132 lines
6.9 KiB
Plaintext
132 lines
6.9 KiB
Plaintext
SUBJECT: AIRCRAFT LIGHTS: A EXPLAINATION FILE: UFO1579
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For Field Mutual UFO Network - MUFONET-BBS Network Copyright 1991
|
|
Investigators ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mutual UFO
|
|
THE INVESTIGATOR'S EDGE, No. 10 Network
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
AIRCRAFT LIGHTS: An Explanation
|
|
*By Ken Spencer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
March 2, 1991
|
|
|
|
Aircraft lights come in different sizes, shapes, and are used for several
|
|
different purposes. When first developed, aircraft lights were designed to
|
|
fulfill the same purpose as lights originally installed on boats or ships. A
|
|
sailor observing a ship moving on the open waters at night found it difficult
|
|
to determine its direction of travel or its position relative to his own. In
|
|
the interest of safety, lights were located on the port side (left), starboard
|
|
side (right), and one at the stern (aft) end of the ship. The colors of the
|
|
lights were red, green and white respectively. That way an individual
|
|
observing the ship from a distance would be able to easily determine how the
|
|
ship was positioned relative to the individual and also determine its
|
|
direction of travel. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) require that
|
|
aircraft have position or navigational lights configured in the same manner.
|
|
As the pilot faces forward in the cockpit, he would find a green light on his
|
|
right wing tip, a red light on his left wing tip and a white light on the
|
|
tail. These position lights are required to be on for all operations, ground
|
|
and flight, between the hours of official sunset and sunrise.
|
|
|
|
Aside from the position or navigational lights, a variety of other lights are
|
|
found on aircraft which may be of interest to those of us involved in the
|
|
field of U.F.O. Investigations. Let's take a minute to look at some of
|
|
these lights, their location on an aircraft and the situations under which
|
|
they might be used. We need to bear in mind, as we examine these lighting
|
|
systems, that aircraft vary in size and type of operation. We will therefore
|
|
restrict our examination to the more common lighting systems associated with
|
|
conventional aircraft.
|
|
|
|
|
|
ANTICOLLISION LIGHTS
|
|
|
|
Anticollision lights are used primarily to assist in assuring that an aircraft
|
|
is readily seen while on the ground or in flight. These lights are generally
|
|
mounted in the wing tips not far from the position lights. With most airline
|
|
operated aircraft these lights are white and are generally of the strobe
|
|
variety. Another type of anticollision light is red, (strobe, flashing,
|
|
oscillating or rotating beacon type) and is located on top and/or underneath
|
|
the fuselage (main body structure) of the aircraft. These lights are
|
|
generally on for all operations, ground and flight, day and night, below
|
|
18,000 feet. At night these lights are kept on regardless of altitude.
|
|
|
|
|
|
LANDING LIGHTS
|
|
|
|
The aircraft landing lights are used for both illumination of the
|
|
landing/take-off area as well as for collision avoidance in flight. Landing
|
|
lights, depending on the size and type of aircraft, can be mounted in a number
|
|
of locations. They can be located in the left and right leading edge of the
|
|
wings, on the nose gear strut, or in some cases are extended below the wings.
|
|
In the case of most airline operations these lights are generally on from
|
|
the time a takeoff clearance is issued until the aircraft reaches 18,000 feet
|
|
or from 18,000 feet until the aircraft clears the runway after landing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
RUNWAY TURNOFF LIGHTS
|
|
|
|
Runway turnoff lights, sometimes referred to as taxi lights, visually assist
|
|
the pilot at night when maneuvering between the terminal and the runway.
|
|
These lights are either mounted on the leading edge of the wings, on the nose
|
|
gear strut or some location which will provide sufficient illumination in
|
|
front of the aircraft. These lights are rarely operated while the aircraft is
|
|
in flight unless they are an integral part of the landing light system or
|
|
unless the pilot deems it necessary for safety reasons (i.e. additional
|
|
collision avoidance).
|
|
|
|
|
|
WING LIGHTS
|
|
|
|
In order to assist the pilot in viewing a section of the wing or engine
|
|
nacelles (engine enclosures), lights are flush mounted in the fuselage and
|
|
pointed outward in the appropriate direction. These lights would be operated
|
|
by the pilot when he wishes to inspect the wing section or engine in the event
|
|
of an abnormal situation such as icing or structural damage.
|
|
|
|
|
|
LOGO LIGHTS
|
|
|
|
Marketing people are always looking for creative ways to advertise or promote
|
|
a product. With the airline industry, one such creative genius led to the use
|
|
of logo lights on aircraft. These lights are usually mounted in the
|
|
horizontal stabilizer (horizontal part of the tail) pointing in the direction
|
|
of the vertical stabilizer (vertical part of the tail). Besides illuminating
|
|
the logo on the tail of the aircraft, the pilot uses the logo lights for an
|
|
additional means of collision avoidance. Most of the airlines require that
|
|
the logo lights, if installed and operational, be turned on continuously
|
|
between sunset and sunrise.
|
|
|
|
|
|
UTILITY LIGHTS
|
|
|
|
A number of other exterior lights may be installed on an aircraft such as
|
|
cargo door lights and emergency evacuation lights. The cargo door lights
|
|
illuminate the area around the cargo compartment and are generally used to
|
|
assist cargo/ramp agents in loading cargo into the aircraft. The normal
|
|
procedure is to extinguish these lights once the cargo operation has been
|
|
completed. Another set of lights, sometimes called evacuation lights, are
|
|
used to assist passengers during an emergency evacuation from the aircraft.
|
|
These are usually flush mounted into the fuselage of the aircraft adjacent to
|
|
a passenger door or emergency exit. These lights are used to illuminate the
|
|
evacuation area and are generally set to automatically energize in the event
|
|
of an emergency.
|
|
|
|
As I indicated early on in this article, most of the light configurations
|
|
described here are applicable to conventional aircraft. These lighting
|
|
systems may vary slightly depending on the type of aircraft, the manufacturer,
|
|
and the kind of operating environment. If, as an investigator, a witness
|
|
observes a lighting system typical to what was presented here, there is always
|
|
the possibility that the object may be an aircraft. On the other hand, we
|
|
need to document, in sufficient detail, the observation regardless of whether
|
|
it coincides with an aircraft lighting system or not, for the record.
|
|
|
|
|
|
[*Note: Ken is a contributing writer for the Colorado MUFON Newsletter, MUFON
|
|
Member and employed by a major airline at Denver International Airport.]
|
|
|
|
=END=
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
|
|
**********************************************
|
|
* THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo *
|
|
********************************************** |