C172 Night Lighting

[RaptyrOne 1,459]

Took the C172 out at night for a spin. Both the taxi light and the landing light seem to have a very limited range. Sitting in the cockpit, I can hardly see the runway ahead over the nose, even with both switched on. The lights are definitely on and visible clearly out the side window but this seems to me to be in need of some tuning as all they light up is the area under the nose. (Yeah, i know the landing light has a downward angled focus, but not the taxi light). Anyone else found this? Only aircraft I tried so far, wondering if the others are better.

 

[EmaRacing 302]

Nope, same problem on every plane I tried, give it time, theyll fix this.

[ryanbatc 13,058]

1 hour ago, ghutcheon said:

Took the C172 out at night for a spin. Both the taxi light and the landing light seem to have a very limited range. Sitting in the cockpit, I can hardly see the runway ahead over the nose, even with both switched on. The lights are definitely on and visible clearly out the side window but this seems to me to be in need of some tuning as all they light up is the area under the nose. (Yeah, i know the landing light has a downward angled focus, but not the taxi light). Anyone else found this? Only aircraft I tried so far, wondering if the others are better.

 

IDK....real world lights are typically terrible at illuminating the runway/taxiway.  Unless you're in a brand new plane with LED lights (from my experience).

Try pressing spacebar to adjust your seat height....it'll help you see over the cowl

[RaptyrOne 1,459]

3 minutes ago, ryanbatcund said:

IDK....real world lights are typically terrible at illuminating the runway/taxiway.

Too true. If this were my aeroplane, I would definitely have upgraded the lights when I did the glass cockpit upgrade though. Maybe my flight sim guy was a bit tight for cash at the time. 🤣

[rnczyzcontrol 2]

6 hours ago, ryanbatcund said:

IDK....real world lights are typically terrible at illuminating the runway/taxiway.  Unless you're in a brand new plane with LED lights (from my experience).

Yup. This is true. Incandescent lighting is terrible for distance lighting. Cheap, but not powerful or easily focused.

Our company just switched to LED taxi / landing lights. The difference is night and day. No pun intended. There were some planes where the taxi lights were so weak you'd lean forward and flick the light a few times to see a dim glow in front of the plane just to confirm it was actually working.

Most aircraft, especially G.A. aircraft, will be the same. Funny all the realistic things Asobo has done that people don't realize and think are mistakes but are actually correct...

[Morishita 0]

During your night flight, did you notice unrealistic REIL for other airports near by?  I've got the graphics cranked up and they still look like super bright lego blocks.

[RaptyrOne 1,459]

32 minutes ago, rnczyzcontrol said:

Most aircraft, especially G.A. aircraft, will be the same. Funny all the realistic things Asobo has done that people don't realize and think are mistakes but are actually correct

In this case I think they have gone too far, or should I say not far enough. Another night flight and the landing and taxi lights on the C172 really are as useful as torch with flat batteries. At small strips with little to light up surroundings, nearly impossible to make out where the taxiways lead off the runway. I trained on this type and this is not true to life.

36 minutes ago, Morishita said:

During your night flight, did you notice unrealistic REIL for other airports near by?  I've got the graphics cranked up and they still look like super bright lego blocks.

I have noticed that airport lighting seems too bright yes. 15 miles out and the RWY was standing out, making it impossible to miss. Yet when you are taxying, lighting seems a bit dim. Go figure! This was a thing in FSX and P3D too but generally, the environment night lighting is so much better than default FSX or P3D.