¶ Introduction
Helicopter lights are very similar to aeroplane lights
We can see 4 types of lights:
- Position lights
- Anti collision lights
- Search light
- Landing light
¶ Lights Description
¶ Position Lights
Position lights show the relative position of an aircraft.
- Green: this light is located on the right hand side of the aircraft.
- Red: this light is located on the left hand side of the aircraft.
- White: this light is located on the tail of the aircraft.
¶ Use
These lights show us the relative position of an aircraft:
If green light is visible on the left and red light on the right, the aircraft is approaching in front of us; collision is possible
If green light is visible, the aircraft is going from left to the right; collision is hardly possible
If red light is visible, the aircraft is going from right to the left, collision is hardly possible
If white light is visible in the middle, red light on the left and green light on the right, the aircraft is flying in the same heading in which we are flying, collision is remote
These lights are usually used as soon as the aircraft have some type of electrical power
¶ Anti-collision Lights
Anti-collision lights are located at the top and/or at the bottom of the aircraft. These lights are red or white
these lights are used when the aircraft engines are running or when the aircraft is going to make some movement on the platform
¶ Landing Lights
Landing lights are used for night take off or landings; these lights are located at the front of the helicopter, over the auxiliary gear
Landing lights can be used as taxi lights at the moment of performing an aerial or rolled taxi.
These lights are used to illuminate the runway and also to make us visible to other traffic or to the tower.
¶ Search Light
Search lights are located at the front of the aircraft above the auxiliary gear or above the main gear, above left or right gear.
This light can be moved with a switch located on the cyclic.
The main use of this light is to search something in the surroundings of the aircraft, and it has more importance in SAR missions.
¶ Cargo Hook Light
Helicopters have one light at the bottom which is used to illuminate the cargo hook during night operations
¶ NVG Lights
Some helicopters are equipped with night vision goggles for NVG flights
External lights are also provided for that:
- Position lights are dimmable because these lights can cause poor visibility with NVG or, if we are in formation flight it can cause pilots of the other helicopter not to see very well because of the intensity of the lights
- Anticollision lights are also dimmable for the same reason
- Search lights have two options:
- White light for normal night operations
- IR light to be used during NVG flights; this light is not visible without NVG
¶ Conclusion
Lights on an aircraft are very important because its principal mission is to avoid a possible collision with other aircraft.
- ICAO documentation Annex 2 - Rules of the Air - 10th Edition July 2005
- ICAO documentation Annex 6 - Operation of Aircraft - Part I - International Commercial Air Transport - Aeroplanes - 10th Edition July 2016 - Appendix 1
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