAR-OPS 3: Amendment 2 at 01.01.02 modified this text so that only (a)(1) anti-collision light was required by day, other elements are now required at night only.
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And within the next 10 years . . .
50 years flying and I have yet to credit first-detection of another aircraft in daytime to its strobe light(s). My vision checks OK during physicals; but nonetheless, I consistently spot other aircraft as micro-dark-objects against the background rather than as flashing strobes. Later the strobes become visible.
I know I'm abnormal in several other regards (most of them secret, but all those women are lying), but does anybody else find daytime strobes irrelevant?
Landing lights are a completely different thing. THEY really stand out. Especially the pulse-lite system.
But only if the attacking aircraft happens to be pointed at your face. Which is, of course, when you most need to see them; but there are numerous cases of midair collisions occurring when pilots were looking THE WRONG WAY trying to spot called traffic indistinguishable from the side, and got blindsided by the other traffic coming from where they weren't looking.
SO: once the FAA catches on to the new opportunity to make headlines promoting safety, I predict we'll be outfitting all newly certified aircraft (if not the entire fleet) with incandescent spotlights/floods POINTING IN ALL DIRECTIONS. Four should do it, maybe six? And, if they spec them for lower intensity/longer filament life, they will probably be required ON at all times during the day. Nighttime? What's your guess?
Remember, you saw it on PPRUNE first!
By the way, does anybody else find that other aircraft are MORE visible (against a gray featureless background) during restricted visibility (1-3 miles), and become extremely difficult to spot in severe clear? I can't quite understand why everybody talks about greater collision risk during restricted visibility. Missing something?
I know I'm abnormal in several other regards (most of them secret, but all those women are lying), but does anybody else find daytime strobes irrelevant?
Landing lights are a completely different thing. THEY really stand out. Especially the pulse-lite system.
But only if the attacking aircraft happens to be pointed at your face. Which is, of course, when you most need to see them; but there are numerous cases of midair collisions occurring when pilots were looking THE WRONG WAY trying to spot called traffic indistinguishable from the side, and got blindsided by the other traffic coming from where they weren't looking.
SO: once the FAA catches on to the new opportunity to make headlines promoting safety, I predict we'll be outfitting all newly certified aircraft (if not the entire fleet) with incandescent spotlights/floods POINTING IN ALL DIRECTIONS. Four should do it, maybe six? And, if they spec them for lower intensity/longer filament life, they will probably be required ON at all times during the day. Nighttime? What's your guess?
Remember, you saw it on PPRUNE first!
By the way, does anybody else find that other aircraft are MORE visible (against a gray featureless background) during restricted visibility (1-3 miles), and become extremely difficult to spot in severe clear? I can't quite understand why everybody talks about greater collision risk during restricted visibility. Missing something?