G-reg R22/44s night-lights
 

Do G-reg R22/44s still require the extra emergency night-lights mod to fly at night?

Recommended, but not technically required

Do you have that in a CAA document or an EASA document?

Recently did some night flying training (in a G-reg R44) and went over all the applicable night flight related rules with an instructor (don't know what he was reading from) However, I'm only speaking in regards to flying privately; not commercial.

On a side note, for those holding both EASA and FAA licenses, the "in-built" night flying privilege of the FAA license doesn’t work in UK as the UK FAA exemption includes the wording “DAY VFR only” – that I have directly from the CAA

Does that hold for Fâa pilots flying n reg helicopters.

I wouldn't have thought so, their aircraft, their licence.

Huh, so even with 350 hours of night in the R22 they'd say, sorry Yank, you ain't goin' nowheres 'till the Sun comes up?:sad:

Can anyone support this with some robust facts please?

Are those extra lights really of any use ? I can‘t believe they‘ll make much of a difference during an emergency.

I guess the clue is in the wording - they give “more” light😉
If that would help in an emergency depends on the kind of emergency I would think.

In the air, extra lights are useless. I switch off the landing light pretty quickly on climb. Off-airport landings at night are not allowed anyway where I fly. And on an airport, there is usually sufficient lighting. So for normal operations, there is no need for an extra pair of lights. They just create additional drag.

Jymil
I designed the R22/R44 emergency lights many years ago. Properly set up they work really well and complied with the strict CAA requirements at the time of certification. Conducted the certification test flying with Nigel Talbot, the then CAA Test pilot rotorcraft. Before the light modification we were not able to show the student the reality of an engine off/autorotation to the ground as we were not able to fire off the schermuly frare without prior approval, except in an emergency.
Keep your RPM in the green. D

I am just the opposite. I don't switch on the landing light until I'm at altitude. I feel up there it helps other trafffic see me. :E

Well, this is what the navigation lights were intended for.

Those aren't all that visible head on,...especially in a wee little chopper!

OP here, my original post was only about the regulation rather than who thinks what. Hoping that someone knows the rules...

I spoke further with an instructor over the weekend. In brief, it’s a technical “grey area” for the R44, but stated clearly for the R66. Upon the EASA certification of the R66, it is explicitly stated it is OK for night VFR in normal production form.

https://www.easa.europa.eu/system/fi...6_Issue_02.pdf

This being done for the R66, it was apparently implied that the same applies to the R44 (I don’t know of anything specifically written though). The result is that many R44 owners have subsequently removed their “night kits” to get back the weight/drag they incurred.