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= ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~