Lights on the 737

[W Goh 0]

Hi everyone. I was looking through some of the shots that I took during a recent trip from KUL to PEN on board a 734 and I remembered something about the lights on the wing which made me curious.

 

Here's one of the pictures I took while taxiing to the runway.

 

My questions, based on labels in the picture above:

1. What is the function of light No.1? From what I could gather online (here, here, and here, it's supposed to be a landing light but why is it turned on during takeoff? Is this standard operating procedure for night takeoff or only during times with low visibility at night? It was raining pretty heavy that night and I also noticed that this light was turned off once we reached cruising altitude.

 

2. What is the function of light No.2? Is it the same as the one shown here, where it is used to illuminate the tail?

 

Here are a couple more pics I took during takeoff and cruise. They're pretty blurry but you can still see the lights that I mentioned earlier.

 

 

I found this site too while searching, but it makes no mention of light No. 1.

 

Would appreciate it if anyone could enlighten (no pun intended) me further on this. I understand this is Capt Radzi's domain?

Edited May 10, 2006 by W Goh

[Edwin Yii 0]

if im not mistaken 300,400 and 500 series hav underwings lights + landing lights..which buried under the wings...

[Adrian M 0]

It's an outboard landing lights. It just an extra assisting landing lights to the main inboard landing lights. If the crew felt that they need more extra lighting then they turn it on, if not they don't. It's totally optional light based on the crew's choice. The 2nd light I guess is the tail light. Based on the shine direction lar.

 

 

 

[Peter Smith 1]

FYI, QF have now begun to progressively install flashing outboard landing lights on their 734 fleet. This is a similar move to their Dash 8 fleet. It supposedly minimises the threat of bird strike

 

The light on the trailing edge of the wing tip is the logo light.

 

Ha, VH-VXG was the first 737 I ever flew on!

[W Goh 0]

I remembered adrian telling me bout this the first time I saw him at our spotters gathering in bki. adrian is right bout the lights. the lights at no.1 is the outboard landing lights. some airlines would use it only at night, like MAS, while others use them day and night, like AIRASIA. I might be wrong here, but what I'm trying to say is that its usage is up to the operator. the no.2 light at the end of the wingtips is the tail logo lights. this are lights are used to light up the tail used for identification and commercial image hope this helps!

 

Thanks for the answers guys! I knew I could count on mwingers to answer any aircraft related questions...

[Denny Yen 0]

These from a 737 manual:

 

[Radzi 2]

1. Outboard landing light. Retractable. Used for night landings and takeoffs.

 

2. Logo light. Shines on the tail, lets people know who you are.

Edited May 10, 2006 by Radzi

[Andrew K 0]

Interesting. I've always thought the logo lights were on the horizantal stabilizer. Looked that way anyway. One other light I love watching is the one illuminating the engine for night takeoffs/landings. Wing illumination lights. The 737 ones are really bright but the a330 and 777 ones are a little dim.

[LW Wong 0]

Denny, where did you download the 737 manual? I used to have the file but I lost it. And the torrent is currently inactive. If u have it, can u email it to me?

[Peter Smith 1]

Interesting. I've always thought the logo lights were on the horizantal stabilizer. Looked that way anyway. One other light I love watching is the one illuminating the engine for night takeoffs/landings. Wing illumination lights. The 737 ones are really bright but the a330 and 777 ones are a little dim.

 

Andrew, you are correct. However different a/c have them in different places, some don't have them at all. QF's 734's for example. On Fokker 28's (including Mk. 70 and 100) they are positioned on a canoe fairing on the trailing edge of the wing.

[Denny Yen 0]

Denny, where did you download the 737 manual? I used to have the file but I lost it. And the torrent is currently inactive. If u have it, can u email it to me?

 

What's torrent? How can I use it?

 

Uploaded here:

http://rapidshare.de/files/20175812/Real_-...manual.pdf.html

 

[LW Wong 0]

Thanks for the upload Denny.

What's torrent? How can I use it?

 

Torrent is a file sharing system like Kazaa or Napster. But with this system u can find almost anything you want on the net. examples are movies, books, pictures and software.

 

you can find more details bout bit torrent and torrent files here :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitTorrent

 

You can find files that you want to download at www.mininova.org

and download the files using a software called BITCOMET.

[Bing Chu 0]

Interesting. I've always thought the logo lights were on the horizantal stabilizer .....

If I'm not mistaken, they are located on the horizontal stabilizers for most aircraft types, especially for the biggies. Even for the 737, isn't the wingtip mounted logo light a customer specified option ? Clarification from the gurus please !

[Gavin Andrew David 6]

Landing lights turned off normally at FL100 I believe .

 

I may be wrong though .

 

Any pilots care to correct me ?

 

The strobe light is turned on once the a/c is lining up with the runway and remains on until the aircraft exits the runway at the arrival airport .

 

Wing illumination light is to check for icing on the wing ? not too sure bout that too