Chapter 1

AIRCRAFT LIGHTING

Aircraft lighting may be divided into the following groups:

Flight Compartment Lights - Flight compartment illumination provides area

illumination (flood lighting), control panel lighting and indicator lights -
including dimming and testing. The requirements are laid down in JAR25.

Passenger Compartment Lights - Passenger compartment lighting provides

illumination of the passenger cabin, passenger signs, crew call lights, reading
lights, toilet and galley areas etc. A requirement in the ANO is that all passenger
compartments must be illuminated.

Cargo and Service Compartment Lights - Cargo and service compartment

lighting provides illumination of cargo compartments, service areas and cargo
door areas for ground operations and maintenance.

Exterior Lights - Exterior lights provide illumination of the ground during

landing and taxi operations and make the aircraft visible in flight - as laid down
in the ANO. Provision is also made for the illumination of tailplane logos and the
requirement has to be met for ice inspection spot-lights.

Emergency Lights - Emergency lights provide interior and exterior illumination

of exits and exit paths during emergency evacuation. (Also fitted to emergency
escape chutes).
Before we look at lighting systems we shall spend a little time on lamps
themselves to include:

* The incandescent lamp

* The halogen lamp
* The fluorescent lamp
LEDs

The Incandescent Lamp

Thomas Alva Edison, (American physicist 1847 - 1931), invented the

incandescent light bulb (amongst other things) in the 1870s. Figure 2 shows a
sectional view of a typical incandescent lamp.

The operation of the bulb is essentially very simple. An electric current is passed
through a thin tungsten filament (diameter about 0.01mm or 0.00004"). This
gives the electrons a higher energy state and increased motion. This increased
motion causes the conductor to heat up.

Electrons only remain at a higher energy level for a short period of time. As they
return to a lower energy level, the excess energy is shed in the form of photons
of light. This gives the appearance of making the filament glow \vhite-hot'. The
filament is carried on glass mounts to prevent temperature transfer. The ends of
the filament are welded to thicker support wires that hold the filament in place
and provide a current path.
 The filament is formed into small coils, mounted onto glass rods and the lot
encapsulated in a glass cover. The glass cover is then filled with the gas as
required and cemented to the base.

SAQ 1

In the early days of development the filament was placed in air, but would
quickly oxidize and burn out. How is this prevented in a modem lamp?

The base supports the wires, has contacts located in the base and provides
support for the assembly in the light fitting. Methods of fixing include screw and
bayonet connections.

, The Halogen Lamp

The incandescent lamp is only about 5% efficient with most of its energy being
lost as heat and invisible radiation. A more efficient option is the halogen lamp.

The halogens are a name given to a group of elements that have a valence orbit
with one electron missing - fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine. On the
periodic table they fall vertically underneath each other, one space to the left of
the inert gases. What that basically means is that in any reaction they want to
gain one electron.

Metals are the opposite; they have a valence orbit with one or two electrons and
as such want to give up an electron in any reaction. When halogens and metals
are brought together in the right conditions they will react - one giving and one
taking, and an ionic bond is formed.

Lamps of this type have a quartz envelope and are halogen filled. A commonly
used fill is iodine. During use the tungsten filament vaporises slowly and under
normal circumstances deposits itself on the envelope inner face, thus reducing
the light output. The halogen fill keeps the envelope clean by chemical reaction
with the deposited tungsten vapour. The reaction actually goes a stage further
with the vaporised tungsten being re-deposited on the filament, thus extending
its life.

The halogen lamp tends to give a harsh bright light. This is excellent for outside
work but is undesirable for interior use.

(Some car manufacturers have started using quartz iodine lamps as headlights.
The same is true on aircraft with landing lights etc).
Care needs to be taken when replacing this particular type of lamp as the
natural oils from the skin will be deposited on the outside of the envelope. This
will, under normal operation of the lamp, sink into the envelope and seriously
shorten the life of the lamp. Always wear suitable gloves when handling the
lamp.

Note. Most lamps get very hot when on. When changing a lamp always switch
off some minutes before attempting to complete the task to allow the lamp and
housing to cool. If there is no time to allow it to cool then wear protective gloves.

The Fluorescent Tube

Figure 3 shows a schematic of a basic fluorescent tube. The tube is filled with
mercury vapour at a low pressure and sealed at both ends with a cathode and
an anode. The inside surface of the tube is coated with phosphorescent metallic
salts, such as zinc sulphide or zinc silicate. Note that it will require an
alternating current unlike the incandescent lamp which will work with ac as
well as dc.

Electrons are emitted from the incandescent cathode (not bright enough to
illuminate anything - in fact some tubes are cold anyway) These electrons have
tremendous energy and will aim for the anode at the other end of the tube,
movement will be from the cathode to the anode (dc), but alternating with ac.
During their journey they will collide with the mercury vapour atoms in the
tube. These collisions cause radiation to be emitted, which is mostly all in the
invisible spectrum (ultraviolet).

The visible portion of the radiation is a pale colour in the blue green range. The
ultra violet (invisible) radiation will strike the fluorescent coating on the inside of
the tube and cause it to emit radiation with a longer wavelength and more
importantly, a wavelength that is in the visible spectrum. During the collision
other electrons are emitted and move on towards the 'anode', colliding many
times before getting there (actually they collide several hundred times).

SAQ 2

If an ohmmeter was placed across firstly, an incandescent lamp and then a

fluorescent filament, what results would you expect to see?

Providing the current is already flowing, and the collisions are taking place
electrons will be moving from/to the cathode/anode and as such the tube (once
started) provides a very low resistance. So how do we initially get things started?

