Did I miss the memo....

[JediNein]

Cirrus and certain glass cockpit-equipped aircraft do not have rotating beacons. The strobes are the anti-collision lights.

As the sun sets, or it gets dark, I shut off the strobes and leave the nav lights on. The strobes are quite powerful and blind me sitting in the thing. I'll even shut off the strobes on short final at night just so I can see to land.

No memos. Just checklists.

Fly SAFE!
Jedi Nein

 

[hotwing]

I think G1000 planes are required to have the strobes on at all times.

not correct -- Cessna has the strobes wired on a seperate switch. Most FOM(s) in professional settings (airline, large corp operators) state that the taxi light should be on for a/c movement and off when the a/c is stopped. Strobes should only be on when the a/c is in flight or holding on an active runway, not taxi... Professional standards should prevail here... Nav lights should be on when power is applied to the a/c - apu is running or ground power is applied.

For some reason, I believe that Cirrus has their anti col. lighting (wing tip strobes) tied to their beacon -- come to think of it, I am not sure that there is a beacon on the tail... That may be the reason behind this...

All lights should be on when in position and holding or on a runway...

 

[paulsalem]

I'm 99% sure that cirrus do not have strobes and 100% sure about the piper warrior IIIs.

The warriors don’t' have a nav on the tail either. Just 2 white lights behind each wing nav. I guess that saves from running electrical wire to the tail. The cirrus may be the same way.

My question is why have the NAVs on when there is a GPU connected? I can see why having them on when the apu is on, so someone doesn’t walk behind the tail) and the beacon on when an engine is running (so I don’t get blown over when I taxi behind someone in my C-172).

Thanks

 

[hotwing]

Power connected to the a/c - navs on... all airlines do it and most corp operators... In the fom... It has nothing to do with walking behind the tail... most apu exhaust from different places - not all out of the tail to the rear - some perpendiculr to the tail and up at a 45 degree angle... some out of the rear...



for the record -- Cirrus does equip their planes with strobes - i think it is required after a certain year...

 

[MauleSkinner]

My question is why have the NAVs on when there is a GPU connected?

If you're not actually sitting in the airplane, you can tell by the brightness of the nav lights whether the GPU is providing proper power or you're discharging your batteries.

Don't know if that's the "official" reason, but it's what I was taught, and why I do it.

Fly safe!

David

 

[Way2Broke]

We don't use memos in aviation.

I have worked at various 135 and 121 operaters and have recieved memos at all of them. However, I prefer to call them nastygrams, because I have never seen anything good for me come out of one. So in that since I guess your right. Now that I am done with a completely useless post I will shut up.

 

[glasspilot]

If you're not actually sitting in the airplane, you can tell by the brightness of the nav lights whether the GPU is providing proper power or you're discharging your batteries.

Don't know if that's the "official" reason, but it's what I was taught, and why I do it.

Fly safe!

David

Another reason is it lets you know from the outside that the aircraft is powered. I know you can hear the GPU, but you don't know the power is switched on from the inside unless the Navs are on. On most aircraft you shouldn't / mustn't turn off the GPU / APU with power on it.

Another consideration is the glass cockpits in use today. Many of those screens run well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars and operators don't want them on any more than they have to to extend the life. Leaving the Nav lights on when ever powered (eng, APU, or GPU) lets folks away from the plane know the glass is lit too.

Hope this helps.