Tail light on M20J

[jaylw314]

5 hours ago, Fly Boomer said:

One possibility is that the light appears to be emitted from something 36 feet wide instead of a point source.  The subtended angle is huge compared to the apparently point source.

I guess the opposing hypothesis would be that the brain only perceives two lights as being connected if they move together, but since flashers are only on briefly, there is less perceived paired motion as opposed to constantly on lights.

OTOH, alternating strobes (not multiflash strobes) or wig-wag lights are perceived as a single object moving back and forth, and I'd speculate the perception of that motion might be easier to detect against a background of lights.

Again, just guesses with no actual data. I gotta imagine NASA has asked this questions at some point, though

[Pinecone]

2 hours ago, ArtVandelay said:

I wigwag only the recognition lights, I left the wing taxi/landing lights alone because they still be needed for taxiing and landing. And how many blinking lights do you need?

As many as you can get.

Most of the pulse systems allow you to run some/all of the lights as constantly on.  So you can still have landing/taxi light.

[PT20J]

Methinks y'all overthinking this 

[Hank]

My LED landing light.and belly strobe are always on. My old, small incandescent red & green wingtip recognition lights are only on when I turn them on (night, IMC or just below a layer).

I've had comments on the radio about how highly visible my plane is. Since small LED wingtip.lights each cost more than the PAR46 LED landing light, I ain't getting 'em.

[carusoam]

1) Have as many lights as you want…

2) Blink as many as you can…

3) Sync if you want to…

4) Don’t let them all go out at the same time…   

I have difficulty tracking planes that go completely dark, and take another second to flash again…

 

Kind of a first world problem… nice to have.

Best regards,

-a-