Forum: F-16 Design & Construction

Ok I know this might have postd before....but that was a long time ago, and too lazy to search....
But anyway, trying to find out if anyone knows anything about the Vipers from Shaw in OIF having logo lights to light up the tail. Look at this pic:

See how the SW is lit up? The light seems to be eminating from the area where the flush mounted nav lights on the rear fuselage. In the pics I've seen the nav light is red, and doesn't cast a beam on the tail at all. I'm wondering if the lights in the pic were just added for photographic purposes.
Discuss....

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Been that way forever. The lights aren't used much but we sure like them cause you can spot the tail# from the ramp as they taxi around.

All Vipers have lights that illuminte the tail on both sides. Before the NVIS mod's the tail was lit up with white lights and after the mod they now have a green tint. The reason this picture might seem wierd is because most pictures you see of the Viper are shot during the day. The light is located on the top of the fuselage right next to the vertical stab's. In fact you can actually see the the little dots of light just over the left wings of both aircraft.

I know which lights you speak of, but in every pic I've seen save the one above, these lights are red nav lights, and sit flush with the top of the fuselage. The DACO book shows this to great effect. Even inflight pics I've taken myself show thse as red nav lights. Nowhere else have I see these described as flood lights.

Hmmm....that's strange....just another one of the many intrigues of this amazing aircraft. OK, you guys, I wanna see pics. Prove to me this is the case. I'll scan a post the pics I have, and we'll compare. But I just don't have the scanning capability right now, I will tonight though.

The active USAF a/c sitting outside my office right now have white lights and we call them airline lights (slang). I can look out the window and see it everyday. Jeez, DACO is not a TO.

I'm not saying you guys are wrong, it's becoming evident that this is just another one of those issues where there is no right answer. I know the DACO book isn't the end all be all of Viper facts, not by a long shot. But it does prove one side of it, and my own pics do as well. I have yet to see photographic evidence of the other lights. If they're outside your window, take some pics and post em!

These look GREEN but they are WHITE. Taken in the last hour. The pics you see are screwed up. I have no idea why I am a wrench not a photographer.

k...shows the light pattern, much like the other pic. Now, who's got a pic of the actual light itself?

btw...the whole impetus for this question is for a model a guy on the ARC is building. I built mine with the flush red lights, since that's what my research led me to. The guy on ARC is building the Shaw bird from the same decal sheet I used, but had the above pic. Which made me wonder.

OK, some looking on the site led me to this picture of a Wisconsin bird hooking up with a tanker. It shows both tailflash lights, they are just aft and outboard of the US markings on the fuselage. The one on the right side of the aircraft is in the tails shadow, but you can still see the reflection off of the glass.

Our fleet is about half/half when it comes to having these NVIS lighting. The ones with have a red light, while those that don't have a white light.

Those are the position floodlights, and they have been on F-16s since Day One. The white floodlights are submerged and covered by a flush-fit clear window. The lights are controlled from the EXT LIGHTING panel by the FUSELAGE switch, three positions, off/dim/bright.

I was over on ARC on this thread before checking in here, this is what I posted there.

Habu, they look flush/clear in my copy of the DACO book (and Verlinden book and D&S book and...) but I got the above info straight from the T.O. -1... Razz

Hey guys,

I would be that guy that Habu was talking about from ARC. This is indeed good info. Now to find the MV lenses that fit and some 01 clear styrene to make the flush lenses... should be pretty cool. Thanks to all

Don

I think possibly the reason why they look green is the NVIS (Prob spelled that wrong) mod they got. If there green the pilots with NVG's aren't blinded and can actually read the tail number of there wingman. Plus the camera prob makes it look different as well. I don't know..just my two cents. We call em "logo lights"

Yeah, I think tis pretty much settles it. Looks like they can either be red or white, just dpends on wht they're set up for. I wasn't saying anyone was wrong...I know they've been there since day one, I just wanted to know how they looked, and if and why they were white instead of red, etc... It seems as though the finish of the light is flush no matter what color is used.
So Don, just like you said, putting a flush clear cover over it will suffice.
And just to cap it off....the pics from the DACO book....

Forum: F-16 Design & Construction

The Viper has airline style logo lights now? What the?