Aircraft External Lighting
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Join Date: Aug 2003
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Aircraft External Lighting
Hi,
i am doing some research into aircraft lighting and would appreciate any help with the following questions.
1. Where can I find info on arcs of visibility and required intensity of aircraft navigation lights in OZ? (CARs AIP??)
2. What lights are dispayed on aircraft during the various phases of flight - i.e. taxi, take off, cruise, descent and landing and when are they selected?
3. Do pilots use port and starboard nav lights for separation with other aircraft OCTA?
4. Is there any difference in the answers to 1,2,3 between lighties and larger RPT/Transport aircraft?
thanks in advance
i am doing some research into aircraft lighting and would appreciate any help with the following questions.
1. Where can I find info on arcs of visibility and required intensity of aircraft navigation lights in OZ? (CARs AIP??)
2. What lights are dispayed on aircraft during the various phases of flight - i.e. taxi, take off, cruise, descent and landing and when are they selected?
3. Do pilots use port and starboard nav lights for separation with other aircraft OCTA?
4. Is there any difference in the answers to 1,2,3 between lighties and larger RPT/Transport aircraft?
thanks in advance
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Oz
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See if i can shed some light for you.
1. Can't help there.
2. Varies as to what type of aircraft (GA vs airliner etc) but roughly it is as follows: -
Always:- nav lights (red and green on wingtips), anti-collision strobe (usually red - can be white on some US built military aircraft)
Taxi: add taxi lights
Takeoff and landing: add taxi lights and landing lights, wingtip white strobes
Cruise and Descent: nav, anti-coll and wingtip white strobes only
I believe some airliners turn on the inboard wing landing lights on descent aswell.
A lot of GA operators will leave their landing lights on for added visibility all the time when airborne (ie in high density training areas etc).
At night, some large aircraft and military aircraft will not turn on the landing lights until late on finals, as this can actually cause disorientation to other aircraft in the circuit.
3. Yes, to an extent. Usually low performance GA traffic at night, as any high performance aircraft will separate itself vertically or laterally as they will generally be IFR.
4. Yes, lighties generally only have one landing light (no taxi lights), anti-coll and nav lights (no wingtip strobes, generally).
Large aircraft can have a number of sets of landing lights (inboard wing, outboard wing, wingtips, main gear and nose gear) etc, with some being retractable and some being fixed in the wing root etc.
1. Can't help there.
2. Varies as to what type of aircraft (GA vs airliner etc) but roughly it is as follows: -
Always:- nav lights (red and green on wingtips), anti-collision strobe (usually red - can be white on some US built military aircraft)
Taxi: add taxi lights
Takeoff and landing: add taxi lights and landing lights, wingtip white strobes
Cruise and Descent: nav, anti-coll and wingtip white strobes only
I believe some airliners turn on the inboard wing landing lights on descent aswell.
A lot of GA operators will leave their landing lights on for added visibility all the time when airborne (ie in high density training areas etc).
At night, some large aircraft and military aircraft will not turn on the landing lights until late on finals, as this can actually cause disorientation to other aircraft in the circuit.
3. Yes, to an extent. Usually low performance GA traffic at night, as any high performance aircraft will separate itself vertically or laterally as they will generally be IFR.
4. Yes, lighties generally only have one landing light (no taxi lights), anti-coll and nav lights (no wingtip strobes, generally).
Large aircraft can have a number of sets of landing lights (inboard wing, outboard wing, wingtips, main gear and nose gear) etc, with some being retractable and some being fixed in the wing root etc.
For G.A. Ops
1. They are in the CAR's. I won't do all your project research for you. I am sure you can find them yourself. 
They state the angles, and give you the reference where to find the intensities.
2. Usual procedure is beacon on prior to Engine Start.
Day: strobes on entering rwy, ldg lights depending on traffic and company ops.
Night: nav lights on prior to taxi. Taxi lights for taxi (
) and landing lights for for take off. Strobes on entering runway and off leaving rwy.
Turbine a/c may have recognition lights under each wing (basically another landing light) these are usually turned on for take off, and off thru 10000', and on thru 10000' on descent (depends on the company). Landing and Taxi lights are often mounted on the Nosewheel (kingair) so not much good when the wheels are retracted!
Some aircraft have Logo (tail) lights. These I display at night for greater visibility. I use them for the same period of time as the strobes. I might turn them off when making a night descent into a dark place with no traffic around as the lights reflect off the tail and light up the wing which can be distracting to night vision.
N.B. it's bad airmanship to taxi around with your strobes on when clear of the runway as it blinds people (and may overheat the globes without the cooling airflow, but I am not sure about that).
3. OCTA - well it's pretty hard to use just the nav lights for separation. You'd be better off with the strobes. you can see then a long way further away and also they are brighter. The other problem with using them for separation is that the human eye cannot differentiate between a faint light close by or a bright light a long way away. Can be confusing.
4. Cannot talk about a boeing. I suggest you take a walk around your local flying school to see what lights are on 172s etc, then trawl through airliners.net and find out what lights are on a 747.
They state the angles, and give you the reference where to find the intensities.2. Usual procedure is beacon on prior to Engine Start.
Day: strobes on entering rwy, ldg lights depending on traffic and company ops.
Night: nav lights on prior to taxi. Taxi lights for taxi (
) and landing lights for for take off. Strobes on entering runway and off leaving rwy.Turbine a/c may have recognition lights under each wing (basically another landing light) these are usually turned on for take off, and off thru 10000', and on thru 10000' on descent (depends on the company). Landing and Taxi lights are often mounted on the Nosewheel (kingair) so not much good when the wheels are retracted!
Some aircraft have Logo (tail) lights. These I display at night for greater visibility. I use them for the same period of time as the strobes. I might turn them off when making a night descent into a dark place with no traffic around as the lights reflect off the tail and light up the wing which can be distracting to night vision.
N.B. it's bad airmanship to taxi around with your strobes on when clear of the runway as it blinds people (and may overheat the globes without the cooling airflow, but I am not sure about that).
3. OCTA - well it's pretty hard to use just the nav lights for separation. You'd be better off with the strobes. you can see then a long way further away and also they are brighter. The other problem with using them for separation is that the human eye cannot differentiate between a faint light close by or a bright light a long way away. Can be confusing.
4. Cannot talk about a boeing. I suggest you take a walk around your local flying school to see what lights are on 172s etc, then trawl through airliners.net and find out what lights are on a 747.
