navigation lights?

I've always called the lights on wingtip and tail "navigation lights,"
but of course they aren't for navigation; they're to mark the aircraft
to avoid collision, or so that one plane can fly in formation with
another.

What's the name that suggests this purpose? Recognition lights?


-- all the best, Dan Ford

email: usenet AT danford DOT net

Warbird's Forum: www.warbirdforum.com
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Cub Driver wrote:
I've always called the lights on wingtip and tail "navigation lights,"
but of course they aren't for navigation; they're to mark the aircraft
to avoid collision, or so that one plane can fly in formation with
another.

What's the name that suggests this purpose? Recognition lights?


Position Lights is the term used in FAR 23. I am not sure where the
term nav light came from.

Anticollision light is a different thing. It is usually the red
fflashing beacon or the strobe light.

Ships navigating use lights to mark that they are underway,
i.e. navigating. When at anchor they have anchor lights
displayed.

Aircraft use the same pattern of lights to show their
position and direction of motion.

Anti-collision lights are the red or white flashing,
rotating, or strobe lights.

Recognition lights are the wing or tail mounted lights that
appear to be like landing lights, except they can be run at
high speed. Some aircraft have retractable landing lights
or the landing lights are mounted on the landing gear and
thus not usable at high speed.

Logo lights are mounted on the rear of the wing or
horizontal stabilizer to light the vertical tail surface.
--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
some support
http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm
See http://www.fija.org/ more about your rights and duties.


"Andrew Sarangan" wrote in message
oups.com...
|
| Cub Driver wrote:
| I've always called the lights on wingtip and tail
"navigation lights,"
| but of course they aren't for navigation; they're to
mark the aircraft
| to avoid collision, or so that one plane can fly in
formation with
| another.
|
| What's the name that suggests this purpose? Recognition
lights?
|
|
| Position Lights is the term used in FAR 23. I am not sure
where the
| term nav light came from.
|
| Anticollision light is a different thing. It is usually
the red
| fflashing beacon or the strobe light.
|

In article ,
Cub Driver usenet AT danford DOT net wrote:

I've always called the lights on wingtip and tail "navigation lights,"
but of course they aren't for navigation; they're to mark the aircraft
to avoid collision, or so that one plane can fly in formation with
another.

What's the name that suggests this purpose? Recognition lights?

FAR 23 calls them "position lights":

http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text...025e1d8e5bc153
687c2f3c01bb8&rgn=div8&view=text&node=14:1.0.1.3.1 0.6.102.26&idno=14

The use of red and green lights come from maritime law. IRPCS
(International Rules for the Preventions of Collisions at Sea) and COLREGS
(the US version, which is virtually identical), both refer to the red and
greens as "sidelights".

"Cub Driver" usenet AT danford DOT net wrote in message
news

I've always called the lights on wingtip and tail "navigation lights,"

As does the rest of the aviation world, including the FAA.

but of course they aren't for navigation; they're to mark the aircraft
to avoid collision, or so that one plane can fly in formation with
another.

They borrow the term from nautical use, as is the case with many other
airplane terms. The usage may seem archaic, but I don't see it as entirely
unreasonable. To "navigate" can mean a broad range of activities, all
related to piloting a ship (or airplane). This includes guiding the ship in
the presence of other ships, for which the navigation lights are very useful
(at least at night).

What's the name that suggests this purpose? Recognition lights?

I certainly wouldn't recommend "recognition lights" as a replacement.
Navigation lights tell you only that an airplane is near and what direction
it's headed. It doesn't help you to recognize it. That's what true
recognition lights are for. They are found only on larger commercial
airplanes, and illuminate the distinguishing marks on the tail and fuselage.
There are, of course, false recognition lights as well -- various blinking
lights marketed to the light aviation crowd for the purpose of helping to
make your own airplane more noticeable -- and, while I disagree with the use
of the term in this context, the fact that it's already in use further
precludes the use of the term to describe navigation lights.

I think most pilots are quite satisfied with the use of the term "navigation
lights". They do aid in one very specific aspect of navigation, and in any
case aviation includes a variety of other terms that aren't strictly
accurate but which we use anyway. If we "fix" "navigation lights", we'll
have to go after all the other terms too (including "navigation"...flying
airplanes has nothing to do with making progress over the water, except for
seaplane operations, so that term itself would be prohibited if we want
everything nice and neat). What a pain in the neck.

Given that there's no actual confusion regarding the use of the term
"navigation lights", I see no reason to suggest a change.

Pete

I certainly wouldn't recommend "recognition lights" as a replacement.
Navigation lights tell you only that an airplane is near and what
direction it's headed.

I have always found it difficult-to-impossible to determine an aircraft's
direction of flight by viewing those itty-bitty green and red lights. In
night flight, if you're even seeing another aircraft's nav lights, you're
way too close, IMHO.

Luckily, many aircraft have strobes, which makes determining relative motion
bone-simple.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:xTTTf.41344$oL.25009@attbi_s71...
I certainly wouldn't recommend "recognition lights" as a replacement.
Navigation lights tell you only that an airplane is near and what
direction it's headed.

I have always found it difficult-to-impossible to determine an aircraft's
direction of flight by viewing those itty-bitty green and red lights. In
night flight, if you're even seeing another aircraft's nav lights, you're
way too close, IMHO.

Come out to the clear and dry air in the moutain west; you can see them for
ten miles.
--
Matt
---------------------
Matthew W. Barrow
Site-Fill Homes, LLC.
Montrose, CO

Come out to the clear and dry air in the moutain west; you can see them
for ten miles.

Maybe the airliners -- they've got some big-ass nav lights! (And some are
as bright as landing lights...)

But nav lights on a Spam can? From ten miles? No way. Not with my eyes,
anyway.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:diUTf.41370$oL.35779@attbi_s71...
But nav lights on a Spam can? From ten miles? No way. Not with my eyes,
anyway.

Have you tried using oxygen on night flights? Even at modest altitudes,
reduced air density can result in decreased visual acuity, and night vision
is the first to go.

I can see nav lights at night. Ten miles might be pushing it, but certainly
at five miles. Anti-collision lights do assist in identifying the direction
of travel, but it's strictly two-dimensional information. Nav lights add
the third dimension that give one a very accurate idea of where the other
airplane is heading.

Pete

On a clear dark, moonless night in the Great Plains and
Rocky Mountains you can see a match at 100 miles, but to see
the different colors and space between the position lights
the acuity of the human eye is limited to about 1 minute of
angle, about 2 feet at a mile. So it is possible to see the
nav lights on a spam-can at about 15 miles and discern the
color and direction. A longer span, such as a 200 King Air
can be read out to about 30 miles and a Boeing can be at 100
miles.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
some support
http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm
See http://www.fija.org/ more about your rights and duties.


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:diUTf.41370$oL.35779@attbi_s71...
| Come out to the clear and dry air in the moutain west;
you can see them
| for ten miles.
|
| Maybe the airliners -- they've got some big-ass nav
lights! (And some are
| as bright as landing lights...)
|
| But nav lights on a Spam can? From ten miles? No way.
Not with my eyes,
| anyway.
| --
| Jay Honeck
| Iowa City, IA
| Pathfinder N56993
| www.AlexisParkInn.com
| "Your Aviation Destination"
|
|