Aircraft lighting systems are a very essential part of the aircraft systems. They provide lighting for both exterior and interior use.
Exterior lights provide lighting for such operations as landing at night, an inspection of icing conditions, and safety from a mid-air collision.
They fall into two general categories. The first is navigation or beacon lights that are always on while the aircraft is in operation, the second category includes takeoff and landing lights that are used to improve visibility when the plane is close to or on the ground.
The type, purpose, and complexity of the lighting systems installed on the exterior of a particular aircraft vary in accordance with its size, role, and normal flight environment.
External lights, in general terms, serve one of three purposes:
· to make the aircraft more visible to other aircraft,
· to improve pilot visibility during critical phases of flight
· to provide illumination for some other specific purposes eg search and rescue.
Navigation Lights
Most modern aircraft are equipped with a steady light near the leading edge of each wingtip. When facing forward from the perspective of the pilot, the light on the right wingtip (starboard) is green, and that on the left wing (port) is red, and atop the vertical stabilizer is white light. These different colors make it possible for an observer to determine which direction the plane is flying. These navigation lights are especially useful during nighttime night.
Beacon Lights
The aircraft beacon lights are red and either flash or rotate to provide a pulsating warning light. They are normally installed in pairs with one on the top of the fuselage and the other on the bottom. The beacon is normally turned on prior to engine start and turned off after engines have been shut down.
Strobe Lights
These are high-intensity white lights that flash at regular intervals. They are positioned near the trailing edge of the wingtips and may also be installed on the tail of the aircraft.
. They are turned on when entering an active runway for takeoff and turned off when leaving the runway after landing.
Strobe lights can also be used to provide additional visibility when crossing an active runway during ground maneuvering.
Taxi Lights
Taxi lights are medium intensity lights that may be mounted on the nose landing gear strut, in the aircraft nose, or at the wing roots. They are used to provide lighting on the taxiway during ground operations.
Runway Turnoff Lights
They are similar to taxi lights except that they are mounted on an angle pointing to the left and right of the aircraft's nose. These lights illuminate taxiways or obstacles on either side of the aircraft.
Landing Lights
Landing lights are high-intensity lights used to provide lighting of the runway surface for takeoff and landing, it also facilitates the visibility of the aircraft to other pilots. These lights can be mounted on the wings, landing gear strut, or the fuselage.
Landing lights are either switched on when entering the active runway or upon receipt of takeoff clearance.
Where the ( AO M ) Aerodrome operating minima (this is a criterion used by pilots to determine whether they may land or take off from any runway ) allows, landing lights are normally turned off as the aircraft climbs through 10,000 and are turned on again as it descends through 10,000 on approach.
Wing Inspection Lights
Wing inspection lights are mounted in the fuselage and are aimed to illuminate the leading edge of the wing and the engine mounting. They are often used during hours of darkness for aircraft preflight inspection and for illumination during engine start.
Ice Detection Probe Light
Some aircraft are fitted with a visual ice detection probe which is normally mounted between the windshields. In some installations, the probe is internally or externally lit to enable the pilots to see any ice accumulation occurring during hours of darkness.
Logo Lights
Logo lights are generally mounted on the upper surface of the horizontal stabilizer and are aimed to illuminate the Company markings on the tail of the aircraft.
There are other aircraft lighting systems that are used and I will be sure to cover these in the coming days. including aircraft emergency lighting and interior lighting.
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