Does anyone have a link to instructions on the proper use of the external aircraft lights in the US? When to use (turn on/off) landing lights, taxi lights (nose wheel), beacons (ground recon), strobes (anticollision) and nav lights?I am mainly interested in large GA like the King Air 350 or Citation X and commercial like the MD80, 737, etc. I assume that in noncombat situations military jets flying in the US would be the same.

Did you read the thread in our CX forum on this topic?

Does anyone have a link to instructions on the proper use of the external aircraft lights in the US? When to use (turn on/off) landing lights, taxi lights (nose wheel), beacons (ground recon), strobes (anticollision) and nav lights?I am mainly interested in large GA like the King Air 350 or Citation X and commercial like the MD80, 737, etc. I assume that in noncombat situations military jets flying in the US would be the same.

In general, in flight below 10K or within 10 miles of an airport, everything lit up. On the ground, navs on when the plane is 'active', beacon on when ready to start engines, taxi on when away from the gate (coming and going), landing and strobes on when taking or leaving the runway.Again this is just general.

Did you read the thread in our CX forum on this topic?

If you are talking about the thread that I started, yes I did. While that did answer my questions I was looking for an answer for all lights and the answer that Jay gave above is what I was looking for.

In general, in flight below 10K or within 10 miles of an airport, everything lit up. On the ground, navs on when the plane is 'active', beacon on when ready to start engines, taxi on when away from the gate (coming and going), landing and strobes on when taking or leaving the runway.Again this is just general.

Thanks Jay, that general answer is what I was looking for.

Edited January 4, 201214 yr by idahosurge

Excellent. :(

Does anyone have a link to instructions on the proper use of the external aircraft lights in the US? When to use (turn on/off) landing lights, taxi lights (nose wheel), beacons (ground recon), strobes (anticollision) and nav lights?I am mainly interested in large GA like the King Air 350 or Citation X and commercial like the MD80, 737, etc. I assume that in noncombat situations military jets flying in the US would be the same.

FAR 91.209?http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=c42db4cc5903999db8c3b66d0cf4d064&rgn=div8&view=text&node=14:2.0.1.3.10.3.7.5&idno=14scott s..

Thanks Jay, that general answer is what I was looking for.

Quick correction to above, strobes on when entering and off when leaving the runway, sorry, I was in a hurry.

Landing lights off when taxiing though... can be very blinding for other pilots.

Largely as stated already, but in the USA:Navigation/position: on when the aircraft is active, principally meaning has electrical powerBeacons: On immediately before first movement of aircraft or engine start (different depending on if you're at a gate with pushback or ramp spot), off when parked and engines off.Taxi: On whenever aircraft is moving under it's own power. In some aircraft/airline SOP this remains off on the descent until landing clearance is received. When being marshalled by ground crew, the taxi light will be turned off when entering the gate/ramp area to prevent blinding ground crew.Runway turnoff: generally on for taxi out, turned off with landing lights. On with landing lights on descent and turned off leaving the runway. To my knowledge, there is no FAR section dictating use, so differs by airline SOPLogo: Typically on dusk to dawn or IFR conditions and below FL180. Again, I don't believe FAR dictates this and varies by airline SOPStrobe: On when from entering the active to leaving (including in flight time).Landing lights: Generally speaking, on when entering active runway, off when leaving and above 10,000' msl. However, some airline SOP specified differences for strobe/landing lights where the strobe is turned on when taking to the active runway and landing lights when cleared for takeoff (so landing lights would stay off for position and hold). Also, there are fixed and retractable landing lights on larger aircraft, and operational specifics of these is largely airline SOP. Further, for a while there was a push back some time for landing lights to remain on until FL180 to increase visibility. It doesn't seem like this has caught on, but I'm unsure if some may still follow it.Military aircraft do share similar procedures, but not exactly. One of the key differences is that their position lights typically have flashing and steady on states. The flashing will be used for startup procudures (electrical power). This will be switched to steady on for takeoff through landing. Not all military aircraft have beacons, so these procedures would be omitted. They also typically have dedicated "formation" lights, most famous being the "slime" light strips that are only visible when near the aircraft, but provide some clue as to the orientation of the aircraft to aid formation flying (most useful in the dark). Tactical aircraft also typically only have a single taxi/landing light, just different levels of brightness. Contrary to common belief, aircraft in combat operations would typically use all lights while operating from ground bases and then proceed to turn them off when entering hostile airspace. However, there are certainly situations where some or all lights would not be used to decrease visibility. Certainly FARPs or airfields near the FLOT would do this frequently....and then after all of that there is light usage by combat aircraft flying form a blue water ops carrier. I don't know much about those though, so I'll stop there.

Edited January 5, 201214 yr by ESzczesniak