Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Mike T

cockpit lighting at night

Recommended Posts

Is there any SOP for cockpit lighting at night? If an aircraft has a red floodlight, would it be used in all phases of flight? Or is it not advisable in taxi, or cruise, etc?RhettE8500, Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro, ASUS P5E3 Premium, BFG 8800GTX 756 (nVidia 169 WHQL), 4gb DDR3 1600 Patriot Cas7 7-7-7-20 (2T), PC Power 750, WD 150gb 10000rpm Raptor, Seagate 500gb, Silverstone TJ09 case, Vista Ultimate 64


Rhett

7800X3D ♣ 32 GB G.Skill TridentZ  Gigabyte 4090  Crucial P5 Plus 2TB 

Share this post


Link to post

Our new warriors have blue overhead lighting with white pedastal lights for the standby gauges and green toggle button lighting. I've never seen a SOP on how to use lights except to be safe and not blind yourself with them.

Share this post


Link to post

Ah I see. Well, I have trouble seeing out of the cockpit with the floodlight on, so I've been turning it off when I taxi. I need to be able to see where I'm going :)I've also heard of pilots being temporarily blinded by lightning flashes , if near thunderstorms. Isn't there some sort of lighting that's recommended if you get caught in CB conditions?RhettE8500, Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro, ASUS P5E3 Premium, BFG 8800GTX 756 (nVidia 169 WHQL), 4gb DDR3 1600 Patriot Cas7 7-7-7-20 (2T), PC Power 750, WD 150gb 10000rpm Raptor, Seagate 500gb, Silverstone TJ09 case, Vista Ultimate 64


Rhett

7800X3D ♣ 32 GB G.Skill TridentZ  Gigabyte 4090  Crucial P5 Plus 2TB 

Share this post


Link to post

For lightning conditions you have one pilot on the instruments and one staring out of the cockpit looking for the runway while on approach. That way at least one pilot will have eyes at all times.

Share this post


Link to post
Guest CRJ700FO

>I've also heard of pilots being temporarily blinded by>lightning flashes , if near thunderstorms. Isn't there some>sort of lighting that's recommended if you get caught in CB>conditions?Some airplanes have T/S lighting, which is basically max power lighting in the cockpit. In general this will greatly reduce your chance of being blinded in cruise by lightning. In general if you're blinded by lightning on approach or taking off, you probably shouldn't be flying near that weather to begin with.In terms of general night lighting, it is usually whatever is the most comfortable for each individual. Generally I have noticed the older the pilot, the brighter they like their screens and lighting (poorer eyesight perhaps).

Share this post


Link to post

As Chris said, just don't blind yourself with them. It takes about thirty minutes for rhodopsin to build in your eyes for night vision, but it flushes out in an instant when hit with white light. You basically adjust the lights until they're just bright enough to see the gauges clearly, but not so bright that they make the view out the windscreen dark and dim in contrast.----------------------------------------------------------------John MorganReal World: KGEG, UND Aerospace Spokane Satellite, Private ASEL 141.2 hrs, 314 landings, 46 inst. apprs.Virtual: MSFS 2004, MIDCON P-401"There is a feeling about an airport that no other piece of ground can have. No matter what the name of the country on whose land it lies, an airport is a place you can see and touch that leads to a reality that can only be thought and felt." - The Bridge Across Forever: A Love Story by Richard Bach


John Morgan

 

"There is a feeling about an airport that no other piece of ground can have. No matter what the name of the country on whose land it lies, an airport is a place you can see and touch that leads to a reality that can only be thought and felt." - The Bridge Across Forever: A Love Story by Richard Bach

Share this post


Link to post

Rhett:Unfortunately, just about all MSFS cockpit products are WAY to bright for night opertions (and the outside world is not dark enough).When I was a 2nd officer on the 727 I used the red lamp to read charts and maps otherwise a fully dark cockpit was the norm, I've never seen (or heard) anyone fly with the red lamp on the whole flight. As a F/O on the 737-300/500 we didn't need to look at too many maps or charts so its totally dark most of the time (except for the backlit gauges and knobs).If the aircraft it equipped with backlit gauges and knobs then the cockpit should be dark unless you need the extra light to see something in the cockpit, just like in your car. No one drives with the roof light on at night even if the roof light were red.HTH,Mike T.

Share this post


Link to post

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  
  • Tom Allensworth,
    Founder of AVSIM Online


  • Flight Simulation's Premier Resource!

    AVSIM is a free service to the flight simulation community. AVSIM is staffed completely by volunteers and all funds donated to AVSIM go directly back to supporting the community. Your donation here helps to pay our bandwidth costs, emergency funding, and other general costs that crop up from time to time. Thank you for your support!

    Click here for more information and to see all donations year to date.
×
×
  • Create New...