This is where the choke (sometimes called a starter) and the auxiliary lamp
come in. The choke is an inductor which prevents dangerously high voltages; it
also acts in the starting cycle.
When current is first switched on the glow lamp lights due to the fact it is in
parallel and the bimetallic contacts are at this moment open. The bimetallic
contacts now close and allow the full current to the cathode which makes it
incandescent. The bimetallic strip now cools and breaks; this breaks the action
of the choke and causes a voltage spike that forces electrons to be emitted from _
the hot cathode.

The cycle has begun and current flows in the main tube and no current flows to
the auxiliary lamp and so the bimetallic contacts remain parted.

Careful selection of the fluorescent material can make the light glow in virtually
any colour. The most common is as described and this produces a moderately
white light. As the light is caused by radiation from collision rather than an
energy change (in the case of the incandescent lamp) it is very efficient once
started. It produces little heat and so doesn't add to cabin heat sink.

Due to the alternating current, the lamp can have a moderate stroboscopic
effect and because of this and the fact that is produces a harsh light, its use on
aircraft tends to be limited to the cabin spaces, where they are used extensively.
They require a ballast transformer to raise the voltage sufficiently to provide the
ionising effect required to excite the tube. This transformer is also used to
control light intensity, as we shall see later.
Fault diagnosis of a faulty tube is difficult. The resistance cannot be measured,
as when the tube is not working its resistance is very high. Often, the only
course of action is to replace the tube, if that fails a voltage check etc will be
required.

Light Emitting Diode (LED)

If you have already studied modules 4 and 5 then this should be mostly
revision, if you haven't then this might all be new to you and you will require a
bit more study time.

LED's operate on the principle that under forward bias conditions a p-n
junction diode exhibit special properties. Electrons are easily driven from the n-
type material into the p-type material by the electric field applied. The reduced
depletion area that exists allows the electrons to travel quickly from one to the
other. Upon entering the p-type material, but still close to the depletion area,
the electrons meet a plentiful supply of 'holes' that allows rapid combination.
The electron is now returned to a lowered energy level and the excess energy is
shed in the form of a photon of light energy.

Careful selection of materials determines where the emitted radiation falls in the
spectrum. Gallium arsenic phosphide is a common semiconductor used to
provide an orange indication. This colour can be changed with the use of a filter
or different material construction. That I hasten to add is a brief description and
should you require more detailed information you should refer to the module 4
and 5 study books.

Use of LED's is somewhat restrictive as they do not provide sufficient light for
illumination reasons, but they are used for indication - quite extensively on
newer aircraft. They are used in seven segment displays and are used for fibre
optic transmission.

They are useful indicators as they are very efficient, requiring no additional
relay or control devices, and they give off very little heat. Another advantage is
they last a long time - unless a too higher voltage is placed across them.
We shall leave it there for the time being. There are other forms of light devices
and we shall be briefly discussing those as they come up.

Try the following exercises - as usual the answers will be found in the text.

1. Explain briefly how and incandescent lamp works.

2. Why is a fluorescent tube more efficient that a incandescent lamp?
3. Where might you find the halogen type of lighting and why?
4. What use might an aircraft designer have for a LED?
5. Explain briefly the operation of an LED.

Suggested Practical Activity (if access and equipment allow):

With the lamp removed from its socket carry out a resistance check of a. known
good incandescent lamp and note the reading - typically about 5Q. Check the
resistance of a 'dead' (open circuited) lamp and note the reading.

In a dark room switch on a domestic fluorescent light. Watch for the auxiliary
glow lamp illuminating just prior to the main tube flash over.
 Chapter 2

FLIGHT DECK LIGHTING

The requirements for aircraft lighting are laid down primarily in the Air
Navigation Order, and is further expanded in JAR25.

Adequate lighting must be provided so the crew can see all the controls and the
instruments and the markings near to them. Anytime the aircraft is or is likely
to enter Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) the instruments will require illumination.
This illumination will need to cover the possibility of operations in dull daylight
through dusk to complete darkness. The captain and first officer may wish to
alter illumination levels. All this needs to be catered for.

The lighting has to be positioned so that it illuminates the instruments or

panels clearly but does not 'glare' back to the flight crew.

Flight deck lighting includes:

Floodlights - Used for general lighting of the area. The main instrument panel
floodlights are controlled from switches on the lighting panels. These lights may
be fluorescent tubes or ordinary lamps. Some flood lights like glareshield and
aisle floodlights are controlled from rheostats.
Integral Lighting - Lighting for all the instrument and circuit breaker panels is
controlled from the lighting panel. The bulbs used for faceplate illumination
and are usually soldered onto a circuit strip attached to the rear of the
instrument faceplate.

Miscellaneous Lights - Map lights illuminate the pilot's lap area, chart lights
illuminate the pilot's letdown chart holders and utility lights that are moveable
for miscellaneous use.

Override Light Switch - The override light switch can be used as a means of
turning on all of the instrument panel floodlights from one switch.

Standby Lighting - With only standby power available certain critical lighting
circuits revert to standby power sources to provide emergency lighting.

Master Dim and Test - The master dim and test provides night annunciation
light dimming and a convenient 'one switch' test of all appropriate lamp
annunciators.

We shall spend some time dealing with lighting based mostly on Boeing aircraft
but the principals are similar for all large commercial aeroplanes.
Integral Instrument Lights

Each instrument has its own lamp with the wires run to the back connector of
the instrument casing. A plug will then connect to the lamp to the aircraft
lighting system - common switch - fuse/CB - dc bus bar.

The filament lamp is so positioned that it shines onto the face of the instrument,
yet doesn't show as a glare.

A major drawback with this type of lighting is that a lamp change requires the
instrument to be removed and either dismantled or replaced. This means
additional functional tests for the instrument system, and if the bulb failed
during a night flight, the instrument would be difficult to read. It has limited
use these days and any new aircraft will not normally have this type fitted.

(Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs) or Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) require no

additional illumination, though they do have there own brilliance controls.)

Pillar Lamps (figure 5)

An incandescent filament lamp is housed inside a small pillar and provided with
a power supply. The cap on the pillar prevents the glare and the slot deflects the
light down onto the instrument or panel.

Often two pillar lamps will be fitted over the primary flight instruments, thus
providing a degree of redundancy. Replacement of the bulb is simple enough
with the cap being held in place with a spring collar. Once this is removed the
sub-miniature bulb can be removed. The cap alignment is crucial as this
determines the light effect; the cap is keyed to the pillar.

An improvement of the pillar lamp came when two were located together on the
same housing. This made for easier maintenance. Sometimes called a bridge
lamp.
Trans-illuminated Panels (Lightplates)

This type of illumination is very common, particularly on 'glass' cockpit aircraft.

It relies on the principle of reflection and refraction of light between two polished
surfaces. With reference to figure 6, a light source, typically an incandescent
bulb, will have the light directed into the end of a glass sheet. This light will
travel down the glass by reflection off the polished sides. At any gaps (scratched
or etched areas) on the reflecting surface the light will be refracted out of the
plate and become visible.

The lightplate used on most modern airliners is an application of this principle.

Referring to figure 7 the incandescent lamp is placed in the middle of the panel.
The panel in this case is Perspex (a transparent plastic), with a coating on the
outer side; this forms the front of the panel. With the 5vac supply on, the lamp
will reflect light down the inside of the Perspex which will be refracted out at any
coating discontinuity. These discontinuities form the light pattern on the
control panel.

There is a limit on the distance that a small incandescent lamp can work to so
such to provide good panel illumination on larger panels a lamp has to be
placed every six to ten inches (15mm to 254mm). The lamps are identical to the
small filaments of the pillar lamps and are similar to replace.
With increase in bulb life, it has become possible to insert the lamps into the
panel itself. There are more lamps fitted than is actually necessary to provide
the correct level of luminescence and this allows for some failures. In this case if
there is a problem with the lightplate, the whole panel has to be replaced. Again
with modern aircraft this is not so demanding on maintenance due to the BITE
that most systems have, making such a replacement possible in a matter of
minutes.

A further development on the theme is to replace the incandescent bulbs with

LED's. LED's as you know have an almost infinite life and as such the problems
of illumination going wrong are largely eliminated.

Gaseous Tritium Light Sources (Backlights)

Not very common, but you may come across them. Unlike other lights on the
flight deck there are no on/off switches, these lights are on all the time.

They work on a principle of producing Beta radiation from the tritium and
fluoresing, this in a way not too dissimilar to a fluorescent tube. They tend to be
used (if at all) in emergency light packs and to show a route to a torch for
example. Also used on some avionics equipment.

They need care and attention when replacing. As a general rule they are not
dangerous providing that the glass is intact, but if this should be broken clean
up all glass carefully ensuring that no dust is inhaled. Follow the procedures
laid down by your company and if you are cut with the glass (the same as with .
fluorescent tubes) you should seek medical attention. They are, as their name
implies, mildly radioactive.

Floodlighting

Floodlighting is a general term used for the rest of the lights in the flight deck,
however these can also be used to illuminate instrument panels. It is not
uncommon for strategically placed floodlights (under the glare-shield for
example) to be used to illuminate the instrument panels. Sometimes lights
placed in the ceiling area are directed down to illuminate the centre console.
Figure 8 shows a typical floodlighting arrangement and figure 9 shows a typical
light controls layout.

You should note the different types of lights and their location. All these lights
are of the incandescent filament type, although at least one manufacturer uses
fluorescent emergency 'dome' lights.

Sometimes the dome filament is a different lamp to the rest as it has two
concentric filaments, one for normal use and the other for emergency lights.
SAQ 3

Why use incandescent lamps instead of the more economical fluorescent tubes in
the flight deck area lighting?

Figure 10 shows some of the different types of lamps and their respective
holders. For control reasons the flight deck is separated into sections and a
control is provided for each section. All floodlights can be controlled
independently or collectively. The collective control is often referred to as 'storm
lights', and pressing this button will put on all the flight deck floodlights at full
illumination. There are many variations in flight deck lighting so you should
refer to the specific AMM ATA chapter 33 prior to any maintenance or replacing
any lamps.

It is a requirement of the ANO that the aircraft carries on the flight deck 50% of
the total number of lamps used on the flight deck as spares. This affords the
crew the chance to replace any lamps that might fail in flight. This occurrence
should be notified to the maintenance personnel by the crew, entering the fact
in the Tech Log sector reference pages.
Utility (or Wander) Lamp

Most aircraft are required to have, somewhere on the flight deck, at least one
utility light (see figure 11). These are a simple incandescent light working off
28vdc, connected with a coiled extension lead and a control switch on the back.
Adjusting the focus is by movement of the front ring.

Usually powered from the hot battery bus (28v), which effectively turns them
into an emergency lamp at the same time. (For details of dc power distribution,
refer to the books in this series on electrical power 11.6). Sometimes referred to
as 'wander' lamps

Control of Flight Deck Lighting

This is usually done by altering the voltage to the lamps (the output of
incandescent lamps is more or less directly proportional to their input - except
for some heat and resistive losses - that are not significant in this application.
For a dc supply use is made of a variable resistor type of dimmer control and
for an ac circuit a variable transformer is used. (See basic electrical theory for
details of how these operate).

Flight deck lighting control is more complex than it seems:

* Each panel or instrument cluster or map or chart or floodlight has its own
individual control.
* There is a master control that will brighten all the instrument lights
together.
* Often an override switch is provided to allow full illumination of all the
instruments immediately.
To cope with these requirements there are several dimmer controls located at
various locations around the flight deck figure 9 shows an example.

