Wing Tip and Landing Lights

Discussion of aircraft electrical system design, construction, and problems.

Re: Wing Tip and Landing Lights

Postby lakespookie » Thu May 27, 2021 1:13 pm

I have not seen anything that necessarily invalidates these lights, Approved per the CFRs is defined as follows:
"Approved, unless used with reference to another person, means approved by the FAA or any person to whom the FAA has delegated its authority in the matter concerned, or approved under the provisions of a bilateral agreement between the United States and a foreign country or jurisdiction."

a DAR and or an FAA inspector is a person who the FAA has delegated the approval authority to; a TSO is essentially an approval with out the need for the FAA to sign off because they have defined what they are looking for. This is why the Operating limitations are so important.

a TSO is an approval but is not the only means of obtaining approval.

YMMV
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Re: Wing Tip and Landing Lights

Postby mike.smith » Tue Jun 01, 2021 7:39 pm

lakespookie wrote:a DAR and or an FAA inspector is a person who the FAA has delegated the approval authority to; a TSO is essentially an approval with out the need for the FAA to sign off because they have defined what they are looking for. This is why the Operating limitations are so important.


They absolutely do NOT have that authority!!! No way! Ask any inspector or DAR. What you are describing is a field approval, and they do not have that authority because of the Operating Limitations lingo and the regs. They have to follow the regs.
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Re: Wing Tip and Landing Lights

Postby lakespookie » Wed Jun 02, 2021 6:38 pm

I mean with your argument the seat belts also need to be TSO's as far as lighting i would fall back to the FARs,

23.2530 External and cockpit lighting.
(a) The applicant must design and install all lights to minimize any adverse effects on the performance of flightcrew duties.

(b) Any position and anti-collision lights, if required by part 91 of this chapter, must have the intensities, flash rate, colors, fields of coverage, and other characteristics to provide sufficient time for another aircraft to avoid a collision.

(c) Any position lights, if required by part 91 of this chapter, must include a red light on the left side of the airplane, a green light on the right side of the airplane, spaced laterally as far apart as practicable, and a white light facing aft, located on an aft portion of the airplane or on the wing tips.

(d) Any taxi and landing lights must be designed and installed so they provide sufficient light for night operations.

(e) For seaplanes or amphibian airplanes, riding lights must provide a white light visible in clear atmospheric conditions.

and

25.1401 Anticollision light system.
(a) General. The airplane must have an anticollision light system that -

(1) Consists of one or more approved anticollision lights located so that their light will not impair the crew's vision or detract from the conspicuity of the position lights; and

(2) Meets the requirements of paragraphs (b) through (f) of this section.

(b) Field of coverage. The system must consist of enough lights to illuminate the vital areas around the airplane considering the physical configuration and flight characteristics of the airplane. The field of coverage must extend in each direction within at least 75 degrees above and 75 degrees below the horizontal plane of the airplane, except that a solid angle or angles of obstructed visibility totaling not more than 0.03 steradians is allowable within a solid angle equal to 0.15 steradians centered about the longitudinal axis in the rearward direction.

(c) Flashing characteristics. The arrangement of the system, that is, the number of light sources, beam width, speed of rotation, and other characteristics, must give an effective flash frequency of not less than 40, nor more than 100 cycles per minute. The effective flash frequency is the frequency at which the airplane's complete anticollision light system is observed from a distance, and applies to each sector of light including any overlaps that exist when the system consists of more than one light source. In overlaps, flash frequencies may exceed 100, but not 180 cycles per minute.

(d) Color. Each anticollision light must be either aviation red or aviation white and must meet the applicable requirements of § 25.1397.

(e) Light intensity. The minimum light intensities in all vertical planes, measured with the red filter (if used) and expressed in terms of “effective” intensities, must meet the requirements of paragraph (f) of this section. The following relation must be assumed:

Ie=∫t2t1I(t)dt0.2+(t2−t1)
where:
Ie = effective intensity (candles).
I(t) = instantaneous intensity as a function of time.
t2 - t1 = flash time interval (seconds).
Normally, the maximum value of effective intensity is obtained when t2 and t1 are chosen so that the effective intensity is equal to the instantaneous intensity at t2 and t1.
(f) Minimum effective intensities for anticollision lights. Each anticollision light effective intensity must equal or exceed the applicable values in the following table.

Nothing about those regulations says TSO. Approved i would take to mean that it meets the Standard that the FAA has defined for approval i.e. part 23 and part 25.
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Re: Wing Tip and Landing Lights

Postby lakespookie » Wed Jun 02, 2021 7:23 pm

Another interesting discussion is the Type Certificate wording, Considering that EAB Airworthiness i dont think is considered a type certificate.
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Re: Wing Tip and Landing Lights

Postby Timmyjane » Fri Jun 07, 2024 7:13 am

Meet is correct, not be.

To ensure compliance with FAA regulations for aircraft position lights, these lights must generally meet the specifications outlined in the relevant Technical Standard Orders (TSOs). Specifically, the TSO-C30c sets the performance standards for position lights, covering aspects such as light intensity, color, and coverage angles.
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Re: Wing Tip and Landing Lights

Postby GordonTurner » Fri Jun 07, 2024 7:58 am

The wording that makes the specification (TSO) applicable to our aircraft is:

(c) Any position lights, if required by part 91 of this chapter,

…meaning required by the operation (at night) per 91.205 for example.

I personally am not being concerned about the TSO in this case. Put a red light on the left, green on the right, and make some reasonable effort to ensure the angles of visibility, and be done with it.
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