Curtis L. Olson writes: > I don't know where the navigation lights are powered from in real > life. I'm guessing maybe this is the same thing as the beacon (?) > I don't see a specific reference to navigation lights power in the > C172 electrical diagram.
Here's a quick overview of the external lights in a 172: navigation lights: A red light on the left wing tip and green light on the right wingtip, visible from the front and (relevant) sides, and a white light pointing backwards from the tail. Required for night flight. beacon: Big flashing/rotating red light extending above the vertical tail and visible from every direction. Optional for night flight, and not on every aircraft, but pretty commonly used. Note: at our flying club, the policy is always to leave the beacon switched on; that way, you can tell from a distance if someone's forgotten to turn off the masters after shutting down the plane. strobes: Flashing lights on the wingtips (and other places for bigger planes). Optional for night flight, and not on every aircraft. Note: pilots usually turn the strobes off on the ground or in cloud or fog, for obvious reasons. landing light: Bright spotlight in the nose or left wing, aimed a bit forward of the plane. Required for night flight with passengers, optional otherwise (I've already done practice landings without it). Note: pilots often leave the landing light on continuously night and day for visibility, except when taxiing facing a plane making an approach (to avoid confusing the pilot). taxi light: Bright light usually located right beside the landing light on the nose or left wing. Optional for night flight, and not on every aircraft. There is a separate switch for each of these on the control panel. All the best, David -- David Megginson, [EMAIL PROTECTED], http://www.megginson.com/ _______________________________________________ Flightgear-devel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.flightgear.org/mailman/listinfo/flightgear-devel
