BrodieBrazil From Canada, joined Nov 2003, 88 posts, RR: 0 Posted (8 years 4 months 3 days 5 hours ago) and read 1800 times:
While spotting today, I noticed the strobes on the wings of Airbus planes actually strobe twice then pause, while Boeings strobe normally once then pause. Is this a reliable way to determine Boeings from Airbus in nighttime conditions?
Any other strobe or lighting distinctions that help determine aircraft at night?
Socalatc From United States of America, joined Jan 2004, 506 posts, RR: 1 Reply 1, posted (8 years 4 months 3 days ago) and read 1754 times:
On the 319/320/321's I know they actually have 2 strobe lights on each wing, one goes off then the next one right after that, IM pretty sure that the Boeing's just have the one strobe. The DC/MD 10's and MD 11 have one strobe on the front and one on the rear of the wing.
In response to your post, yes I would say that is a pretty good way to tell them apart in during the night. Also the landing lights between the Boeing's and buses are different.
Tiger119 From United States of America, joined Sep 2003, 1919 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (8 years 4 months 3 days ago) and read 1749 times:
Along the same line, I have seen L1011s with the twin rotating becons on the bottom of the fuselage and a couple nights ago I saw an L1011 with twin strobes. My first thought was maybe the individual company decides what they want on the top and bottom, rotating becons or strobes. Is that correct?
Flying is the second greatest thrill known to mankind, landing is the first!
Socalatc From United States of America, joined Jan 2004, 506 posts, RR: 1 Reply 3, posted (8 years 4 months 3 days ago) and read 1741 times:
I've seen a few airliners with twin rotating beacons, the L1011's and I've even seen them on a few MD-87's
I know some of the airliners have 2 sets of nav lights on each wing, that's so if one goes out they are still legal to fly at night. Keeps the dispatch reliability up, but that's not the case for dual strobe lights because its not a night requirement. So I don't know the purpose.
DrJetMech From United States of America, joined Jan 2004, 44 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (8 years 4 months 1 day 19 hours ago) and read 1584 times:
Strobe beacons(red) are more reliable than the old rotating. Thus some operators choose to upgrade for the cost savings. They can be retro-fitted fairly easily.
UTa_FLYinghigh From Tunisia, joined Oct 2001, 6495 posts, RR: 54 Reply 6, posted (8 years 4 months 1 day 18 hours ago) and read 1575 times:
The DC-10/MD-11 also flash twice.
As for Airbus aircraft, there are two lights for redundancy - if one burns out, the other still serves its function.
On a related note, the two red anticollision lights on an Airbus flash both at the same time whereas they flash one at a time on older Boeing aircraft such as the 737-200/300/400/500, which render pictures with both strobes nearly impossible if you're not using a tripod.
Browntailwhale From United States of America, joined Oct 2001, 213 posts, RR: 0 Reply 8, posted (8 years 4 months 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 1557 times:
Quote from UTA, "On a related note, the two red anticollision lights on an Airbus flash both at the same time", That's not entirely correct, next time you see a FedEx A300 you will notice that the anti collision lights flash independently, conversely UPS's new A300s both flash at the same time.
MD11Engineer From Germany, joined Oct 2003, 12568 posts, RR: 68 Reply 9, posted (8 years 4 months 1 day 14 hours ago) and read 1531 times:
MD-11s have two strobes on each wing pointing forward and one pointing aft, as well as one upper and one lower strobe type anti-collision light, each with it´s own power source. The different strobes are usualy triggered in sequence by a flasher timer unit in the equipment rack in the center accessory compartment. If this unit fails each strobe will work independently. Additionaly there are two Nav lights on each wing as well as two formation lights each wing.
AJ From Australia, joined Nov 1999, 2366 posts, RR: 30 Reply 10, posted (8 years 4 months 1 day 6 hours ago) and read 1556 times:
You are missing the major advantage of these strobe units.
On Airbus and MD-11 aircraft forward facing stobes double flash, rear facing strobes single flash.
Even over Afganistan in the middle of the night you can tell whether traffic is coming towards you or same direction long before the navigation lights are visible. Double flashes = coming towards you, Single flash = same direction.
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