section

1 Aircraft
Lighting

www.flyaoamedia.com
 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

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Table of Contents Table of Illustrations
Aircraft Lighting Overview 3 Figure 1-1. Landing Lights 5
Exterior Lighting 3 Figure 1-2. Runway Turnoff Lights 6
Exterior Lighting 4 Figure 1-3. Taxi Light 7
Landing Lights 4 Figure 1-4. Logo Lights 8
Runway Turnoff Lights 6 Figure 1-5. Visible Angles of Position Lights 9
Taxi Light 7 Figure 1-6. Strobe Lights 10
Logo Lights 8 Figure 1-7. Anti-Collision Lights 11
Position and Strobe Lights 9 Figure 1-8. Wing Lights 12
Anti-Collision Lights 11 Figure 1-9. All External Lights 14
Wing Lights 12
Wheel Well Lights 13
Flight Deck Lighting 15
Dome Lights 15
Overhead and CB Panel Lighting  16
Map and Chart Lighting 16
Main Instrument Panel/Glareshield  17
Pedestal Lighting 17
Display Unit Brightness Controls 18
St’by Magnetic Compass Lighting 18
Annunciator Lights Brightness Ctrl 19
No-Smoking and Seatbelt Signs 19

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Aircraft Lighting Overview
Exterior lights are used to illuminate taxiways and runways, Notes
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
flight deck lighting are scattered throughout the flight deck.

A brief discussion of the no-smoking and seatbelt signs will

aslo be included.

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Exterior Lighting Landing Lights
Under the ‘exterior lighting’ banner we will be discussing the The landing lights are used to increase the visibility of the
following sets of exterior lights: aircraft to other pilots, controllers and personnel on the
●● Landing lights; both retractable and fixed ground. They also, albeit to a fairly limited extent, illuminate
●● Runway turnoff lights the runway ahead of the aircraft.
●● Taxi light
They are used during takeoff, climb out, approach and
●● Logo lights landing.
●● Position and Strobe lights
●● Anti-collision lights There are two different types of landing lights - retractable
●● Wing lights and fixed.
●● Wheel well lights
The retractable landing light switches are located on the
The emergency exit and slide lights used in an evacuation captain’s side of the forward overhead panel, and the
are covered in the Emergency Equipment lesson. 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.

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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 fixed 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
fixed angle.

The fixed 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

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Runway Turnoff Lights
The runway turnoff lights are used to illuminate taxiway
turnoffs in low light conditions. They shine forward 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 fixed 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

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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

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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 first officer’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

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

Because each light is only visible from a certain angle,

another pilot can determine the orientation and direction 140° 140°

of your aircraft with respect to his, by interpretation of the

colour of light visible to him.

The position light switch is located on the first officer’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 green position
lights on the left and right wing tips respectively, and the
white position lights on each wingtip.

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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 flash in addition to the
position lights.

This single switch therefore has control over seven Figure 1-6. Strobe Lights
individual lights on the aircraft – with the switch in the OFF
position, none of these lights will be illuminated.

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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 flight until shutdown to increase

the visibility of the aircraft.

The anti-collision lights switch is located on the first officer’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

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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 first officer’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

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Wheel Well Lights
The wheel well lights are used to illuminate the nose and Notes
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 first officer’s side of the
forward overhead panel controls all five of these lights. It is
a two position switch – OFF and ON.

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 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

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Flight Deck Lighting
Flight deck lighting includes the following:
●● Dome lights
●● Overhead and circuit breaker panel lighting
●● Map and chart lighting
●● Main instrument panel and glareshield lighting
●● Pedestal lighting
●● Standby Magnetic compass lighting
●● Display unit brightness controls
●● Annunciator lights brightness control
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Dome Lights
The dome lights are used to provide incandescent
illumination of the entire flight deck.
The switch is located on the aft overhead panel, and the
two dome lights are located on the aft flight 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.
Aircraft Lighting www.flyaoamedia.com
Overhead and CB Panel Lighting Map and Chart Lighting
Lighting controls for the overhead and circuit breaker Map and chart lighting are available via controls on the
panels are located on the forward overhead panel. 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
flight deck wall.
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 sub-
panels.
The MAP light control adjusts the brightness of the
overhead map light.
The CHART light control adjusts the light directed onto the
chart holder.
These light controls are present for both the captain and
first officer.

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.

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Main Instrument Panel/Glareshield
Lighting controls for the main instrument panel and
glareshield are located below the inboard and outboard
display units on each side of the flight deck.
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 first officer’s side performs
an identical function, but only for the first officer main
instrument panel and instrument backlighting.
The BACKGROUND control, found only on the captain’s
side, controls flood lighting for the entire main instrument
panel.
Pedestal Lighting
Similarly to the main instrument panel, flood and
backlighting are available for the center pedestal.
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 flood illumination of the entire
area. The light itself is mounted within the forward overhead
panel.

The AFDS FLOOD control controls the brightness of flood

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.

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Display Unit Brightness Controls St’by Magnetic Compass Lighting
Brightness controls are available for the 6 display units on The standby magnetic compass, located at the top of
the flight deck. 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. It’s a three position switch, DIM, OFF, and Bright.
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 configured.

The first officer 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 flight deck, such as the IRS Display Unit and the
two Control Display Units. These will be discussed in their
associated lessons.

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Annunciator Lights Brightness Ctrl No-Smoking and Seatbelt Signs
The master lights test and dim switch is located on the The no-smoking and seatbelt sign switches are located in
center panel and is used to control the brightness of the middle of the forward overhead panel.
annunciator lights in the cockpit.
In our case, the NO SMOKING switch is just used as a
It has three positions: means of ‘chiming’ the cabin.
●● Test
●● Bright The fasten seatbelt switch has three positions, OFF, AUTO
and ON.
●● Dim
In the AUTO position the signs will be illuminated whenever
When the switch is held to the TEST position, it illuminates
the gear or flaps are extended, and extinguished whenever
the vast majority of the annunciator lights on the flight deck.
the gear and flaps are retracted.
Each MCP display self-tests, both clocks display test
The ON and OFF positions are self explanatory, but we do
patterns, and the radio and transponder LCDs on the aft
not recommend AUTO as the signs will tend to switch off
electronics panel self-test.
sooner than is preferable, and this could cause injury.
The fire 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.

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