----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]----
Larry,
All new aircraft built after a certain
date must have anticollision lights that are visible from a certain number of
degrees below the aircraft to that number of degrees above the aircraft –
ALL AROUND THE HORIZON. So, you MUST have a really good position on the
aircraft to mount such a light or use a couple of them.
However, old aircraft were not designed
with such a good anticollision light position on the airframe. So, the
FAA wrote a grandfather provision allowing old aircraft to have a single
anticollision light that does not have the specified visibility all around the
horizon. The rotating beacon location on Coupes meets this lower standard
and the Coupes are old enough to qualify for the grandfather clause.
It’s most of 30 years since I
learned these details and I can’t remember if the grandfather clause just
refers to the age of the airplane or whether it mentions aircraft with
anticollision lights that were installed before the cutoff date. i.e. can
you do a new installation of a light onto a plane which has never had an
anticollision light without meeting the newer, higher standard.
In practice, I always wanted to put
wingtip strobe lights on my Coupe. Plan to have wingtip strobes on my
Challenger. You might think of doing that instead of a belly strobe or a
very heavy rotating beacon. I always liked being able to see the bank
angle of planes in the pattern with wingtip strobes.
http://edburkhead.com
ed -at-
edburkhead???.com (change
-at- to @ and remove "???")
From: Larry Snyder
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Monday, October 31, 2005
4:51 PM
To:
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [COUPERS-TECH]
Strobed lights etc
----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- I agonized over this when I did my night flying in the Ercoupe.I have navigation lights and a rotating red beacon on my belly. Am I legal? I read the FARs over and over again, and I STILL don't understand what it's saying!LarryN99340On Oct 31, 2005, at 10:32 AM, John Cooper wrote:----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]----At 02:32 AM 10/31/2005, you wrote:
To answer your question... you don't need the beacon/strobe to operate at night if your plane was never equipped with them.
This is incorrect. To fly at night you must, regardless of how your plane was originally equipped or when it was built or certified, have an approved anti-collision lighting system. [91.205(c)(3)] Planes of Ercoupe era can get away with a system that meets earlier standards, i.e. a properly located belly strobe is sufficient. One exception is foreign registered aircraft for which such lighting is not required.
An additional, little known and understood reg: if your aircraft is equipped with an anti-collision lighting system then it MUST be turned on, day or night, unless, in the opinion of the pilot, its use constitutes a safety hazard. [91.209(b)]
John Cooper
Skyport Services
PO Box 249
4996 Delaware Tnpk
Rensselaerville, NY 12147
518 797-3064
Fax 518 797-3865============================================================================== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers-tech/============================================================================== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers-tech/============================================================================== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers-tech/
