Recognition Lights?

[flyingcheesehead]

These are a new thing for me... The Mooney has a beacon, strobe lights, nav lights, landing lights, taxi lights, (2 in each wing about halfway out), and... Recognition lights. Huh? Whassat?

Beacon, I leave on all the time.
Strobes, I use when entering a runway, and usually leave them on until exiting a runway at the end of a flight.
Nav lights, I use at night.
Landing lights, I use during takeoff, climb, descent, and landing, and when needed for collision avoidance (ie after a traffic call from ATC).
Taxi lights are on when the landing lights are on, plus during taxi.

The recognition lights are Whelen 70303's. They're 1-amp white Halogens with a rectangular-parabolic reflector, mounted in the wingtip facing forward.

So, what's the preferred technique for using these? Leave 'em on all the time? Same as the landing lights? Turn them on when I want to look like I'm flying something bigger? Use them late in the taxiing process when I'm approaching a lit ramp and don't want to blind the lineman with all four taxi lights? Or is there some other generally accepted usage for these that I just haven't learned because I've never had them before?

 

[gprellwitz]

I'd have them on at least at the range the FAA recommends for the landing light, i.e. within 10 miles of an airport. They are typically the alternating lights on each wing, and I find that they do make the airplane a lot more visible.

 

[kgruber]

Below 10,000 feet.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

I'd have them on at least at the range the FAA recommends for the landing light, i.e. within 10 miles of an airport. They are typically the alternating lights on each wing, and I find that they do make the airplane a lot more visible.

These don't alternate, FWIW - They just help the Mooney do its best impersonation of a christmas tree.

 

[gismo]

These don't alternate, FWIW - They just help the Mooney do its best impersonation of a christmas tree.

I suspect the idea behind those lights is to have something you can leave on continuously in flight which has a lot longer expected life than the landing lights. Prior to replacing my incandescent landing lights with HIDs, the nominal life expectancy for them was 20-25 hours. Lower powered lights like the Mooney has are probably rated for a whopping 100 hrs.

 

[Everskyward]

In the airplanes I have flown which have them we leave them on below 18,000' which I'm guessing for you would be all the time.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

In the airplanes I have flown which have them we leave them on below 18,000' which I'm guessing for you would be all the time.

Well, most of the time, but not all - I have had the Mooney up to FL190.

I mean, what else ya gonna do with an overpowered bird with built-in oxygen?

 

[SCCutler]

Well, most of the time, but not all - I have had the Mooney up to FL190.

I mean, what else ya gonna do with an overpowered bird with built-in oxygen?

One niner zero, eh? You think you're in a 172?

 

[DavidWhite]

One niner zero, eh? You think you're in a 172?

 

[TMetzinger]

Depends on the expected bulb life, but I use recognition lights INSTEAD of a landing light or taxi light to make myself more visible.

If the bulb life is good (and my old J had what looked like quartz lamps with reflectors for a bright beam and they lasted a long time), then the recog lights are on pretty much all the time. If bulb light isn't that good, then I leave them off except for pattern work or if ATC calls me out to other folks. Sometimes having the lights pop on when they were off before gets the other pilot's attention.

The precise flight pulselight makes a huge difference in getting noticed. I'll install it on the next airplane I own.

 

[Inverted]

For us we operate nav lights on all the time day or night, beacon for engine start, recog and the rest below 10k.

 

[smccray]

Be careful with the recognition lights- they can melt the plastic housing if you leave them on without airspeed to keep them cool. I don't use the recognition lights very much for this reason, but if I get a traffic call I frequently flip them on to help the other plane see me, particularly if I'm talking to ATC and the other pilot isn't.

It's possible to add the alternating flashing to the recogs but I haven't done so.

 

[TMetzinger]

Be careful with the recognition lights- they can melt the plastic housing if you leave them on without airspeed to keep them cool. I don't use the recognition lights very much for this reason, but if I get a traffic call I frequently flip them on to help the other plane see me, particularly if I'm talking to ATC and the other pilot isn't.

It's possible to add the alternating flashing to the recogs but I haven't done so.

Good point, we kept ours off on the ground but there were no issues running them all the time in flight. Even in the summer the plexi stayed cool.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Be careful with the recognition lights- they can melt the plastic housing if you leave them on without airspeed to keep them cool.

Really? They're not very close to the plastic IMO, there's a few inches separating them. I would think that the plastic that they're mounted to would melt first, as it's inside the wingtip and gets no cooling air.

If those tiny little things can melt the plexi, what about the landing lights?

 

[kimberlyanne546]

One niner zero, eh? You think you're in a 172?

I love inside jokes. Good one.

 

[TMetzinger]

Really? They're not very close to the plastic IMO, there's a few inches separating them. I would think that the plastic that they're mounted to would melt first, as it's inside the wingtip and gets no cooling air.

If those tiny little things can melt the plexi, what about the landing lights?

Different type of light. I believe the recog lights are quartz halogen and the are MUCH hotter in a smaller area then and incandescent light.

 

[smccray]

Really? They're not very close to the plastic IMO, there's a few inches separating them. I would think that the plastic that they're mounted to would melt first, as it's inside the wingtip and gets no cooling air.

If those tiny little things can melt the plexi, what about the landing lights?

http://www.mooneyspace.com/index.cfm?page=2&mainaction=posts&forumid=3&threadid=458#post8354

I've also seen some deformation on the lenses of other planes, but I haven't seen that on mine fortunately.

 

[Doggtyred]

I'd leave them on anytime I was airborne. If you can install a flasher I'd do so. The wig-wag flashing is an excellent attention getter. In my fire/ems days, vehicles I drove that had wig wag high beams were much more effective at parting traffic than vehicles without when running emergency traffic.

The flashing/pulsing makes airborne traffic easier to spot...