PA28-181 Position Lights
01-14-2009, 01:27 PM
#1
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PA28-181 Position Lights
I have been flying a PA28-181 but never at night. I am also very new to aviation. I joined a club and have been looking over the PA28-181 and am having trouble locating the appropriate aircraft lights requried for night flight. Specifically, I cant find the white tail position light. It has strobes on each wing. It has red and green position lights on the wings. It has a red beacon light on the tail. For the life of me i cant find a white tail position light? Am I missing something? I have seen many PA28's with the white position light on the rudder. Would their be any onther place they would stick the white position light?
01-14-2009, 04:12 PM
#4
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Howdy Sellener,
There are some installations of aircraft strobe light systems on aircraft wingtips that replace the need for a white tail navigation light.
Have attached a link to the Supplemental Type Certificate for the Whelen Company's strobe lighting system. Ask your flight school's mechanic(s) about the installation just to make sure the aircraft meets the requirements for lighting for night flight, but I'm pretty sure that's what's up in this case.
Supplemental Type Certificate
There are some installations of aircraft strobe light systems on aircraft wingtips that replace the need for a white tail navigation light.
Have attached a link to the Supplemental Type Certificate for the Whelen Company's strobe lighting system. Ask your flight school's mechanic(s) about the installation just to make sure the aircraft meets the requirements for lighting for night flight, but I'm pretty sure that's what's up in this case.
Supplemental Type Certificate
01-15-2009, 03:35 AM
#7
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http://www.aircraftspruce.com/menus/...onlightass.htm
I gotta admit, I think I spoke too soon. The more I look into PA-28 light installations, the less I know.
I've seen a whole bunch of different set-ups since your initial post while googling PA-28-181's.
Have attached another link to Whelen's catalog, the explanation of exterior lighting is similar, but a bit clearer I think than the above links I provided.
Safest bet for you, to make sure that plane has what it needs legally for night flight, ask your school to explain their plane's lighting setup. I worked at a place that had Cherokee Sixes a long time ago, all day VFR in AK, and they had different installations. Some had strobes, some did not.
Good luck!
http://www.whelen.com/pb/Aviation/20...on_Catalog.pdf
Last edited by Kilgore Trout; 01-15-2009 at 04:04 AM.
01-17-2009, 07:18 PM
#10
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Kilgore Trout:
No offense, but I don't know of any!
The STC you linked to mentions a replacement for existing anti-collision light systems. There's no mention of position lights that I can find. For a lot of reasons it's very unlikely that such a substitution would be allowed. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. A position light needs to be, and can be, on 100% of the time at night. It's often not safe to do this with a strobe (fog, proximity of other vehicles on ground, etc.)
***
freeze3192:
Unless it's some sort of a redundant installation, no (unless you had some sort of a ferry permit).
***
OP:
Turn the master and position light switches on (only those switches) and walk around the airplane looking for steady white light (s).
There are some installations of aircraft strobe light systems on aircraft wingtips that replace the need for a white tail navigation light
The STC you linked to mentions a replacement for existing anti-collision light systems. There's no mention of position lights that I can find. For a lot of reasons it's very unlikely that such a substitution would be allowed. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. A position light needs to be, and can be, on 100% of the time at night. It's often not safe to do this with a strobe (fog, proximity of other vehicles on ground, etc.)
***
freeze3192:
could you legally fly at night with one of the aft facing wingtip position lights INOP?
Unless it's some sort of a redundant installation, no (unless you had some sort of a ferry permit).
***
OP:
am having trouble locating the appropriate aircraft lights
Turn the master and position light switches on (only those switches) and walk around the airplane looking for steady white light (s).
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