Figure 12 shows a circuit taking 28vac from the ac transfer busses. Variable
auto-transformers provide adjustable brightness control. This output is further
reduced to 5 to 0 volts by additional transformers.

Figure 13 shows another example of a control circuit. Note the 28vac supply
from the ground service bus and battery bus with dimmer for the first officer's
and captain's dome lights via the dimmer light switch, the dome switch and the
flood dome switch. Note the 28vdc standby supply to both front domes.

Figure 14 shows a modern light control circuit. Switches alter the control
voltage and sends the modified voltage to a dimmer control unit. (There may be
a large number of these located behind the flight deck consoles - the B777 has
14 for example). The dimmer control unit uses this voltage to alter the low
voltage output to the instrument panel lighting.

A similar function occurs in the dimmer control unit for the slightly higher
voltage floodlights that are used for instrument and panel illumination. It is not
normal to control area floodlights (sometimes referred to as dome lights) in this
way, especially as sometimes they are fluorescent tubes.
Pressing the master dimmer control will override all the control voltages and
apply a maximum voltage to the transformer windings and bring aZZ the
instrument and panel illumination on to the highest level.

Figure 15 shows how Airbus vary the applied voltage to the dome lights without
using any direct voltage control. The initial supply is 28vdc to switch 5LE with
DIM, BRIGHT and STORM settings and to switches 5LE and 19LE.

Each dome light has four halogen long life (about 2000 hour) bulbs.

When switch 5LE is in the BRT position, bus 601PP supplies dome light 453VU
with 28vdc through circuit breaker 1LE2. The essential bus 403PP supplies
dome light 452VU.

When the switch is in the DIM position the light decreases. In the BRT position
the lamps are supplied in parallel (26v) and in the DIM position they are
supplied in series in groups of two (reduced voltage drop across each lamp).

When switch set to STORM all lamps come on at maximum brightness.

If the main bus is lost only dome light 452VU remains operative via the
essential bus.
On the ground, in the acceleration stop configuration, the dome light 452VU is
automatically activated what-ever the position of the switches.

Also on the flight deck are lighting strips each with four 28vdc halogen 11.5W
lamps controlled from a simple ON/OFF switch.

Flight Deck Lighting - Automatic Control

For some instruments (typically items like audio selector panels and radio
panels) the illumination is controlled automatically. Instead of using a control
voltage from the dimmer switch an amplified signal from a photosensitive cell is
used.

The photo (light) sensitive cell is positioned in such a place that as the ambient
light increases so too does the voltage from the cell, and this through the
dimmer control units increases the voltage and hence illumination of the
instruments. As with other flight deck lighting this can be overridden to full
illumination by the selection of the dimmer override button.

That covers flight deck lighting. We touched briefly on emergency lighting and
shall return to it in subsequent chapters. Now try the following exercises. As
always the answers are to be found in the text.
1. Describe integral instrument lighting and list its limitations.
2. What is a bridge lamp?
3. How is a lamp changed in the pillar type of lamp?
4. How is the position of the slot in the pillar lamp maintained?
5. Explain briefly the lightplate and how it functions.
6. Explain what floodlights are used for in the flight deck, what sort of lamps
are used and how they are controlled.
7. What is a utility lamp?
8. Why are so many controls needed for lighting? Where is the requirement laid
down?

Suggested practical activity - if assess available:

Locate the flight deck lighting controls, see how many there are and what effect
they have.
Check on the flight deck lights and identify the various types used.

Spend some time looking through the maintenance manual chapters that are
relevant. In this case ATA33-11.
 Chapter 3

PASSENGER CABIN & CARGO LIGHTING

SAQ4

What is the most likely style of lighting to be found in the cabin area?

We have covered most of the area lighting system concepts when dealing with
flight deck lighting, and passenger area lighting is virtually the same, though
there is considerably less control.

The lighting can be divided into:

* Area lighting (day/night lights) - attendant controlled.

* Spot lighting (reading lights) - passenger controlled.
* Emergency lights - automatic/crew controlled.
* Information lights - automatic/crew controlled.

Area Lighting

Figure 16 shows a general arrangement of a passenger cabin lighting system.

The main stay of the system are the fluorescent 'washlights' and ceiling lights.
These operate at one of two levels, bright and dim. Also you might expect to see
incandescent night lights, doorway entry lights and reading lights.

In the galley areas there are some work-lights (spot lights) and area lights, these
being a combination of fluorescent tubes and incandescent lamps.

Control of the cabin lighting is from the area control panels located at the
attendant locations. This may be through software related systems (on newer
aircraft) but equally through traditional rotary switches as found on most old
aircraft. The control range is often as follows:

* High (sometimes called 'Day1)

* Medium
* Low (often called 'Night1)

What lights come on and go off under these switch selections varies from
aircraft to aircraft but the basic principle of operation is the same. Generally on
high, everything is on bright. On medium the fluorescent tubes dim slightly and
when low is selected the tubes switch off altogether leaving just the small
incandescent night-lights lit.
Control of the Fluorescent Tube

Figure 17 shows a switching system for the control of side-wall lights, ceiling
lights and night-lights.

The lights are controlled through a software package inputted from an area
select panel located in the attendant's area. Physical switching of the lights is
carried out through transistor action remotely.

The fluorescent tube consists of a tube and ballast, with a power supply. The
ballast is a transformer that steps the voltage up to that required by the tube to
operate. Normally the ballast outputs 205vac to the tube for 'dim' lighting and
adds an additional 115vac for bright' lighting. It is usually possible to bypass
the switching system and provide 'full' power lighting from the ground service
bus. This facility allows the aircraft to be cleaned and serviced without the main
system power having to be on.
SAQ 5

A ballast often has two tubes supplied from it. How can this help in terms of fault
diagnosis?

