Questions tagged [aircraft-external-lights]

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Odd aircraft lights. 3 long warm white/yellow rectangle lights- solid, not blinking

Lights seen in busy commercial air traffic zone over Essex County MA at 7-7:15pm in a North/NW heading, approximately 320-330degrees. Unlike the other traffic,this was completely silent from the ...
MA Air's user avatar
  • 11
2 votes
1 answer
328 views

Logo light source placement on CRJ 900

I understand that for most commercial aircraft, the source of the logo lights originates from the horizontal stabilizer which is projected onto the vertical stabilizer. However, I don't see how this ...
Israel O. Emmanuel's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
872 views

Why are beacon lights used in conjunction with strobe and navigation lights in flight?

Strobe lights are much brighter and easier to see than beacon lights while in flight—it’s their function. Beacon lights are useful on the ground to indicate engines are running, but what is their use ...
Charles Nicholson's user avatar
23 votes
2 answers
9k views

Why did the SR-71 Blackbird have a light on its top?

What's the reason a military/reconaissance plane would have a light on top of its roof? The SR-71 was the highest-flying airbreathing plane, after all. There was little danger from any collision from ...
Giovanni's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
128 views

Which external lights are present on a unmodified Cessna P210N?

What external lights are present on a unmodified Cessna P210N "Pressurized Centurion", and where are they placed ? I've looked through the POH and searched on Google for e.g. "cessna ...
TheEagle's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
1k views

Aircraft with large, double orange lights at night

Question: I saw an aircraft flying over, about two hours after sunset with a pair of bright, large, constantly on, orange lights. I'm wondering what kind of aircraft this could have been. More details:...
Dvaeer's user avatar
  • 161
4 votes
1 answer
3k views

What are the EASA external aircraft lighting requirements for day/night/VFR/IFR operations?

I have attempted to decipher the EASA rules related to non-commercial small aircraft external lighting requirements (for a pilot) for the various types of flight, and I can only find the MEL for ...
rs_atl's user avatar
  • 301
1 vote
0 answers
83 views

What regulations govern UAV lights in Australia?

I'm a member of a student aviation club at my university, and we're working on a UAV. The club member working on our drone's power supply system has designed a system that uses externally-visible LED ...
nick012000's user avatar
9 votes
4 answers
720 views

Why do some aircraft have multiple switches for the landing lights?

A question just popped into my mind: Why does an A320 overhead panel have 2 landing lights switches? What's the logic behind that? Why isn’t there only a single switch to turn on both landing lights?
KM320's user avatar
  • 349
3 votes
1 answer
2k views

What if one of the navigation lights failed to function on a certified aircraft?

What is the implication if one of the navigation lights failed to function, would it affect the airworthiness certificate of the aircraft?
amir iskandar's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
349 views

Do airplanes or helicopters ever fly at night using only white navigation lights?

I've been trying to figure out if airplanes or helicopters ever fly at night with only white Nav Lights. See this UAV video taken on July 12, 2015, 05:38 AM Pacific time in San Francisco, CA, USA.
Maria Elena's user avatar
24 votes
2 answers
5k views

Placement of positioning lights on A320 winglets

I was flying with an A320-214 that had big winglets (I think they were called Sharklets). I noticed that the positioning lights were facing forward on the leading edge of the winglet (the "notch" in ...
Jens's user avatar
  • 641
3 votes
3 answers
3k views

Do you need a rotating beacon if you have strobes?

If I were to replace my left nav light with a SkyBeacon ADS-B + strobe, could I remove the rotating beacon at the top of the tail?
Zaz's user avatar
  • 1,559
0 votes
2 answers
652 views

Are helicopter searchlights fixed or movable?

Can the helicopter crew move the helicopter searchlights or are they always fixed at a specific location on the helicopter? They are used by rescue helicopters mostly but I am not sure if crew can ...
NitinG's user avatar
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5 votes
3 answers
535 views

Are aircraft being fitted with brighter anti-collision lights?

I live and work near to DFW airport. Yesterday, I noticed an inbound jet with obviously brighter strobes (anti-collision lights) than any other jet I've seen before. (I believe this was an American ...
JK not Just Kidding's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
3k views

What aircraft has a single constant orange light? [closed]

I live under a fly path in Oldham near Manchester and I see planes passing by every day/night as they approach the airport. However today around 21.20 I have seen something different too. A plane ...
Csaba's user avatar
  • 9
24 votes
1 answer
3k views

What's the red light in the left wing of a N.A. T-6 for?

There's a yearly flight show near my location, and there's always this North American T-6 (D-FUKK): Today, I noticed that there's a single white light in the leading edge of the right wing, but a ...
sweber's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
10k views

What aircraft has this pattern of white strobe lights?

Just two nights ago, my brother and I noticed a weird flashing light in the night sky out in the countryside. We regularly observe by naked eye aircraft flying by, as well as satellites, and this ...
Lefteris's user avatar
10 votes
3 answers
9k views

Is it unusual for an aircraft to flash its landing lights in sequence?

Walking this evening I looked up and saw a plane which I assumed was on approach to Liverpool John Lennon. When I looked carefully I could see that as well as the anti-collision strobes it was ...
GrandMasterFlush's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
2k views

Is it a mistake or standard procedure to lit the landing lights only on very short final?

Yesterday I was spotting at Barcelona International (LEBL). I noticed that at least two airliners were approaching with their landing lights OFF, just to light them on very short final (about 0.4NM ...
orique's user avatar
  • 1,550
3 votes
3 answers
828 views

MD81: Why are there so many lights on the fuselage?

Looking at this photo I can see lots of lights on the fuselage of this MD81. It can't be a reflection, can it? Source: Airliners.net Why are there so many lights?
user13197's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
11k views

Airplane Strobe Light Pattern? [duplicate]

I saw this question on Google Plus and it seems to be a good question to put here. Is there a flash pattern for the strobe lights? I think I've read that Airbus has ~2 flashes/sec and Boeing has ~...
SMS von der Tann's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
54k views

What is the diffference between landing lights, taxi lights and external lights? [duplicate]

A comment on this website along with an answer for the same question added confusion to my mind. Before reading this, I thought taxi lights and landing lights were the same, which seems to be true is ...
Manu H's user avatar
  • 16.5k
4 votes
1 answer
248 views

Do anti-collision lights in aircraft lose intensity over time?

Do anti-collision lights installed in aircraft lose their intensity over time and need to be replaced every few hundred hours of operation?
NitinG's user avatar
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