[CORRECT AS IS] Landing Lights

[Northstar98]

Hi everyone, 

 

Something that I've noticed for a while is that the landing lights logic seems a little broken, in that the navigation lights switch seems to determine whether or not the lights extend and whether or not you can turn them on or not.

 

With the navigation lights set to off, the landing lights switch doesn't do anything, the landing lights stay retracted and off.

With the navigation lights set to on, and the landing lights switch off, the landing lights extend.

With the navigation lights set to on, and the landing lights switch on, the landing lights come on.

If you now switch off the navigation and landing lights, the landing lights switch off, but stay extended.

 

Is this correct behaviour? It seems really strange compared to other aircraft. One thing I tested was whether or not the navigation lights were working as a master lights switch (which still wouldn't explain the extending/retracting behaviour), but the formation and beacon lights behave exactly as you'd expect - they correspond to their respective switches, and function independently of the navigation lights.

 

It's a minor bug sure, but it has been around for some time.

F-5E-3_Landing_Light_Bug.miz.trk

Edited December 22, 2020 by Northstar98

[Flappie]

Hey. This is the very first time I enter this cockpit, since I've just got this module, so please bear with me if I say anything wrong.

Here's what I've found in the DCS flight manual:

 

Quote

The lights are extended during extension of the landing gear after uplocks opening provided that position light are on and retracted during downlocks opening. The LDG & TAXI LIGHT switch turns on and off the lights.

 

When reading this, I would think landing lights stay extended while on the ground, even after engines are turned off. But this recent picture of a Swiss F-5E proves me wrong (or does it?). However, when I hit "Win + End", I see the landing llights stay extended at the end of the autostop sequence.

 

And here's what I've found in the real life manual (starting page 114):

 

 

 

 

Conclusion :

Both manuals teach us NAV (position) lights must be turned on so landing lights can be turned on (and thus extended). This is weird, I agree, but this means DCS depiction is accurate.

 

Still, none of the manuals teach us which state (extended or retracted) landing lights are in if weight-on-wheels and NAV (position) lights are turned off. I'm thinking maybe an operator needs to manually retract the landing lights on the ground?

 

Edited December 21, 2020 by Flappie

[Northstar98]

Awesome, thank you for doing the digging on this one Flappie, seems like the behaviour is in fact accurate (even if it is weird).

 

I'll do a short test to see if the lights retract with the the navigation lights off and the landing gear retracted, which I'm pretty sure they do. If that's the case, this issue is resolve and I need to learn to read manuals.

 

EDIT: Yes, the lights do retract when the gear is retracted. So to summarise, the lights are indeed working as described in the manuals. I'll mark rename the thread correct as is.

Edited December 22, 2020 by Northstar98

[RustBelt]

Still, thanks for noticing this, I learned a thing!! Didn't know this was how they worked.