What do pilots see in the sky when flying through the night?

However, before we want to know what pilots see, let's learn about the aircraft's lighting system. From the ground, we can see the aircraft's extremely powerful LED lights at an altitude of 35,000 feet (approximately 10,000 meters). These aren't searchlights, but rather beacons to help other pilots spot the aircraft in the air. At this altitude, aircraft don't use searchlights in the traditional sense, according to the Telegraph .

Tim Sanders, a pilot and flight instructor, said: "Many times when I've been crossing the ocean at night, there's nothing outside the windshield but darkness for hours on end. When pilots learn to fly, we have to use flight instruments, navigation sensors, and weather sensors (mostly radar) to substitute for normal visibility at night or other times when we're above clouds."

The aircraft has a complex lighting system.

Does the plane have headlights?

Although the aircraft doesn't have headlights in the traditional sense, it does have many lights, each performing a different function.

The lights we can see most clearly are the landing lights used on the flight deck when approaching an airport. They are located in different positions on different types of aircraft, from the wings to the fuselage.

This lighting system not only helps pilots land at night but also makes the aircraft more visible to anyone nearby. Some pilots will flash their landing lights on the final approach or once they have deployed their landing gear to alert air traffic control.

Other lights on the aircraft include red and green LEDs on each wing to signal to other aircraft at night the direction the aircraft is turning – green to the right, red to the left. There are also rotating orange-red anti-collision warning lights above and below the fuselage for a flashing effect. These are on as long as the aircraft's engines are running.

The night sky outside as the plane landed.

What can a pilot see from the cockpit?

Working in the clouds in near-total darkness at night, many people think that visibility from a pilot's cockpit is limited. However, according to former U.S. Air Force pilot, now a commercial pilot, Ron Wagner, there's a lot they can see.

"On clear nights traveling east somewhere around Oklahoma City and Tulsa, I've seen the lights of Dallas (290 km) and Houston (800 km) in one direction and Kansas City (600 km) and St. Louis (900 km) in the other, all at the same time," he said.

In addition to the city lights below, the pilots observed a variety of weather phenomena, from storm clouds and lightning to the aurora borealis.

Wagner said: "Speaking of things that give me goosebumps in the cockpit of a jet at night, it's when we see the St. Elmo Flame dancing all over the windshield."

"Sometimes it seems to enter the cockpit and dance on the light shield. There's something in my subconscious that gets strange when I see the lights dancing at night," he said.

The St. Elmo fire resembles lightning, often appearing at night and rarely seen from the ground by sailors of the past or pilots of today.

Pilots sometimes overtake other aircraft, even those several hundred meters apart.

Pilots are trained to perform an "instrument landing" when they approach and land in conditions of minimal visibility, often due to severe weather, using only information and positioning provided on the cockpit screens.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/phi-cong-thay-gi-tren-bau-troi-khi-bay-xuyen-man-dem-185230623145143885.htm