Hey everyone, I just remembered a question that i've been wanting to ask for a while. Whenever I go and play basketball usually from 5:30PM - 7:00PM Eastern time, I see aircraft flying over the court to land at Orlando Int'l (KMCO). The thing is that sometimes I see aircraft with 1 strobe light, 2 strobe lights, and some times even 3 (one on each wing and on tail cone). So does each aircraft have different locations for their strobes and stuff? Other than the Concorde, my mentality has always been that regular commercial aircraft always have their strobes and navs in the same place but that does not seem to be the case.Something else i've noticed is that their landing lights flash on the left, then right, then left and so fourth sometimes... What is that flashing for? In flight sim X, i'm used to flying the 767-300 for example which flies over my court in real life all the time but in the sim, there are the nav, beacon, strobe, landing, taxi, wing, and runway turnoff lights but the thing is that in real life, I see 3-4 lights on the side of the cabin? I didn't know that there's that many wing lights >.<On landings, do you turn on the wing lights and turnoff lights + the taxi lights before you land? Example: L + R Wing + Nose Gear Landing Lights - ON Runway turnoff lights L + R - ON Winglights - ON Strobe: ON Nav: ON Beacon: ON

Whenever I go and play basketball usually from 5:30PM - 7:00PM Eastern time, I see aircraft flying over the court to land at Orlando Int'l (KMCO). The thing is that sometimes I see aircraft with 1 strobe light, 2 strobe lights, and some times even 3 (one on each wing and on tail cone). So does each aircraft have different locations for their strobes and stuff?

Well, yes, sorta. Remember that you can't see all lights from all angles though, obviously. AFAIK most planes will have navs and strobes in more or less the same spots though, plus/minus a few inches. Having the 3-strobe config seems to be most common though, but some will have four IIRC, like two on each wing tip, one facing forward and one aft. I even believe that's the case on the NG as well (?). Many small planes don't even have strobes at all. During daytime they fly using the beacon exclusively, adding nav lights at night time. Some GA planes even have only a single (white) strobe somewhere on the fuselage or next to the beacon on top of the vertical fin. So as you see, lots of options there.

Something else i've noticed is that their landing lights flash on the left, then right, then left and so fourth sometimes... What is that flashing for?

I don't know one commercial airliner that has one of those pulsed systems, but there is a number of corporate jets that have it (Dassault Falcons to name one, or

). It simply makes the plane even more noticable on approach. They are usually selectable off, pulsed or steady.

In flight sim X, i'm used to flying the 767-300 for example which flies over my court in real life all the time but in the sim, there are the nav, beacon, strobe, landing, taxi, wing, and runway turnoff lights but the thing is that in real life, I see 3-4 lights on the side of the cabin? I didn't know that there's that many wing lights >.<

Those are not all wing lights. Depending on the aircraft type they might be wing lights (to illuminate the wing for ice inspection etc), runway turnoff lights or landing lights. Other planes might have runway turnoff lights on the NLG or such, so as you see there's a lot of variations again. Retractable landing lights for example used to be on some of the wing pylons for the older 737 models whereas the NG has em under the belly right in between the fixed ones.

On landings, do you turn on the wing lights and turnoff lights + the taxi lights before you land? Example: L + R Wing + Nose Gear Landing Lights - ON Runway turnoff lights L + R - ON Winglights - ON Strobe: ON Nav: ON Beacon: ON

That's company procedure, but it is not uncommon to have most if not all available lights on for take-off and landing. Taxi lights for instance, although called taxi lights, are very well used for landing as well. Same goes for runway turnoff and wing lights.Anyways, the only sort of 'rules' I know as far as light usage goes are probably the following:For small planes using nav lights at night time (SS+30 - SR-30) might be sufficient. For bigger planes I observe them to be on whenever the plane is powered.The beacon, ACL or whatever you may call it should be on from before engine start until after engine shutdown. It indicates a potential danger especially for ground personnel etc.Strobes should not be used during taxi and might also not be used in heavy fog (see flicker vertigo). They shall however be switched on when entering the runway, and switched off after leaving the runway, indicating a plane "in flight" or just about to get flying.Some companies might or might not use the landing lights as a "reminder" for having received take-off clearance. So for example imagine the following situation: You are holding short of the runway while some other plane lands. Active lights are nav, beacon and taxi. You get the clearance to taxi into position and hold. Strobes are activated. Now that you're in position and that other guy in front has left the runway, you're cleared for take-off. Time to switch on the landing lights. Just a possible scenario, but as said before, it really varies a lot and many might do very different.As an NG note, I have observed many pilots apparently prefer to only use the fixed landing lights. Not sure if they care about the added drag of the retractable ones or what, but I'm just sayin'... :(

Thanks alot for your help. Now when i'm doing take-off's and landing i'll know to set all/nearly all lights on =)

I don't know one commercial airliner that has one of those pulsed systems

The 737 can. I don't know how many companies use it, but I've seen it on Southwest planes in the past.

It is a lighting controller called Pulselite. It is also use in Australia by QANTAS and QANTASLINK. It serves to provide better conspicuity to other traffic and to reduce birdstrikes. I hope they include this in their new NG product.Regards, Luke Stevens

Hi,Nav light visibility is as below. Strobes should be visible all round, usually to the front/sides on the wing tips, and to the rear on the tail cone. Placement differs between aircraft for many reasons.Best regards,Robin.