737ngx Groundwork Lighting Handout

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Aircraft Lighting

The material covered in this document is based off information obtained from the original manufacturers’ Pilot and Maintenance manuals. It is to be used for simulation purposes only.

Copyright © 2011 by Angle of Attack Productions, LLC All rights reserved

Table of Contents

Table of Illustrations

Aircraft Lighting Overview

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Figure 1-1. Landing Lights

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Exterior Lighting Exterior Lighting

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Figure 1-2. Runway Turnoff Lights

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Figure 1-3. Taxi Light

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Landing Lights

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Runway Turnoff Lights Taxi Light

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Figure 1-4. Logo Lights Figure 1-5. Visible Angles of Position Lights

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Figure 1-6. Strobe Lights

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Logo Lights

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Figure 1-7. Anti-Collision Lights

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Position and Strobe Lights

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Figure 1-8. Wing Lights

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Figure 1-9. All External Lights

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Anti-Collision Lights

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Wing Lights Wheel Well Lights

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Flight Deck Lighting

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Dome Lights

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Overhead and CB Panel Lighting

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Map and Chart Lighting

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Main Instrument Panel/Glareshield

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Pedestal Lighting Display Unit Brightness Controls

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St’by Magnetic Compass Lighting

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Annunciator Lights Brightness Ctrl No-Smoking and Seatbelt Signs

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Aircraft Lighting Overview Exterior lights are used to illuminate taxiways and runways, and to enhance visibility for other aircraft and controllers. Controls for the exterior lights are located on the forward overhead panel. Flight deck lighting is used to illuminate the various panels, controls and indications in the cockpit. Controls for the ight deck lighting are scattered throughout the ight deck. A brief discussion of the no-smoking and seatbelt signs will aslo be included.

Notes

Exterior Lighting

Landing Lights

Under the ‘exterior lighting’ banner we will be discussing the following sets of exterior lights:

The landing lights are used to increase the visibility of the aircraft to other pilots, controllers and personnel on the ground. They also, albeit to a fairly limited extent, illuminate the runway ahead of the aircraft.

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Landing lights; both retractable and xed

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Runway turnoff lights

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Taxi light

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Logo lights

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Position and Strobe lights

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Anti-collision lights

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Wing lights

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Wheel well lights

The emergency exit and slide lights used in an evacuation are covered in the Emergency Equipment lesson.

They are used during takeoff, climb out, approach and landing. There are two different types of landing lights - retractable and xed. The retractable landing light switches are located on the captain’s side of the forward overhead panel, and the lights themselves are located just inboard of the pack ram air inlets on the underside of the fuselage. Each retractable landing light switch has three positions: RETRACT , EXTEND , and ON . With the switch in the RETRACT  position, the lights are OFF and stowed. With the switch in the EXTEND  position, the light is extended from its stowed position, but is still OFF . With the switch in the ON  position, the lights are extended and illuminated.

Landing Lights (Cont.) There is no speed restriction on the retractable landing lights, but it is common practice not to use them above 250 knots to reduce stress on the hinges. The xed landing light switches are located right next to the retractable landing light switches, and the lights themselves are located at each wing root and shine at a xed angle. The xed landing light switches have only two positions OFF  and ON . There is a gang bar used to turn on and extend all the landing lights at the same time. The bar simply forces all of the switches to the ON  position, and spring loads aft again once released.

Figure 1-1. Landing Lights 

Runway Turnoff Lights The runway turnoff lights are used to illuminate taxiway turnoffs in low light conditions. They shine for ward and to the sides of the aircraft. The runway turnoff light switches are located on the captain’s side of the forward overhead panel beside the landing light switches, and the lights themselves are located beside the xed landing lights in the wing roots. There are two switches; for the left and right lights respectively. Each switch has two positions - OFF  and ON .

Figure 1-2. Runway Turnoff Lights 

Taxi Light The taxi light is used to illuminate the path ahead of the aircraft, and increase its visibility to other aircraft, controllers and ground personnel. The taxi light switch is located on the captain’s side of the forward overhead panel beside the runway turnoff light switches. The light itself is mounted on the nose gear leg and therefore shines wherever the nose gear is pointed. The switch is a two position switch - OFF  and ON . When the gear is retracted the taxi light turns off automatically.

