Strobe light taxi

[KingAirer]

Its a "pain" (pun intended) to see strobe lights taxiing by at night. I always turn them off when i have the beacon going. When flying an aircraft that only has strobes and no beacon, is there anything legal that says that must be on for taxii??

 

[saabcaptain]

When I flew the J31 which only had one beacon, the beacon was defererable but you had to taxi with the strobes on per the MEL which was a pain since it made you look bad. The Saab 340 has of course 2 beacons and if both are out you are no go at night.

 

[ILLINI]

Couldn't you use your PIC authority and turn them off if you felt that it would affect safety?

For example... you have no beacon installed on the a/c but have strobes. If you are in IMC at night, you may turn the strobes off b/c having them on would affect the safety of flight. I would assume the same would hold true if you were taxiing around on the ground. I thought there was a reg that stated this but I can't remember off the top of my head. Maybe some else will be able to post it.

 

[350DRIVER]

I have found that alot of the older trainers have the strobes tied into the beacon so if beacon is "on" then guess what else is going to be on .

I had a student the other day take his instrument checkride in his own aircraft (older 172) and guess what was for the entire checkride.

Simple solution that I suggested to him would be to get the strobes re-wired to the nav lights or if he could afford the panel space get a seperate switch for the strobes. Pretty abnoxious to see strobes on all the time, not to mention the "blinding" of other people that are operating in the same area (s).


3 5 0

 

[EagleRJ]

How about taxi lights?

They can be deferred for night operation, and some Saabs have just one of them, so you have to use one of the landing lights to see where you're going. You'll look like an inconsiderate schmuck to everyone else on the airport, but that's what you have to do.

Sometimes, you just need to exercise your PIC authority before you ever leave the chocks. There's Legal, and then there's Safe.

 

[avbug]

If it's not legal and safe, you shouldn't be doing it.

 

[KingAirer]

I just hate being THAT guy when thats all i have is strobes. It really doesnt effect my vision as much as it does the guy who im taxing beside or around.

 

[DoinTime]

Its a "pain" (pun intended) to see strobe lights taxiing by at night. I always turn them off when i have the beacon going. When flying an aircraft that only has strobes and no beacon, is there anything legal that says that must be on for taxii??

91.209 covers use of lights on the ground at night. You do not need anti-collision lights on the ground at night, only position lights. You do need anti-collision lights in flight (91.205.c.3). Strobe lights or a beacon covers this requirement.

For example... you have no beacon installed on the a/c but have strobes. If you are in IMC at night, you may turn the strobes off b/c having them on would affect the safety of flight. I would assume the same would hold true if you were taxiing around on the ground. I thought there was a reg that stated this but I can't remember off the top of my head. Maybe some else will be able to post it.

91.209
(b) Operate an aircraft that is equipped with an anticollision light system, unless it has lighted anticollision lights. However, the anticollision lights need not be lighted when the pilot-in-command determines that, because of operating conditions, it would be in the interest of safety to turn the lights off.

 

[ILLINI]

Re: Re: Strobe light taxi

91.209
(b) Operate an aircraft that is equipped with an anticollision light system, unless it has lighted anticollision lights. However, the anticollision lights need not be lighted when the pilot-in-command determines that, because of operating conditions, it would be in the interest of safety to turn the lights off.

Thanks DoinTime!

That's exactly the reg that I was referring to in my last post.

So all you guys taxiing around with your strobes on while on the groud...... cut it out!!!

 

[Redtailer]

May be legal, but I used to fly a twin with the strobes wired to the beacon. I cannot tell you how many times I have been called by the tower/ground asking for my position.

I guess if it's not blinking, they can't see it.

See, the soultion is to turn them off until they yell at you.