Strobe Lights - this will be a quick answer

For me it depends. If I have a rotating beacon, the strobes only come on once I'm cleared for take-off. If I don't have a beacon, the strobes are on prior to and after shut-down.
 
GrahamC said:
Don't fall into the trap of letting an area start training to one DPE's preferences. Think for yourself, have justifiable logic behind your actions, and don't be afraid to have a discussion with a DPE if you come into disagreement.

If a pilot, especially one in leadership role (a DPE for example) is unwilling to have an educated discussion with another pilot on the ground, then I'd steer clear of that person.



That being said, it doesn't sound like there's anything fundamentally wrong with what that DPE is saying. I would just recommend that you not blindly operate as a DPE wants you to, and also not necessarily operate as larger transport category airplanes do. Cessna 172 View attachment 51471 B737.
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Agree on the first part

But on he second part, when it's 0230L I'm on my 7th duty hour, about to go on a 1.5hr medevac flight, I'm taxing out to launch, and some knob is sitting infront of me on the taxiway blinking away like a solar flare had a love child with a disco ball, that ain't cool regardless if you're a C172 or a B737.
 
James331 said:
Agree on the first part

But on he second part, when it's 0230L I'm on my 7th duty hour, about to go on a 1.5hr medevac flight, I'm taxing out to launch, and some knob is sitting infront of me on the taxiway blinking away like a solar flare had a love child with a disco ball, that ain't cool regardless if you're a C172 or a B737.
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Agree entirely. It is not cool. Not considerate. Not socially acceptable, appropriate or kind. But is it truly "wrong?" (Rhetorical question)

Note: I'm making the assumption [so shoot me] that the DPE intended for strobes to be on from engine start on during the daytime. I gave him [DPE] the benefit of the doubt that he would have the wherewithal to use discretion in night time operations.
 
FLYGUYRY said:
Local DPE apparently wants them on anytime the engine is running so that's how my flight instructors have told me to do it, when I'm flying by myself though I only turn them on when entering the runway, turn them off when I clean up the plane after exiting the runway. I think its a little overkill to have them on during the taxi but what do I know, I'm just a lowly 62 hour pilot
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That's pretty bad advice by the DPE. During the day it's not really an issue but you'll kill someone's night vision if you taxi past them with your strobes blinking.
 
GrahamC said:
Agree entirely. It is not cool. Not considerate. Not socially acceptable, appropriate or kind. But is it truly "wrong?" (Rhetorical question)

Note: I'm making the assumption [so shoot me] that the DPE intended for strobes to be on from engine start on during the daytime. I gave him [DPE] the benefit of the doubt that he would have the wherewithal to use discretion in night time operations.
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Yeah that's only during the day, but I still think its overkill personally. Is it really that hard to see other traffic taxiing around during the day? At any rate if it's one of those things that makes my examiner happy (and doesn't compromise safety) I suspect it's probably best to do it. I haven't had a checkride with him yet but he seems pretty well respected, perhaps he has a personal experience that makes him want to turn them on once the engine is turning in the day :shrug:
 
GrahamC said:
Agree entirely. It is not cool. Not considerate. Not socially acceptable, appropriate or kind. But is it truly "wrong?" (Rhetorical question)

Note: I'm making the assumption [so shoot me] that the DPE intended for strobes to be on from engine start on during the daytime. I gave him [DPE] the benefit of the doubt that he would have the wherewithal to use discretion in night time operations.
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If it's not any of the first few things, YES.

Just because some "authority" didn't tell you not to do something, doesn't mean you should do that thing. It that type of thinking that causes us to need endless laws and regulations.
 
LongRoadBob said:
I did this but I couldn't come to a definitive conclusion.

Seemed like they worked, then didn't work, then worked again, then didn't work, then worked, then....
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Did you try putting a .22 cartridge in place of the fuse?
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Did you try putting a .22 cartridge in place of the fuse?
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I did, and it made a funny noise and now they are just off...I wrote it up.

Seriously as a green student, I keep getting amazed at things that I had always assumed must be crystal clear, and all pilots would agree on (ok...stop laughing..cmon up off the floor, I'm serious!) like in another thread about default vs AFD pattern at class G, which pattern to fly, and just a ton of other things.

I looked in my PHAK copy, after the index is a section on "runway incursion avoidance" and in there is a table with aircraft lights, (figure 1-16 "standard aircraft lighting") and it shows strobe on with taxiing, crossing a runway, line up and wait, and takeoff.

But the text below it in most cases always adds "only of the use of them does not adversely affect other aircraft". Quite a open to interpretation term.

In fact, so far in my training, and in looking online, and looking through PHAK and other publications I barely find any information about this other than that figure 1-16.

And I'm actually still trying to keep straight what lights are which, and notice interchangeable names for them. Going to recheck the POH for the Piper I am learning on, but at this point I just turn on the light switches my checklist says, and am very unclear (since I cannot see them) which ones are which.

In my ground school I haven't yet seen an overview either and (I'm going to check again) and make up an illustration.

If anyone familiar with the lights on the Piper warrior II (guessing the same on any Piper Cherokee?) this is what I at this point think is available...

1) landing lights (I think only one on the nose?)
2) Nav Lights. Red on left wing, green on right wing.
3) ACL anti collision lights. Says so in the switch. But is this the same as strobe? And where located? Are these also on the wing tips?
4) rotating beacon (on the top of the rudder/fin/stabilizer?)

Any correction or help appreciated!
 
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