Strobe light taxi

[dasmith]

I agree, on the runway every light on. The FAA just sent a runway incursion brochures to CFIs which basically said the same thing.

A second thought, most airline ops manuals also say everylight on below 18k. Collision avoidance, FAA Birdstrike study, etc.

 

[minitour]

Taking the active:
Every light on and transponder to alt (or as directed by ATC).

I've had a few instructors insist that I taxi with every light on...including the strobes...one even went as far as to tell me it was a new FAR to have every light on all the time (day and night, ground and air)...

Given the choice, I don't want them on until I take the runway...I don't think it's fair to blind the guy holding off to my left to taxi behind me when my strobes flash in his face....

JMHO though...and that's just little stuff too...so ya gotta take it for what its worth

 

[Bandit60]

Ahh yes, good ole part 91...


I know our MEL REQUIRES the strobes to be on at night if the Beacon is either inop or not installed on an aircraft, even on the ground. Part 135 though.[/QUOTE

What does a MEL have to do with part 135. I fly part 91 and I have an MEL. Are you mistaken to think there is a difference between 91 and 135 with MEL's.

 

[avbug]

OK, while we are at it, Don't turn on your App and Flare lights until you are cleared to take off. This is common pratice for %90 of airliners. There are always the few boys that get cleared into position and hold with all guns blasing. Then I have to cross up feild and look at this christmas tree of lights at the end of the runway. My life always passes before my eyes.
Got it Alaska boys?

Not just position and hold, but any time I'll be on the runway, including taxiing across it, I turn everything on. I consider the runway a little like the barrel of a firearm; it's always loaded, and I'm always going to make myself as visible as possible. I've had people cleared to land on top of me before, I've had people down range decide it's time to takeoff while I'm crossing. I want to be seen. If a few lights is an inconvenience to someone while I'm in that runway environment, tough. It's my life to me.

Life beats inconvenience any day.

 

[Vector4fun]

Do I understand correctly that an aircraft built before '71 only needs position lights at night, no beacon or strobes? We have a guy here who has an older C172, and flies some evenings with only the nav lights. He's freaking invisible from a half mile away, and I know where to look for him. Seems dangerous to me. Even the taxiway lights are about four times brighter than a 12v bulb on a wing tip.

 

[TDTURBO]

I don't see what the big deal is with strobes effecting vision. If your vision is that sensitive maybe you shouldn't be flying. Strobes never bothered me one bit. If you are that freaked out over them then don't stare at them. OTOH, in the clouds at night I shut them off.

 

[avbug]

Strobes bother me a lot, up close. I turn them off on the ground for the benifit of others, and for my own benifit. I hate the flashing. I turn them off at the first hint of entering haze in flight, too. They're annoying, disorienting, and give me a headache.

Eons ago when responding to an emergency call in an engine or the rescue truck, as soon as we got to a more rural area, I turned off the siren. The noise drove me nuts. Someone else in the truck would always reach over and turn it on. I'd snap it right off and threaten to break their fingers if they touched it again. Don't rile the nice firefighter.

Same with strobes. Where night vision is a factor, which is really any time we're flying at night (hint, hint), everything possible should be done to preserve it. That includes being a good boy and shutting off your strobes, especially near other aircraft. When entering the runway environment, flood the world with light; be seen, it's for safety. But the rest of the time, shut the **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** things off until you're in the air or about to be there.

If an aircraft was certificated without an anticollision system, it need not be operative. That is, if it never had one, obviously it doesn't need to be "on." Personally, I'm the missionary of see-and-be-seen. I've obtained STC's and installed strobes on aircraft that didn't have them. It's an issue I feel very, very strongly about. I've had several close calls that back up my belief.

Yes, you can fly with position lights only. I like alternating lights, strobes, logo lights, and anything else out there that makes me more visible no matter what it is that I'm flying.

I've been in the smoke many times, even in the dark, when the only way of seeing and identifying another aircraft is by it's lights. Otherwise, even in daylight, the other airplane is invisible. See and be seen. It's not just a good idea; it's the law.

 

[91100 100 set]

Regarding runway incursions. Those happen at the mic switch, not at the light switch. The runway incursion happens before any extra lights will save your skin.

 

[Uncle Sparky]

As for the " I don't wanna get hit while sitting in position" reasoning, why don't you just look towards the approach path as you enter the active for position?!

Don't turn on your App and Flare lights until you are cleared to take off. This is common pratice for %90 of airliners. .

THAT is what I was always told and what used to be the "rule".
The other night I sat at the North side hold short line of 26L at ATL for an hour. We were the only corporate aircraft in the sequence behind what seemed like half the airplanes in the Delta fleet, holding on the South side of the runway. About two-thirds of the airplanes would turn every light in the airplane on as soon as they were called into position(NOT cleared for takeoff). Some of the guys would turn off their ldg/taxi/flare lights as soon as they realized that we were over there and a few had the common sense or good training to wait until they were cleared for takeoff or , at least, wait until they were lined up. After a solid hour of being roasted by a couple billion candlepower, I started to feel like Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters!!?

 

[FN FAL]

On a related matter, it would be nice if people would leave their transponders off until taking the runway. I hate having to put up with TCAS alerts on short final. Especially in RDU!

Hmmmmm....since the notam at MKE says transponders ON while taxiing, I guess you'll be one of the ones being called by ground to be reminded to turn their transponder on. Just like the highly paid professionals at NWA that need to be told to do so as well.

It's real simple, when you tune in the atis, listen to it.