Slick Nick Posted July 10 Report Posted July 10 Strobes are for use on the runway only. Day or night, you should not have them on while taxiing. Especially in a propeller driven aircraft, it’s incredibly obvious when the engine is operating. Turn them on as you cross the hold line, and off once you’re clear the active on landing. 2
Jim Peace Posted July 10 Report Posted July 10 19 hours ago, Slick Nick said: off once you’re clear the active on landing. or the runway in use....
Jim Peace Posted July 10 Report Posted July 10 19 hours ago, Slick Nick said: Strobes are for use on the runway only. Am I wrong to use these strobes? 2
Paul Thomas Posted July 11 Report Posted July 11 On 7/9/2025 at 10:10 AM, Slick Nick said: I thought taxiing around with strobes on was a "Cirrus-idiot" only affair? Don't tell me it's made it to the Mooney world now! Mine are always on except at night when it risk damaging night vision for other pilots. I don't have a strobe light and I believe I'm required to have them on (91.209).
Pinecone Posted July 14 Report Posted July 14 If you don't have a beacon you are required to have the strobes on, unless you determine that they will cause a hazard.
midlifeflyer Posted July 14 Report Posted July 14 On 7/9/2025 at 10:45 PM, Slick Nick said: Strobes are for use on the runway only. Day or night, you should not have them on while taxiing. Especially in a propeller driven aircraft, it’s incredibly obvious when the engine is operating. Canadian rules may be different than US rules in this respect. The US regulation is pretty straightforward. ============================== § 91.209 Aircraft lights. No person may: *** (b) Operate an aircraft that is equipped with an anticollision light system, unless it has lighted anticollision lights. However, the anticollision lights need not be lighted when the pilot-in-command determines that, because of operating conditions, it would be in the interest of safety to turn the lights off. ============================== "Operate an aircraft" has been interpreted to take place once the engine has been started. The actual interpretation says "started for the purpose of air navigation." If it sounds silly to exclude taxi for maintenance if it's so important, but it does go on to say, "As a safety precaution, the anticollision lights should be on before starting an engine or causing a propeller or rotor to move." There's nothing official on this, but the "operating conditions" for them to be off are generally considers to include certain ground operations (blinding others) flight operations (blinding yourself at night in the clouds), or the result of other issues (i.e., alternator failure). What is the official Canadian rule?
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