Light procedures

[EHM-0654 Murray]

Funilly enough, there is a minor thread running in the management forum about the light penalties, and it occurs to me that some of you may not know the procedures for aircraft lighting (I certainly didn't before I posted what follows as part of that thread).

Thanks to my FSPassengers install, here are the real-world light procedures that all aircraft must follow:

• Beacon must be turned ON when an engine is about to be started.
• Strobe and landing lights must be turned ON when you leave the taxi way and enter the active runway.
• Landing lights must be turned OFF above FL100 and ON under FL100.
• Strobe and landing light must be turned OFF when you enter the taxi way after landing.
• Beacon must be turned OFF only after you have shut down all the engines.
• Nav light must be ON during the entire flight.

If you follow these to the letter, you should never suffer a penalty for lighting. :)

[EHM-1343 Jonathan]

Nice one Murray, This is a great help...this is the procedure for every plane?
:s

[EHM-1507 Manuel]

Oh, that goes out to me, too.

At during decent I´m so busy with planning the approach and landing, so i forget almost every time to turn on LDG.
Thanks for the info about the strobes, I didn´t know!!!


I´ll try to improve that in future!

Greets!

Manu

[EHM-0654 Murray]

Iain,

As far as I can find out, that is a world-wide procedure for all aircraft. I'm not 100% about how aircraft with combined beacon/strobe should be handled (I'd assume ON before engine start/OFF after engine shutdown)

Furthermore, as the Flogger currently has no way of knowing if you are on a taxiway or the runway, it treats strobe as beacon, and landing lights in much the same way. If you don't have FSPassengers, work to the FLoggers rules - strobe and landing on before engine start...

And don't commit the current FLogger behaviour to memory, the next version will work a little differently (closer to real world), and will have a full description of what it expects for lighting.

[EHM-1617 Iain]

Thanks for that Murray - but what exactly is meant by Nav light 'the whole flight'? I have always done them before pushback, after start. Is that what is meant or should it be before startup?

Anyway, I'm off to control at the GB Online Night (IVAO), which incidently is every Friday 1800Z. Pilots are welcome, especially at Gatwick (EGKK) where I am controlling Director, hint hint :8

[EHM-0654 Murray]

[strike]I think that it's block-to-block for the NAV lights, regardless of engine state, but as always, don't quote me.

I've certainly never picked up a penalty from FSP for NAV lights, and I normally turn them on before engine start, off after shutdown.[/strike]

Well, half an hour skimming and searching through my "Big Boys and Girls Fun Book of Boeing 737's" (thanks again for that P-F) gives the following:

"Position (navigation) lights are to be ON any time the aircraft is powered."

In fact, the US airline whose AOM it is says the pilot should turn on the Pos lights prior to the external check (which for the 737 is, like, the first thing the FO is expected to do)

Can't get much more equivocal than that, I think.

[EHM-1617 Iain]

OK, cheers.

[EHM-0654 Murray]

*nudge for edit*

[EHM-1617 Iain]

So now you're saying basically even before the beacon? Basically any time that the aircraft is doing anything at all?

[EHM-0654 Murray]

If the aircraft has power (battery, ground, APU or engine), turn the POS/NAV lights on.

And for information only, said US carrier also mandates that at night the logo light is to be ON any time the aircraft is below 18,000ft and moving

[EHM-1617 Iain]

How quick are you?

Oh and check this for the comment line in an IVAO FP

"CANT READ TAXIWAY SIGNS / 5 TONS OF FINE CHEDDAR ON BOARD"

[EHM-1539 Pierre]

True, that 18000 feet logo light at night is quite the same for most airlines.
Combined beacon / strobe is often : red and white anticollision. In that case use red as beacon (lower) and white as strobe (upper / wings).

Glad you find those books fun murray :>
You are now a big boy