Navigation light

Navigation lights are those light sources to air and water vehicles, which serve other road users to the presence of nearby vehicles, travel or flight or to indicate the position and direction of rolling, to avoid collisions. This term side lights and stern light are summarized as well as the case of vessels with engine drive the masthead lights.

• 5.1 Collision warning lights
• 5.2 Other Outdoor Lighting

Colors and sectors

Water craft

It is common to air and water vehicles that the position lights illuminate three different sectors, each with different colors:

• In travel or flight direction front right ( starboard ): green
• Travel or flight in the direction of the front left (port ): red
• To the rear ( aft ): white

The side lights ( green and red) paint over it in water transport, an angle of each 112.5 °, for aircraft of each 110 °, the stern light ( white) in water transport, the remaining 135 ° of arc, for aircraft according to 140 °.

Vessels flying machine drive additionally carry two white masthead lights that outshine the area of ​​the side lights, rear mounted higher than the front. Vessels less than 50 meters in length may waive the rear of the two masthead lights.

Regulations

The leading to aircraft lights are exemplary in Germany in § 17 LuftVO conjunction. of § § 1 to 6Vorlage: § / Maintenance / buzer Annex 1 to LuftVO regulated. They are prescribed if you between sunset (Sunset, SS) and sunrise (Sunrise, SR ) would like to fly. Partial thereof are also day VFR conditions detected ( § 33 LuftVO: SS 30 min / SR - 30 min). If position lights on the aircraft are present, they are to operate day and night.

The lights management of vessels is governed by the Collision Regulations ( KVR) and in Germany in addition to the Maritime Traffic Regulations ( SeeSchStrO ). The lights of these prescriptions are between dusk and dawn, and the day in poor weather (rain, fog, snow) to perform, unless the vessels are on the high seas or in coastal waters.

Mounting of lights

Aircraft

When the aircraft position lights are left and right on the outer wing tips and at the same time form the outer boundary of the aircraft. The white light is located at the rear. Some manufacturers further position lights are attached directly to the left and right side of the fuselage. The intensity of the position and strobe lights also light penetrates clouds and fog. Thus, even at night, the direction and position of adjacent planes to detect.

Watercraft

Watercraft lead the side lights on the sides of the vehicle and the stern light on stern. On a vessel of less than 20 meters in length the sidelights may be performed in one lantern to the longitudinal axis under Rule 21b KVR. A sailing vessel of less than 20 meters in length may under Rule 25 b KVR sidelights and stern light lead combined in a three-color lamp which is mounted at or near the top of the mast. Tracking such a sailing vessel but under machine, it must carry the lights prescribed then.

The technical execution of position lights in water transport, see main article navigation lights.

More lights in water transport

The position lights in the narrow sense described here represent only a portion of the lights, run the watercraft to display side position and heading ship name, operating status, and the like, please refer to main article lights guide.

More lights at aircraft

Collision warning lights

In collision warning lights (English anti-collision light ( ACL) ) is a red strobe light ( engl. Beacon Light ), which is usually on the tail or on the fuselage, and a white flash (English strobe, strobe light ) which at the mounted wing tip of an airplane. Many aircraft is still a second Beacon Light on the hull bottom and another strobe on the rear fuselage. Beacon and strobe lights are synchronized with each other. In older aircraft often serves a round light, which is designed as Beacon Light, as collision warning light. Beacon Lights are more and more replaced by pure strobe lights, strobes. Advantage of the Strobe is greater brightness and visibility, such as light fog or rain provides a high degree of collision protection even in bad weather conditions.

In the presence of two bodies of collision warning lights, so Beacon Light and Strobe Light, indicate switched Beacon Lights that the engines are running or cranking is imminent. This is a warning to all people on the tarmac to take care of the necessary security clearances. To avoid unnecessary aperture of ground staff, the high-intensity strobe lights of the strobes are switched on only when rolling on the runway. In the air, they serve as a visual warning to avoid collisions.

The collision warning light is not the only measure to avoid collisions: commercial aircraft are usually equipped with a Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS ), the Dodge recommendations are to avoid a collision.

In addition to the collision avoidance has different synchronization that is different from each other depending on the manufacturer, nor the effect to detect aircraft from different manufacturers on the type of flashing their strobes and beacons. For example (ie A320/A330/A340/A380 ) flash at Airbus series A300 -600 and A310 -300 and later the strobe lights twice in quick succession, while in machines manufactured by Boeing is the case only once.

Meanwhile, the LED technology also holds in aircraft lighting collection. So the latest Boeing 787 and 747-8 models are next to some business jets latest generation already equipped, for example.

More Outdoor Lighting

On the plane, there are in addition to the navigation lights outside or other lighting devices that facilitate the occupation with the safe operation of the aircraft, such as high-intensity landing and taxi lights and lights on the fuselage and wings for the surveillance of critical components such as the air intakes of the engines or the wing leading edge ice accretion on. Likewise Lights are available at commercial aircraft logo, spotlighting the vertical tail fin with the logo of the airline thereon with white light. Reason for this is on the one hand, to achieve a measure of advertising effectiveness and also to make the aircraft in roll on the ground more visible and apron control better visually distinguishable. The Logo Light headlights are usually built into the top of the horizontal tail fins or in their wingtips.

Swell

• Rules on the aircraft to leading lights (Annex 1 to air traffic regulations ) Template: § § / Maintenance / old URL
• Collision Regulations, German

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• Aviation Law
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