Reading Lights

Most seats are provided with reading lamps. These are usually fitted as a 2, 3 or
4 lamp module in the ceiling panels immediately above each seat group. Some
seats have individual stork mounted (or swivel mounted within the side head-
rests) reading lamps attached directly to the seat, these are low voltage supplied
and are individually switched. Figure 18 shows examples of those fitted above
the passenger seats.

The lights are usually of the incandescent type as they provide the easiest of
control methods. Operation of the lights above the seats is initiated by pressing
the light button on the passenger control unit located in the seat arm-rest. This
sends an ON/OFF signal (typically through an ARINC 429 data bus routed
within the seat tracks in the floor) to an electronics unit. This is usually situated
at the front or back of the cabin and sends a signal through the lines above the
ceiling panels to the De-coder/En-coder Units (DEUs) above each seat group.
This signal is decoded in each DEU and that switches on the appropriate
reading light for that seat.
Reading lights come in many forms, and some of the newer designs include
fibre-optic and LED systems.

One point of note on this type of system, where the entire cabin, or section of
cabin, is controlled through a single cabin configuration software unit, there can
be considerable trouble in the cabin if anything goes wrong.

That means that when the button, say at seat 13K is pressed ON the light above
13K needs to come on. This information has to be told to the computer
controlled system and this is done through a cabin configuration database. If
any thing goes wrong with this system (software corruption etc) then lights may
come on un-commanded, may not be switchable OFF, may not work at all etc.

Testing

Individual lights can be tested separately - this applies to all the lights in the
cabin, but for passenger reading lights it is usual to connect them to a BITE
system - saves a great deal of time.

The BITE monitors the:

* Electronic units.
* Power supplies.
PSUs.
* Lamps themselves.
The Control and Display Unit (CDU) on the flight deck is used to BITE test the
system when the aircraft is on the ground. The CDU sends a signal to the
electronic control unit which transmits a signal to each DEU. The DEU puts the
system to test mode and puts power on to each lamp for a short period of time
(the lamp should light for a moment). Normal switching is un-available during&
this time.

Test data is stored in the BITE memory of the electronic control unit and is
displayed on the screen of the CDU. It will indicate if no fault is found, and if a
fault is found will give the location of the unit that is not operating.

Attendant Call / Lavatory Assistance Lights

The attendant call system provides a method for the passenger to get the crew's
attention should they require assistance. This could be in their seats but
equally it could be in the toilet cubical.
On each seat passenger control unit, in the arm rest, an attendant call button is
located. A similar button is located in each toilet module. At the attendant
locations and often above the emergency exit signs a series of indicator lights
show. These display blue for seated passenger request, amber for toilet request
and the pink light shows when the attendant's internal phone is ringing. In
addition to these there are chime speakers above the attendant locations.

Briefly the system operates as follows. The passenger presses the button in the
lavatory (or seat); this applies an earth to the respective overhead electronics
unit and the zonal management unit. These earth trigger and latch solid state
devices that put on the light above the toilet/appropriate seat and the master
lights at the attendant's station. Also (not illustrated) the chime will be set off.

The attendant goes to the location and presses the reset button; this cancels all
the demands and clears the latches. All the lights go out. The reset can also be
performed from the main terminal should the need arise.

Cargo Lighting
Figure 23 shows the general arrangement for cargo bay lighting. It will consist of
either recessed incandescent lights or the flush fitting fluorescent type.
The lighting for the cargo bay is controlled from one switch located close to the
freight door. The power to this switch is usually controlled in some way to
prevent the bays from being powered in the air. There are several ways of doing
this, but a common one is to provide a ground handling ac bus that is air
ground sensitive (ie it loses power with weight off the wheels).

The lighting is usually made up of a large number of lights in the ball transfer
mat regions and the area where the cargo comes into the aircraft. The area
going down into the aircraft hold tends to be less well lit. In addition a light is
provided that shines onto the pallet loading truck. This light will either be
positioned outside recessed into the fuselage or on the inside of the cargo door
(remember of course the door is up during cargo loading).

Other Aircraft Lighting

It is usual to provide lighting around the aircraft in all the servicing bays, wheel
wells, APU bays etc. These are always simple incandescent lamps with a switch
located nearby (often difficult to find). As with the freight lighting these will
extinguish, as the aircraft becomes airborne - though, of course they should be
switched off before push-back anyway.
That concludes this short chapter on interior lighting. Now try the following
exercises:

1. How are varying levels of lighting achieved in the passenger cabin?

2. What does a ballast resister do?
3. How many ballasts does a single fluorescent tube require?
4. Explain how a passenger reading light is signalled on?
5. Where are the cargo loading lights located?

Suggested practical activity - if you have time and access:

Look in the AMM at the relevant chapters for cabin and cargo lighting. Study
the circuit diagrams and make sure you understand haw the lighting is
controlled, and any tests that can be carried out.

Have a look at the types of lighting in your aircraft - their location and
operation.

Get involved in any fault finding of lighting faults that come up.
 Chapter 4

EXTERIOR LIGHTING

Exterior lighting is in principle similar to the other types of lighting on the

aircraft. During this chapter I'm not going to repeat how it is controlled, but
focus more on the types of lights and where and how they are fitted. They
include navigation lights, runway take-off lights, logo lights, taxi lights, wing
illumination lights etc.

The Regulations

Certain requirements have to be met regarding navigation lights. Essentially it

stems from the same theory for all when in possible dangerous situations,
which is: see and be seen.

The ANO and the associated JAR25 define what must be fitted, how much light
must be emitted, in what direction and the colour specification.

