Lighting Requirements (FARs)

[zsadecki]

So there is a lot of discussion about lights and it seems that every discussion ends up with a "watch out for LED lights, as they might not be legal". So my question is what lights are required for night flight? And where might we find the FARs governing these?

According to 91.209, it appears that all you need are "lighted position lights". And "You may not operate an aircraft that is equipped with an anticollision light system, unless it has lighted anticollision lights." So is the only requirement nav lights? It sounds like you don't even need anticollision lights. And there is no mention of how bright the nav lights have to be... I did see an Advisory Circular about this stuff, and it'd be quite an effort to make sure you complied with it, only possible by measuring after installation. Do advisory circulars carry any (legal) weight?

I know bare minimums aren't ideal, and stobes are a good saftey factor, and 'certified' nav lights would be as close as you can get to ensuring legality without actually doing the measurements youself, but what can we get by with?

[rv8ch]

Here are a couple of good articles that talk about the FAA requirements:

http://www.periheliondesign.com/down...tionlights.pdf

and this one:

http://www.periheliondesign.com/down...using_leds.pdf

[mlw450802]

Originally Posted by zsadecki

So there is a lot of discussion about lights and it seems that every discussion ends up with a "watch out for LED lights, as they might not be legal". So my question is what lights are required for night flight? And where might we find the FARs governing these?

According to 91.209, it appears that all you need are "lighted position lights". And "You may not operate an aircraft that is equipped with an anticollision light system, unless it has lighted anticollision lights." So is the only requirement nav lights? It sounds like you don't even need anticollision lights. And there is no mention of how bright the nav lights have to be... I did see an Advisory Circular about this stuff, and it'd be quite an effort to make sure you complied with it, only possible by measuring after installation. Do advisory circulars carry any (legal) weight?

I know bare minimums aren't ideal, and stobes are a good saftey factor, and 'certified' nav lights would be as close as you can get to ensuring legality without actually doing the measurements youself, but what can we get by with?

FAR 23.1381 through 23.1401 give all the technical requirements for aircraft lighting, viewing angles, minimum intensities etc.

While it reads a little technically, it is actually pretty easy to comply with and most of the LED systems far exceed the minimum candle power vs. viewing angle issues.

-Mike