Hello,

On a video, I noticed that the position lights blink. Just out of curiosity, I've never seen that on any aircraft, is it an error?

 

THX

20 minutes ago, yankeegolf3 said:

On a video, I noticed that the position lights blink. Just out of curiosity, I've never seen that on any aircraft, is it an error?

Three position light:

1. Steady
2. OFF
3. Flash

Intentional, and as the aircraft properly functions. Just because it's unexpected doesn't make it incorrect.

Not FAA compliant though.....

Steady, Coloured Lights
The Left wing tip has a steady red light, and the right wing tip has a steady green light. The tail has a steady white light mounted as far aft as possible. These navigation or position lights are steady (non flashing) lights, and they must be visible from 2 miles.

Anyway, I guess that it how the DC6 was designed

Good job for your DC6!

Best regards

 

22 minutes ago, yankeegolf3 said:

Not FAA compliant though.....

Steady, Coloured Lights
The Left wing tip has a steady red light, and the right wing tip has a steady green light. The tail has a steady white light mounted as far aft as possible. These navigation or position lights are steady (non flashing) lights, and they must be visible from 2 miles.

When was this written versus when was the DC-6 manufactured...?

You may be surprised at the dates of the various requirements (and the language therein). Keep in mind that aviation was only about 50 years old when the DC-6 was being built. Radar service to airports was just beginning. There's been quite a lot of evolution in the last 100 years.

Back in these days, some things were different and cannot be compared to today's regulations.. the B377 had them too. Plus a passing light, which also many 049 Connies (coming from C69) and the DC-3's coming from C-47 had, mostly carried over from the military variant, which is also a light not recognized in today's regulations.

I've always wondered what the reasoning was for flashing nav lights since I've seen them on several older aircraft...some sort of precursor to strobes?  It doesn't seem like they'd be all that visible, but I suppose better then nothing before strobes existed?

Dave Reage

11 hours ago, regis9 said:

I've always wondered what the reasoning was for flashing nav lights since I've seen them on several older aircraft...some sort of precursor to strobes?

Peripheral vision responds best to momentary stimuli. If the stimulus is constant, it is less aware of it. The same goes for vision in general, but the effect is most obvious in your peripheral vision. This principle is what strobes capitalized upon to this day. The first strobe light was made in 1931, so I believe it was a simple design decision to make the plane more noticeable (given the sensitivities to momentary stimuli), while strobes hadn't found an application here yet.

It must be said that the trend in a flashing light on the back of a bicycle certainly makes the cyclist more conspicuous when you're driving down the road.

Strobes didn't go airborne until transistorized circuits made it practical in terms of weight and reliability. A capacitor has to be charged then it fires the strobe, it takes a simple power supply to turn DC into the appropriate AC signal for charging the capacitor and timing the cycles.  This wasn't hard to do with tubes but it was heavy and ran hot.