The legal requirements as laid down in the ANO for aircraft position lights are:

* A steady green light of at least 5 candela to the side (40 at dead ahead),
showing to the starboard side through an angle of 110° from dead ahead in
the horizontal plane. Vertical plane intensities are also specified.
* A steady red light of at least 5 candela to the side (40 at dead ahead),
showing to the port side through an angle of 110° from dead ahead in the
horizontal plane. Vertical plane intensities are also specified.

* A steady white light of at least 3 candela showing through angles of 70° from
dead astern in the horizontal plane either side of the longitudinal axis.

* A flashing red, anti-collision light of at least 20 candela (400 in the horizontal

plane), showing in all directions (on aircraft built before April 1988, these
were optional. However, the lights mentioned above would be flashing units,
all flashing together).

* A flashing white strobe light of at least 20 candela showing in all directions.

(Option at present, but most large commercial transports use them).

Flashing frequencies to be between 40 and 100 Hz and either aviation red or

aviation white.

Note. The candela (old name candle which is fractionally smaller) (cd) is the SI
unit of luminance and is based on the light emitted from molten platinum as it
solidifies at 2042K. At this temperature 1cm2 will emit 60cd. (1 candela roughly
equates to a quartz halogen lamp of 20w supplied by 28vac).
SAQ 6

What implication will the failure of one navigation light have on the continuing
airworthiness of the aircraft? What type of lamps would you expect to find being
used for external applications?

Navigation (Position) Lights

The early requirement was for a steady green light and a steady red light, red on
the left, green on the right. They are required to show through an angle of 110°
from straight ahead, figure 24 shows a general view of all the exterior lights on
the B777.

In addition to the wing tip lights the aircraft must show white lights to the rear,
these may be wing mounted or tail mounted. They show through a horizontal
angle of 140°, that is 70° each side of dead astern. Figure 25 shows the general
arrangement for these position, or navigation lights.

Navigation lights are an essential system and control is through a relay

activated switch in the flight deck. Normal power supply for such lights is 28vac
from a protected bus such as the essential or standby bus.

The lamps themselves will be a dual filament bulb to provide redundancy, or

alternatively you may find two bulbs fitted in parallel with each other.
Another, less common way of providing the back-up supply to the lights is to
have a separate supply of 28vdc from the battery; this is initiated by switching
in the flight deck from ON to ON BATT. Not very common these days, but still
around.
Anti-collision Lights

Anti-collision lights must be mounted in such a manner as to show all around,

the aircraft a red flashing light. Usually this means one light on the highest
fixed part and one on the lowest fixed part, but as always there will be
deviations from this.

The lights must be on anytime that the aircraft is on the airfield with engines
running. In addition the commander must be able to switch off these lights
should the need arise due to glare or flash-back. If the aircraft was in fog for
example the red lights would simply 'flash-back' and dazzle the crew.

Figure 28 shows the simplest form of obtaining a flashing beacon. It shows a

fixed lamp shining onto a rotating reflector. The speed of rotation is controlled at
about 40-45 rpm, thus giving a flash repetition of about 80-90 flashes per
minute.
Power to the rotating beacon is controlled from the flight deck through a relay in
the power panel. Normal supply would be 115vac and as with the navigation
lights this supply needs to be 'protected' in some way. Notice from figure 26
that the reflector emits two distinct light patterns. One half of the reflector is
straight and gives a narrow beam of very high intensity light; the other is curved
slightly to allow a wider less intense light pattern.
Another type of rotating beacon employs the same principle but the lamp itself
rotates.

Xenon Flash Tube

Another method of producing a flashing light is the xenon tube gas discharge
lamp.

The flash tube provides a very high intensity light for a very short period of time.
It achieves this by applying a high voltage to two electrodes and then
introducing a trigger voltage (figure 30).
The ac supply voltage is, if necessary, transformed to a higher voltage, which
passes through the rectifier and charges the main flash condenser (capacitor).
As the capacitor is charged a very large voltage is now available at either end of
the flash tube, typically about 500v but nothing happens just yet. The flash
tube itself is filled with xenon gas at a low pressure.

Looking to the left of the flash tube you will see the ignition circuit. A smaller
capacitor is charged from a voltage reduction resistor pair. The synchronising
logic control circuit now allows the ignition capacitor to discharge through a
transformer and into one of the electrodes. This induces a massive voltage in the
other electrode of about 10,000v. This voltage is high enough to ionise the
xenon gas and cause current to flow. Basically, a streak of lightning has just
been generated, albeit for only about I/1000 th of a second. The light is bright
enough, however, to be visible several miles away.

The usual arrangement is for the flash tube to be separate from the rest of the
components. The transformer unit being located close to the light as from it
comes the very high voltage necessary to light the flash tube.

Figure 31 shows a typical installation of such as lamp. It contains a parabolic

reflector with the flash tube wrapped around the inside. Flash tubes can be
made to fit any shape or size.

SAQ 7

Considering what we have just learnt of the way the light works, what
maintenance precautions would you feel to be appropriate?

In the answer to the above SAQ I alluded to the fact that there are two types of
anti-collision light and this is true. Red ones are required as per rotating
beacons on the top and bottom of the fuselage or tail.
Red strobe lights are often referred to as beacons as that is the role they are
assuming. In addition white strobes are fitted on the wing tips and tail to give all
round indication. Control of the 'beacons' and the strobes is achieved via a flight
deck switch actuating a relay.

Landing and Taxi Lights

As the aircraft approaches the ground it is desirable that the flight crew can see
ahead. The aircraft is provided with high intensity forward pointing lights to
illuminate the landing area. The location of these lights is one of design choice,
but they will always have a beam deflection of between 11° and 15°. Landing
lights may be fitted on the undercarriage, on the wing inboard end or sometimes
they are of the retractable type. Figure 32 shows an example of those fitted to
the landing gear and figure 33 shows a retractable type.