Figure 1-3. Taxi Light 

Logo Lights The logo lights are used to illuminate the airline logo on the tail of the aircraft. There is a single switch on the rst ofcer ’s side of the forward overhead panel, and the logo lights themselves are located on the horizontal stabilizer. They are angled towards the vertical stabilizer to illuminate the airline logo. The switch is simply selectable ON  and OFF .

Figure 1-4. Logo Lights 

Position and Strobe Lights The position lights are used by other aircraft to determine the orientation and direction of your aircraft based on the colour of the light visible. There are four position lights on the aircraft. ●

A red light on the left wingtip

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A green light on the right wingtip

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A white light on the trailing edge of each wingtip 110°

Because each light is only visible from a certain angle, another pilot can determine the orientation and direction of your aircraft with respect to his, by interpretation of the colour of light visible to him.

110°

140°

140°

The position light switch is located on the rst ofcer ’s side of the forward overhead panel and has control over seven lights on the aircraft. It is a three position switch - OFF , STEADY , and STROBE & STEADY . Figure 1-5. Visible Angles of Position Lights 

The STEADY position illuminates red and g reen position lights on the left and right wing tips respectively, and the white position lights on each wingtip.

Position and Strobe Lights (Cont.) With the switch in the STROBE & STEADY  position the position lights remain illuminated but are now joined by the strobe lights. The strobe lights are used to increase the visibility of the aircraft to others, and are extremely effective at night. There is a white strobe light on each wing tip, and a white strobe light on the tail cone just above the APU eductor inlet. With the switch set OFF , neither the position nor the strobe lights will operate. In summary - with the POSITION  switch in the STEADY  position, only the red, green and white position lights are illuminated. With the switch in the STROBE & STEADY  position, the strobe lights will ash in addition to the position lights. This single switch therefore has control over seven individual lights on the aircraft – with the switch i n the OFF  position, none of these lights will be illuminated.

Figure 1-6. Strobe Lights 

Anti-Collision Lights The anti-collision lights are red strobe lights mounted on the top and bottom of the fuselage. They are switched on before engine start to alert ground personnel that startup is imminent. They remain on the entire ight until shutdown to increase the visibility of the aircraft. The anti-collision lights switch is located on the rst ofcer’s side of the forward overhead panel, and the lights themselves are located on the top and bottom of the fuselage.

It is a simple two position switch – OFF  and ON .

Figure 1-7. Anti-Collision Lights 

Wing Lights The wing lights are used to illuminate the leading edge of each wing, and are useful to scan for ice. The wing lights switch is located on the rst ofcer ’s side of the forward overhead panel, and the lights themselves are mounted in the sides of the fuselage, angled aft towards the leading edge of each wing.

The switch is a two position switch - OFF  and ON .

Figure 1-8. Wing Lights 

Wheel Well Lights The wheel well lights are used to illuminate the nose and main landing gear wheel wells. These lights are useful for inspection in low light conditions, and are located within each wheel well. The nose gear wheel well has a single light, and the main gear wheel well has four lights. The wheel well lights switch on the rst ofcer’s side of the forward overhead panel controls all ve of these lights. It is a two position switch – OFF  and ON .

Notes

TAXI LIGHT

WING ILLUMINATION LIGHT

RETRACTABLE LANDING LIGHT

RUNWAY TURNOFF LIGHT

FIXED LANDING LIGHT

UPPER AND LOWER ANTI COLLISION LIGHTS

STROBE LIGHT

POSITION LIGHTS

LOGO LIGHT

STROBE LIGHT

*STARBOARD LIGHTING SIMILAR

Figure 1-9. All External Lights 

Flight Deck Lighting

Dome Lights

Flight deck lighting includes the following:

The dome lights are used to provide incandescent illumination of the entire ight deck.

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Dome lights

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Overhead and circuit breaker panel lighting

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Map and chart lighting

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Main instrument panel and glareshield lighting

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Pedestal lighting

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Standby Magnetic compass lighting

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Display unit brightness controls

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Annunciator lights brightness control

The switch is located on the aft overhead panel, and the two dome lights are located on the aft ight deck wall either side of the cockpit door. There is actually a second bulb located in the dome light in the assembly to the right of the door as we look aft that is part of the emergency lighting system. This auxiliary bulb is usually switched off, but will illuminate when the emergency lighting system is activated. More detail on the emergency lighting system can be found in the Emergency Equipment lesson. The dome light switch has three positions: DIM , OFF  and BRIGHT . These positions are self-explanatory.

