section

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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
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Table of Contents
Aircraft Lighting Overview
Exterior Lighting
Exterior Lighting
Landing Lights
Runway Turnoff Lights
Taxi Light
Logo Lights
Position and Strobe Lights
Anti-Collision Lights
Wing Lights
Wheel Well Lights
Flight Deck Lighting
Dome Lights
Overhead and CB Panel Lighting 
Map and Chart Lighting
Main Instrument Panel/Glareshield 
Pedestal Lighting
Display Unit Brightness Controls
Stby Magnetic Compass Lighting
Annunciator Lights Brightness Ctrl
No-Smoking and Seatbelt Signs

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Table of Illustrations
3
3
4
4
6
7
8
9
11
12
13
15
15
16
16
17
17
18
18
19
19

Figure 1-1.
Figure 1-2.
Figure 1-3.
Figure 1-4.
Figure 1-5.
Figure 1-6.
Figure 1-7.
Figure 1-8.
Figure 1-9.

Aircraft Lighting

Landing Lights
Runway Turnoff Lights
Taxi Light
Logo Lights
Visible Angles of Position Lights
Strobe Lights
Anti-Collision Lights
Wing Lights
All External Lights

5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
14

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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.

Notes

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

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.

Landing lights; both retractable and fixed

Runway turnoff lights
Taxi light
Logo lights
Position and Strobe lights
Anti-collision lights
Wing lights
Wheel well lights

They are used during takeoff, climb out, approach and

landing.
There are two different types of landing lights - retractable
and fixed.

The emergency exit and slide lights used in an evacuation

are covered in the Emergency Equipment lesson.

The retractable landing light switches are located on the

captains 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.

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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
captains 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 captains 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 officers 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

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

110

140

140

The position light switch is located on the first officers 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
individual lights on the aircraft with the switch in the OFF
position, none of these lights will be illuminated.

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Aircraft Lighting

Figure 1-6. Strobe Lights

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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 officers
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 officers 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
main landing gear wheel wells.

Notes

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 officers 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

Dome Lights

Flight deck lighting includes the following:

The dome lights are used to provide incandescent

illumination of the entire flight deck.

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

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.

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Overhead and CB Panel Lighting

Map and Chart Lighting

Lighting controls for the overhead and circuit breaker

panels are located on the forward 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
flight 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.

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

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 flight deck.

Similarly to the main instrument panel, flood and

backlighting are available for the center pedestal.

The MAIN PANEL control on the captains side adjusts

the brightness of the backlighting on the captains main
instrument panel, the center panel, and also controls the
brightness of the Mode Control Panels LCD displays and
backlighting.
The MAIN PANEL control on the first officers side performs
an identical function, but only for the first officer main
instrument panel and instrument backlighting.

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 BACKGROUND control, found only on the captains

side, controls flood lighting for the entire main instrument
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

Stby Magnetic Compass Lighting

Brightness controls are available for the 6 display units on

the flight 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.

Its a three position switch, DIM, OFF, and Bright.

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

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.
In our case, the NO SMOKING switch is just used as a
means of chiming the cabin.

It has three positions:

Test
Bright
Dim

The fasten seatbelt switch has three positions, OFF, AUTO

and ON.

When the switch is held to the TEST position, it illuminates

the vast majority of the annunciator lights on the flight deck.
Each MCP display self-tests, both clocks display test
patterns, and the radio and transponder LCDs on the aft
electronics panel self-test.

In the AUTO position the signs will be illuminated whenever

the gear or flaps are extended, and extinguished whenever
the gear and flaps 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.

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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