In the case of the retractable type the retraction mechanism is usually integral
with the ON OFF switch. It is often also controlled by the undercarriage
mechanism, in that when the undercarriage is selected down the lights will
come down - when selected up the lights will retract and go off. Figure 33 shows
a typical retractable installation with its associated control circuits.
Study the circuit closely and note the use of limit switches to control the range
of movement of the lamp, the two field windings (one up, one down) and the
control of the light itself.

Maintenance practices of these lights include checking that the alignment is

correct, and that the lens is clean. Care needs to be exercised in the use of these
lamps in that they can temporally blind and also they get very hot so, to prevent
damage and cracking of the lens, the duty cycle must not be overrun in still air.

A taxi lamp (sometimes termed a runway turn-off light) provides the crew with a
reduced intensity light that highlights the edges of the taxiway and any runway
turn off points. Usually a halogen type of lamp, like the landing lights, but of a
reduced wattage. Again location is a matter of design choice, but common
locations are the nose leg or the wing leading edge root.

The beam of light subtends an angle of 50° in the horizontal plane.

Other External Lights

There are other external lights for a number of reasons, some cosmetic some for
flight reasons.

Wing illumination (ANO schedule 4). Lights are often provided that shine down
the leading edge of the wings. These provide two functions. In flight they can be
used to help identify ice formation on the wing, as a back-up to any automatic
ice detection system. On the ground they provide illumination of the wing
helping to avoid hitting the wing with ground service vehicles etc.

Logo lights. These are installed in the upper surface of the horizontal tail
surface and are designed to shine onto the tail logo. Purely a commercial thing
that allows the airlines to essentially advertise as they taxi around airports.

Caution. When working on lights and lighting circuits it is important to isolate

the power supplies and tag the system to prevent power being re-applied. Lights
can also get very hot when on (and just after switch-off) and present a burn
hazard. With certain lighting systems - xenon tubes for example - high voltages
can be stored within the power circuit so must be left for a period of time after
switch-off before any work is carried out. The Hvait' times are stated in the AMM.

There are some other external lights that we shall cover in the next chapter, but
for now I would recommend that you consolidate your knowledge before moving
on. Try the following exercises.

1. Where are the requirements for external lighting laid down?

2. Where are the navigation lights to be located?
3. What colour light shows to the rear and through what angle?
 Chapter 5

EMERGENCY LIGHTS

The purpose of emergency lighting, as its name implies, is to provide

illumination in an emergency - if the normal lighting should fail - if electrical
power fails - during emergency evacuation of the aircraft etc.

Emergency lighting is provided on escape slides, at exits and escape hatches,

and along escape routes within the aircraft. Escape hatches, doors etc must
have minimum self illuminating values (microlamberts - a unit specifying
reflectiveness) or be illuminated by emergency lighting. For aircraft seating 10 or
more passengers the emergency exit signs size and colour is specified and they
must be internally illuminated with a minimum value. This is all laid down in
JAR25.
Figure 34 shows an example of the emergency lighting on an aircraft before the
days when floor path lighting was mandatory.

Floor Proximity Lighting

As you may know, smoke rises and tends to fill spaces from the roof down.
Crawling out of a smoke filled aircraft gives the best chance of survival and floor
proximity lighting is designed to indicate the way out. Figure 35 shows a seat
mounted light and figure 36 shows a floor mounted system.
Seat mounted lights offer the advantage of being less susceptible to damage, but
it does mean more cables running together with the IFE equipment and possible
associated interference problems.

The purpose of the lights, regardless of where they are fitted is to enable a
crawling person to find a way out of the aircraft. They are essential for flight.

Emergency Exit Signs

Figure 37 shows a typical example. These are situated within the cabin at
locations to comply with JAR25 and meet the requirements of size, colour and
minimum internal illumination.

Fig. 37 TYPICAL EMERGENCY EXIT SIGN

As with most lights there are many variations on a theme, but the basics are the
same. Note from figure 34 that the sign has the words EXIT written in red and
an arrow pointing in the direction of the door. The cover panel is quickly
removed to give access to the two incandescent bulbs that run off a 28vdc
supply system that includes battery packs and charging circuits.
On some, particularly older aircraft, these battery packs were of the throw away
type. Care needs to be taken to ensure that these packs are not inadvertently
discharged. The lights are sometimes paired with a single battery pack and this
poses a problem during maintenance. A paired light sometimes sees the missing
lamp as a power failure and switches on the emergency lights.
Slide and Door Illumination

Sometimes mounted in the side of the fuselage, but also possibly in the
passenger door, the 28vdc lamp will illuminate the deployed slide and some of
the surrounding area. Lights are also placed to shine on the overwing exit areas.

Lights on either side of the slide illuminate automatically on slide deployment.

Lighting Control

Control of the emergency lighting is effected from the flight deck by a 3 position
switch - see the example in figure 39.

With the switch in the OFF position all the power is removed from the lighting
systems, through relay action in the essential bus breaker box. The emergency
lights are not illuminated at all. This is the position that the switch needs to be
in before power is removed from the aircraft. With the switch in this position an
advisory message is displayed in front of the crew.

With the switch in the ON position the lights are all lit from the aircraft power
supplies that are available. Usually this is from the hot battery bus (the bus
that is always live whenever the battery is connected) or from the dedicated
battery power packs if this is not available.
To select the switch either on the flight deck or the attendant's panel, the guard
must be de-seated. The middle position and the one that the switch assumes
when the guard is closed is AUTOMATIC or ARMED. This is the 'flight' position
and where the crew place the switch before take-off. In this position the lights
are under the control of relays in the essential breaker box. Providing aircraft
power is available and on, the lights are off. Should aircraft power fail (or be
switched off) the emergency lights all come on automatically. This will drain the
aircraft battery power packs within about 10 minutes.
The battery packs are on charge when the switch is set to ARMED or OFF with
the rest of the electrical power supplies available.

