more lights
 

Which ligths do you turn on for landing and take off?

Is there a difference between day and night?

All aircraft that fly at night are fitted with:

• Position lights - steady green on the right wing, steady red on the left wing and a steady white light that can be seen from behind the aircraft, which may be located on either the tail or the wing, depending on the aircraft.
• An anti-collision light (A flashing red beacon) - used to warn people that the engine is running.
• A landing light or lights, which are like the headlights on a car - they pretty much shine straight ahead.

Large aircraft (like airliners), and some smaller aircraft, may also be fitted with:

• Strobes - bright flashing white lights to help in picking the aircraft out in the sky
• Taxi lights - a light that shines at a lower angle than the landing light, so you can see where you are going on the ground.
• Runway turn off lights - these shine out to the front left & right sides of the aircraft in order to see runway exits and the like.
• Logo lights - these are place on the wing or tailplane, and point back at the aircraft's vertical stabilizer to light up the airline's logo.
• Wing lights - these shine along the leading edge of the wing, so that the pilot can see if any ice has been collected.
• Passenger evacuation lights - these only work if the aircraft is being evacuated, and they illuminate the ground around the exits.

In airline operations day or night the anti-collision light operates any time that the engine is running and the strobes are operated any time that the aircraft is either on the runway or in flight. The landing light (and at night the logo light) is usually turned on below 10,000 to improve the visibility of the aircraft.

At night, the position lights are always on, the logo light (if fitted) is on while on the ground or in flight below 10,000 feet, the taxi light is used taxiing - when it isn't pointing at any ground staff, the landing light is turned on entering the runway for take-off and turned off exiting the runway after landing, and the other lights are used as required.

[ 16 October 2001: Message edited by: Checkboard ]