When to switch the position light ON

[WebMaximus 372]

I thought you normally switch the position light ON as one of the first steps when entering the flightdeck to indicate to ground personell etc that the a/c is not empty but when looking in the docs reading the normal procedures section switching the position light comes pretty late and after lots of other stuff. What is the real deal here, when do you normally switch the position light ON IRL? TIA,

[El padrino 2]

I think you turn it on as a warning to the ground personnel once the plane has electrical power. Not 100% sure though.

[Lawyer+Pilot 126]

I think you turn it on as a warning to the ground personnel once the plane has electrical power. Not 100% sure though.

Yes, that's right. Battery on, nav lights on.

[clum 2]

I think on the NG's the pos light gets AC power from the ground service bus, so won't light up under battery power. This differs from the classic iirc.

[F.Schmid 0]

Hi. As far as I learned on the past: - NAV ON and POS Steady at flight preparation.- Beacon ON to warn ground crew that aircraft is ready for startup engines- Taxi on - no need to explain...- Landing lights ON and Strobes ON for landing or take off. On both cases, at 10000ft you turn landing lights off. Somewhere I read that also strobes could be turned off at TA but I'm not pretty sure. I hope things haven't changed. RegardsSchmid

[WebMaximus 372]

I think on the NG's the pos light gets AC power from the ground service bus, so won't light up under battery power. This differs from the classic iirc.

OK, and if you don't have ground power available would that mean you wait to switch the pos light ON until the APU is running?

[clum 2]

OK, and if you don't have ground power available would that mean you wait to switch the pos light ON until the APU is running?

Yes, that means that the light wont actually illuminate until there is either ground, or apu power available. I have no idea when various airlines flows would have you flick the switch however.

[WebMaximus 372]

OK, got it - thanks!

[scura 0]

I read the Aerosoft's "PMDG737NG 'You Have Control'" recently and in this big tutorial the pilot always made the first few steps in a flow like: 1. Battery - ON (guard switch closing)2. Standby Power - AUTO (guard switch closing)3. Emergancy Lights - ARMED (guard switch closing)4. APU - ON -> START5. APU GEN - ON6. Position Light - ON (Steady)7. ...rest of flow to setup the aircraft.... I do this myself all the time. Though, i assume he as a real life pilot should know, i of course do not know myself.Maybe the next tutorial will give the procedures from COLD & DARK to a fully functional aircraft. At least then you have your procedure to follow. BTW: I do it this way (not exactly, of course) in any aircraft, whether Royal Turbine Duke by RealAir or Carenado Caravan or Aerosoft CBY Catalina.1 power2. Position lights NAV lights however i set after finishing the FMC programming or the GPS setup, as for my logic the NAV lights state that the aircraft is setup to navigate. I maybe wrong on that, But as FSX is a simulator...;) EDIT: Richard, what is this "Virtual Pilots Association" all about?Sounds interesting, though.You may drop some lines regarding this?

[WebMaximus 372]

I read the Aerosoft's "PMDG737NG 'You Have Control'" recently and in this big tutorial the pilot always made the first few steps in a flow like: 1. Battery - ON (guard switch closing)2. Standby Power - AUTO (guard switch closing)3. Emergancy Lights - ARMED (guard switch closing)4. APU - ON -> START5. APU GEN - ON6. Position Light - ON (Steady)7. ...rest of flow to setup the aircraft.... I do this myself all the time. Though, i assume he as a real life pilot should know, i of course do not know myself.Maybe the next tutorial will give the procedures from COLD & DARK to a fully functional aircraft. At least then you have your procedure to follow. BTW: I do it this way (not exactly, of course) in any aircraft, whether Royal Turbine Duke by RealAir or Carenado Caravan or Aerosoft CBY Catalina.1 power2. Position lights NAV lights however i set after finishing the FMC programming or the GPS setup, as for my logic the NAV lights state that the aircraft is setup to navigate. I maybe wrong on that, But as FSX is a simulator...;) EDIT: Richard, what is this "Virtual Pilots Association" all about?Sounds interesting, though.You may drop some lines regarding this?

Thanks, that backs up the theory that in the NG the APU should be running (or ground power connected) before you will be able to use the position lights. I also checked out that title you're referring to from Aerosoft, seemed rather interesting and I like the idea of having a book to read about the PMDG 737 although I noticed this was released before the NGX so I presume it was written for the PMDG NG for FS9 but I'm sure there are lots of good stuff to learn in there anyway! Will gladly drop you a couple of lines about VPA

[scura 0]

Yes, The Book isn't old itself, but it referes to the "old" PMDG 737NG for FS9Since the NGX is the most sophisticated simulation yet, it surely is deeper than the book will go into simulation. But this particular book is 95% refereing to real life procedures adopting them to the simulation.There is the procedure explained and more often a sentence like "This is not simulated in the 737NG for MSFS however, but we...." and then he explains how to do it in the simulator.It really helps understanding how things are planned before the actual flight. How things operate and why.The book is more like a real life flight experience adopted to the simulator instead of a knob by knob explanation of the (outdated) FS9 737NG.I am not allowed to give you an example page via screenshot due to copyright issue.But i can tell you, it contains many tutorial flights and checklists, as well as charts for N1 reduction via selcted temperature and how to calculate this.It gives a step by step assistenace into the depth of systems continuing through the chapters (called missions in the book) to go deaper into material with each mission as you pass it.I really can recommend this particular book as it is written with the complexity needed but the simplicity given so it is to rather understand instead of "study"You will not need a type rating before understanding any one word.So, go ahead and buy your copy as long they are accessable. As i understand it, the old PMDG 737NG is discontinued, so i do not know what will happen to this book...!I got mine two weeks ago ;-)

[WebMaximus 372]

Ok, maybe I'll get the book...might be a good present for myself on my birthday coming up :(

[davierosoft 13]

The position lights are powered by AC GND serv. bus 1 wich receives power in 2 ways:1)if aircraft is unpowered switching Ground service ON, this will powers the passenger cabin lights and few other things, position lights if turned on will come on.2)if aircraft is powered by at least one AC source, the ground service bus receives power from the relative Xfer bus.In our case, AC XFER bus1 wich is powered directy by GEN1, indirectly by GEN2 (XFER must be AUTO) or by APU or GND power. In simple words, power to the position lights will be avaiable as soon as there is an AC source selected on.

[WebMaximus 372]

Thanks for the clarification!