In addition to the flight deck control an additional control is provided in the

cabin area, usually at the main attendant's (purser's) location. Door 1 left or 2
left are typical locations, but there are others. This switch will allow the lights to
be switched on independent of the switch position of the flight deck switch.

A test switch may also be provided, this is a very handy as it will put the
emergency lights on for about two minutes. This is long enough for you to get
around and check them, but not long enough to discharge the battery power
packs. There may also be a similar test switch for the exterior lights and it
works in the same manner. Most modern aircraft have BITE systems.

Figure 40 shows a simplified circuit diagram for the power supplies for the exit
signs, overwing lights, escape slide lights, aisle lights, and door lights. It also
shows the battery power supply packs (4). Note the switching and dc power
supplies.
Figures 41, 42, 43 and 44 show the power supplies and emergency illumination
for the Airbus A330. Study the drawings carefully and check on all the
component locations and the system operation. There is no need to remember
the details, but the philosophy is similar for any modern passenger aircraft so
you need to know the general operation.

The electrical system is controlled and monitored by the Emergency Power

Supply Units (EPSUs) - a total of 8 installed in the ceiling at intervals along the
cabin length. These are supplied with dc and ac (which is converted for use in
the system). With failure of the dc essential power the EPSUs will continue to
supply the system for a period of time from their internal batteries.
The floor path lighting Electro Luminescent (EL) (figure 42) flexible light strips
are installed along the aisles in the carpets and also on the non-textile floor
coverings of the galleys and cross aisle areas.

Photoluminescent strips are used on some floor aisle areas for emergency path
lighting (figure 44). These absorb light energy from the normal cabin lighting, or
from daylight, and will emit this back out as light when in the dark - ie when
there is no daylight and other forms of lighting are OFF. These strips will give
out light for about 8 hours.

Testing

The BITE test will test the system and the capacity of the batteries. The system
test, which has a limit of 20 seconds to prevent battery pack discharge,
includes:

* Testing the dc and ac supplies.

* Checking for short circuits on each output.
* Checking the voltage output of the battery packs.
* Testing the battery heating devices.
* Checking the EPSU logic and switching circuits.
* Checking system loads.
The battery capacity BITE test checks that each EPSU battery has sufficient
capacity to run its emergency lights for at least 10 minutes and does not have a
drop of more than 0.40 AH between two consecutive tests. The test will take up
to 3 hours to complete.

That concludes this chapter and this module on aircraft lighting. Try the
following exercises, the answers as usual are in the text.

1. What is the reason for emergency lighting?

2. List the two types of floor proximity lighting.
3. How is emergency lighting controlled?
4. How are exit signs powered?

Suggested practical activity - if you can:

Check out the AMM study the wiring circuits from the power supplies to the
lamps. Check the location of the components/lights on the aircraft.

Answers to Self Assessment Questions

SAQ 1. The oxygen has to be removed somehow. Initially and until fairly
recently this was done by evacuating the bulb. This had limited success and it
is much more common these days to use a gas with no oxygen or possibly an
inert gas. (Remember those on the right of the periodic table?). The gas used will
change the colour of the light emitting from the bulb. Common choices include
Argon or a mixture of Argon and Nitrogen. These two both provide a
white/yellow illumination. You may also see Neon used which provides a much
more orange illumination.

SAQ 2. Across the incandescent lamp there would be a small resistance. Across
the fluorescent tube there would be a complete open circuit and an infinite
resistance.
»

SAQ 3. The first reason is one of choice. Consultations with aircrew and
development over a number of years has meant that the incandescent light
provides a 'more pleasing' illumination than the fluorescent tube. Sounds a bit
like crew pampering, but it is important the flight deck affords them the best
options. Another reason is one of control. To change the illumination of a.
fluorescent tube you have to increase the voltage. Usually you have one of only
two intensities, dim or bright. The ANO stipulates that flight deck lighting needs
to be controllable to accommodate all flying conditions. Incandescent lamps
offer this facility, as the luminescence is proportional to the voltage applied.

SAQ 4. In the passenger cabin, we need lots of general illumination. Bright in

the daytime and virtually dark at night. Cost is a big consideration here and the
most effective light source is the fluorescent tube. They are used extensively.

SAQ 5. This has ideal fault finding possibilities. It is the us the 'half split'
method of looking at the last know good place. If one lamp is on and the other
' isn't it is highly likely to be the tube. If both lamps are off, we may have two
tubes gone, but more likely it is the ballast that has broken.

SAQ 6. Any mandatory piece of equipment must be fitted and operational before
a flight can commence. The ANO gives the requirements for this and is
translated into other documents such as the Minimum Equipment List (MEL).

All external lights are tungsten filament type, and most are of the halogen fill,
quartz envelope style. This is because the luminescent intensity is not sufficient
for any other type of bulb to be used. (I will introduce during the text one
notable addition to the list of bulbs in use - The Xenon flash tube, more of that~
later.)
SAQ 7. Several thoughts should come to mind here.
* Firstly we need to be thoughtful of the dangers to ourselves (or the men we
send to work on such systems). The voltages concerned are large enough to
kill. The unit contains capacitors and sensible precautions before working on
any such system would be to allow several minutes to elapse to allow any
charged capacitors to dissipate the charge.
* When we test the system, care must be exercised as the light is so intense
that it can damage the eyes.
* Strobe lights can cause stroboscopic effects, these can appear to show
rotating machinery as stationary (propellers and rotors etc). So we need to
take care on and around aircraft. White strobes are to be switched off during
night time activities around aircraft and red strobes should be kept to a
minimum.
Due to the heat that is generated during operation we need to ensure that
oils don't remain on the glass surface of the tube. This would cause localised
hot spots and subsequent cracking.