Overhead and CB Panel Lighting

Map and Chart Lighting

Lighting controls for the overhead and ci rcuit breaker panels are located on the for ward overhead panel.

Map and chart lighting are available via controls on the side wall panels.

The circuit breaker panel light switch is located in the middle of the forward overhead panel. This is used to illuminate the P6 and P18 circuit breaker panels on the aft ight deck wall.

The MAP  light control adjusts the brightness of the overhead map light.

The P6 panel is to the left of the door as we look aft, and the P18 panel to the right. The P6 panel has six sub-panels (+ standby power control unit), and the P18 has three subpanels. Below the circuit breaker light control is the overhead panel light control. This switch is used to control the backlighting of the controls and indications on the forward and aft overhead panels. Both of these controls can be rotated to adjust the brightness of the lighting.

The CHART  light control adjusts the light directed onto the chart holder. These light controls are present for both the captain and rst ofcer.

Main Instrument Panel/Glareshield

Pedestal Lighting

Lighting controls for the main instrument panel and glareshield are located below the inboard and outboard display units on each side of the ight deck.

Similarly to the main instrument panel, ood and backlighting are available for the center pedestal.

The MAIN PANEL control on the captain’s side adjusts the brightness of the backlighting on the captain’s main instrument panel, the center panel, and also controls the brightness of the Mode Control Panel’s LCD displays and backlighting. The MAIN PANEL control on the rst ofcer’s side performs an identical function, but only for the rst ofcer main instrument panel and instrument backlighting. The BACKGROUND  control, found only on the captain’s side, controls ood lighting for the entire main instrument panel. The AFDS FLOOD  control controls the brightness of ood lighting directed at the Mode Control Panel and the EFIS Control Panels. Each one of these is a rheostat type control that allows lighting brightness to be tuned to your liking. They are variable transformers that adjust the voltage available to the lighting modules located just underneath the main instrument panel.

The PANEL control adjusts the controls and switches’ backlighting from the two CDUs all the way back to the Aft Electronics Panel. It also adjusts the brightness of the LCD displays on the radios and transponder. The display on the HGS control panel is not affected – it has its own dedicated brightness controls. The FLOOD  control adjusts ood illumination of the entire area. The light itself is mounted within the forward overhead panel.

Display Unit Brightness Controls

St’by Magnetic Compass Lighting

Brightness controls are available for the 6 display units on the ight deck.

The standby magnetic compass, located at the top of the center post above the glareshield, has its own lighting controls.

The captain has control over his outboard and inboard display units, as well as the upper and lower display units. The inboard and lower DU controls have dual functionality. The outer knobs control the DU brightness, while the inner knobs control the brightness of the weather radar and terrain displays. Both the inboard and lower DU brightness controls have dual functionality as the Navigation Display can be displayed on either of these two display units depending on how the display select panel is congured. The rst ofcer also has DU brightness controls, but only for his own outboard and inboard DUs.

There are brightness controls for a few other displays around the ight deck, such as the IRS Display Unit and the two Control Display Units. These will be discussed in their associated lessons.

It’s a three position switch, DIM , OFF , and Bright .

Annunciator Lights Brightness Ctrl

No-Smoking and Seatbelt Signs

The master lights test and dim switch is located on the center panel and is used to control the brightness of annunciator lights in the cockpit.

The no-smoking and seatbelt sign switches are located in the middle of the forward overhead panel.

It has three positions: ●

Test

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Bright

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Dim

When the switch is held to the TEST  position, it illuminates the vast majority of the annunciator lights on the ight deck. Each MCP display self-tests, both clocks display test patterns, and the radio and transponder LCDs on the aft electronics panel self-test. The re warning system is not tested by this switch – rather by a separate switch on the Overheat/Fire Protection Panel. More on that in the Fire Protection lesson.

The TEST  position also results in a master caution recall when the switch is released, so any system annunciator lights associated with current faults will remain illuminated on the master caution six packs.

In our case, the NO SMOKING  switch is just used as a means of ‘chiming’ the cabin. The fasten seatbelt switch has three positions, OFF , AUTO  and ON . In the AUTO  position the signs will be illuminated whenever the gear or aps are extended, and extinguished whenever the gear and aps are retracted. The ON  and OFF  positions are self explanatory, but we do not recommend AUTO  as the signs will tend to switch off sooner than is preferable, and this could cause injury.