Collision beacon power ON/OFF behavior on ground

[DmitriKozlowsky]

Collision beacon power ON/OFF behavior on ground.

 

I believe its SOP in aviation, civil+mil, that anti-collision beacon should be ON and turning (blinking) before APU is turned ON, and definitely ON during startup. Unless tactical situation prohibits use of any lights. AKA 'dark start'. This may actually be FAA regulation, NATOPS reg, USAF Directive, and industry practice, But in F/A-18C anti-col light only turns on after engine (right) is turning the generator. It should turn on when battery power is turned ON. But thats my observation. I could be wrong.

BTW, ED nice touch, of flame gout when APU is powering up. Sure would hate to be the crew groundhog, prepping the aircraft, underneath APU exhaust port , when some guy flips APU to ON.

On of thousand ways to perish in aviation, without ever leaving the ground.

Other fine ways;

-Shreaded by propeller

-Runover by landing gear

-Sucked into intake

-Sprayed with hot hydraulic fluid

-Sprayed with caustic JP fuel

-Flash frozen by cryo LOX or liquid nitrogen.

-Burned by exaust

-Blown by exaust into ice cold water

-Crushed by munition during arming

[=Panther=]

The strobe gets power from the generator after the engine is spooled up, exactly like is in real life. Military (USA, maybe not all but most) fighter aircraft don't have power to the lights until at least one engine is online.

[MadCat1381]

The strobe light in the legacy Hornet is powerd by the right AC bus and needs AC power to work. The APU does not provide any electrical power, only air for engine start. So there is no way for the strobe light to work before the the engine has started. And if I remeber my time on the flight line correctly, that is how most fighter are set up. But I may be wrong here as it's been quite some time now.

 

In the civilian world yes. The strobe is used to show anyone around, that the aircraft is about to move. So most airlines will have a procedure to switch it on when push back clearance is received. Or latest in the before start checklist.

But civillian aircraft start their engines on there own, with no assistance from the ground crew. In a fighter jet, the pilot will almost always have a ground crew for the start up process and one of their tasks is to make shure it is safe for the plane and safe for everyone around when the engines are started. That's why the plane captain looks underneath the Hornet before giving the clearance to start the APU. There are several videos on Youtube that show this.

 

And to be honest, yes it is dangerous, but when you know what you're doing it's not that dangerous.

[Diesel_Thunder]

MadCat, if I am not mistaken, the red beacons (tail and belly) are turned on prior to engine start. These stay on as long as engines/props are turning to warn anyone on the ground nearby.

 

The strobes (really bright white lights) are turned on when taking the active runway, crossing a runway, and during flight for visibilty. These stay on unless the lights affect the pilots vision (clouds/fog, etc.).

 

It seems a lot of military aircraft deviate from the normal lighting designs compared to the civil aircraft side of things.

[MadCat1381]

Correct. I meant the beacon. Thanks.

 

There is a quite good YT-video where a pilot explains the lights on an Airbus A320:

 

Edited May 27, 2020 by MadCat1381