I see a switch for this in the cockpit, but so far have not been able to identify any lights that come on or off when it is pressed.  Is this a light inside the flight deck or is it external?

 

Andrew Jones

White light to prevent temporary blindness due to lightening flashes in a dark cockpit. Did you try it at night?

It is an override switch which illuminates the following lights at maximum brightness:

- all illuminated indicator lights
- glare shield flood lights
- instrument panel flood lights
- aisle stand flood lights
- dome lights

Thank you.

 

Andrew Jones

Yeah, much better answer. Copied from here: FCOM v2 1.30.5

I see a switch for this in the cockpit, but so far have not been able to identify any lights that come on or off when it is pressed.  Is this a light inside the flight deck or is it external?

 

Andrew Jones

 

Do you know how to search PDF documents?

 

Michael Cubine

Yeah its an awesome feature on the PMDG 777...I literally used it tonight as i had to divert around a storm going into PHX. With Active Sky Next, you get some pretty intense lightening flashes, and that storm lighting helps with your vision immensely 

Isn't it detrimental to your vision out of the cockpit at night?

Do you mean is the Storm light detrimental to your night vision? Absolutely it is, but it's better to be controlled about it than seeing white spots for a few minutes after each lightning flash.

 

Your eyes take approximately 30-40mins for the pigments known as rhodopsin (sometimes called visual purple) to adjust the eyes to full night vision. This is destroyed in an instant with a bright flash (such as a lightning strike) however the bright flash could leave you disorientated and seeing spots for a few minutes, so it's better to be controlled about it.

 

If you're also interested, exposure to bright glare (such as a beach or snow) can reduce your night vision for up to a week by about 30-50%!

Isn't it detrimental to your vision out of the cockpit at night?

Yes, that's the idea really.

The seat belt switch - OFF postition typically turns the turbulence ON :-(

 

The Storm light switch should turn the storms - OFF.......or at least you wont see them so much ;-)

To add to the above point, the human body really isn't as good with states as it is with contrasts. What I mean by that is that the body isn't as good at recognizing things as they exist as much as it's good for realizing that something has changed. Your peripheral vision is essentially built on this concept - your vision isn't really sharp out there, but if something moves it'll probably catch it pretty well. It's all about contrast.

 

The upside is that we have a pretty good fight or flight instinct from that (and sound). The downside is that those changes, when extreme, can be disorienting. Recovery time is usually proportional to the contrast between the prior situation and the disturbance. As an example, when I was a lifeguard, I spent about an hour out in the sun staring at a white pool deck and a glimmering pool. Whenever I went back into the poolhouse, it was like walking into a cave. For a few moments, everything was just dark. Had the poolhouse lights been brighter, or my glasses darker, that change wouldn't have been so tough to adjust to.

 

 

Sit in a room with a computer in it and turn the lights off. The contrast between the computer screen and the dark room is likely so extreme that it's a little painful to look at. If you were to only dim the lights in the room (or dim the screen on your computer) it wouldn't be so bad. Same concept with the lightning: the sudden change in brightness is almost painful, and disorienting. With a bright light on the flight deck, the change (contrast) between the bright environment and the flash is lessened so that it's less disorienting and less painful/damaging to the eye's ability to adjust to brightness.

 

As a final example:

Have someone take a flash picture of you outside when it's bright, and then again in a darkened room (or at night). Which one is more painful and disorienting? The dark one will be because the contrast between dark and bright is greater.

The seat belt switch - OFF postition typically turns the turbulence ON :-(

The Storm light switch should turn the storms - OFF.......or at least you wont see them so much ;-)

 

haha - like umbrellas turn rain off?

haha - like umbrellas turn rain off?

Yes exactly :-)