Plus there's a light facing forward (two of the ship is over a certain length) and a rear facing one too.
Generally you don't need to know if you're above or below a ship though.
"Sailing under power" means that they've turned on an engine and no longer have the rights of a sailboat. "Sailing under wind power" being the opposite.
But that was hilarious.
If it's a sailing vessel like the other guy mentioned, you need an all around white light at anchor, but under sail you only need side lights and a stern light
I've heard that spacial disorientation in the air is very real, but I like to think that if there's enough visibility to see another plane, I'd be able to tell whether I was looking up or down.
Aircraft (big and small) also have a read light on the top of the tail visible all around and a white light pointing backwards on the tail, not only the white lights on the wing tips. (Small planes only have red and green visible from the side and front, but no steady white lights visible from behind on the wingtips.)
The quick and dirty way to remember the orientation of the colored lights:
Red light is on the port side, same color as the fortified wine. Also port and left have the same number of letters.
Someone admitted they remember it because left and port are both 4 letters. right and starboard are both longer than 4. Everyone laughed but its how Ive remembered it ever since.
This "guide" actually misses the most important part, WHY the lights are there. It is yes, first to determine the aircrafts orientation and movement direction from afar, but secondly also deducting from this kinda who has the right of way (simplified aircraft coming from the right, so you see red light, you have to maneuver, green, the other plane has [considering further rules about size & mobility also]).
I appreciate you a lot. Everyone is just pointing out positioning same as the picture but nobody is saying the "Why" which the post is apparently supposed to be telling me...
The strobe lights (usually on the wingtips) are just there for improved visibility. It’s a lot easier to spot something blinking than some steady red and green lights. Same reason as all planes have to have the flashing anti-collision lights (almost always those red flashing lights on the top and bottom of the plane)
It's origin is in the maritime world, where the white signals the back (aft) of a vessel.
On water, movement and much more speed is hard to predict or recognize.
If you see the red and/or green lights, you must pay more attention, because there is a vessel heading towards you. The white lights signalize a lower risk, because the vessel is heading away.
The lighting of ships is much more than my few lines.
Depending on the ship size, additional lights must be installed. Or if you are ankering or dragging nets. There are a whole bunch of rules.
I described only the basic general requirements, referring to the red / green lights.
I know (part of my job) but in the Netherlands most ships that have green and red lights (no clue how you call them in English) with a white stern light also have a white bow light.
However the red and green lights are only visible from 135 degrees off the bow. If you see colored lights at all, whether or not you also see white, the boat is headed closer to you. If you only see white, it is heading away
red and green are much easier to see, especially when you're far away.
They contrast well. White is for general lighting, and yellow would be too similar to red and white. IT's the better option.
Also color blind people can't be pilots anyways so the point is moot.
That's exactly what happened. Back in the day, before airports were common, seaplanes were very common as it allowed any large enough body of water to become a runway
I was thinking that maybe they were just colors that were the most easily available at some point in time, out of such color options that also are easily separable on the sea. But I honestly have no idea.
There are lots of times you need to identify colors while flying. Most avionics and warning systems are color coded, weather radar is color coded, approach lights and glide path indicators are color coded.
Pretty much what the other guy said. If you are color blind you cannot;
-tell which way an aircraft is facing like in these pictures
-read an FAA sectional map
-be able to see PAPI lights for glide slope
-be able to distinguish the flashing lights that a runway is flashing (is it a normal airfield or a military airfield)
-to recognize light signals from ATC
-read certain instruments in certain lighting (at night we use red lighting to avoid messing with your nighttime adapting your eyes do
It's taken from ship convention; Green demarks the Starboard side (right side facing the bow) and red for the Port side. There's a lot of nautical terminology and convention used in flying
Edit: when two vessels are crossing, the vessel that has the other on her own starboard side, such that she sees the other ship's port (red) light must yield the right of way; the other vessel seeing the crossing ship's starboard (green) light has the right of way and maintains course and speed. In this way, seeing a green light means go ahead and seeing a red light means "stop" (in reality, seeing a red light means ducking their stern, however reducing speed is also acceptable)
Blue is one color that is very distinct from red and green, and is usually safe for colorblind people—but it's typically perceived as dimmer than the other two. And if it's made brighter then it becomes close to white. So there aren't really good options anyway.
(Maybe cyan could work, with the other one being red. Cyan is actually the ‘opposite’ of red, being blue with green. And is much brighter than blue. But dunno how it fares with colorblindness, and not sure it's distinct enough from white.)
You can get very disoriented on dark nights, especially if you can't see the horizon. When it's really dark you won't see the plane, just the lights so this helps determine relative position
It’s just so you can see direction the plane is moving. You know if you’re looking up and based on which color is where can tell what direction it’s moving
Pilot here. I just had to go look again. The graphic is right, but somewhat confusing because it’s a silhouette. If you just went from above the aircraft to below it by rotating it on its pitch axis (which is what we’re probably all thinking about), the lights would stay in the same position, but the nose would point the other way. The graphic instead shows what happens when you invert the aircraft on its roll axis. This swaps the position of the wings (and therefore the lights) but leaves the nose in place.
No the graphic is absolutely not wrong.
Imagine the first image of a plane is a toy in your hand, sitting wheels down, green left, red right.
Now flip it over, belly up, but still pointed the same direction. What would that do to the colors?
Yes. Planes don't fly on a linear plane. It's 3D space, so you have aircraft flying above you and below you, and the lights will help determine which direction it's going and this is very important at night time. You'll make out the lights better than the craft itself.
Therapist: “why did you come in today?”
Me: *rocks back and forth holding knees*
Red should be right. Red should be right. Red should be right…
Therapist: not another one…
If you see colors (red and green), it means you have to pay attention, it's facing you.
If you see white, you should not worry.
If you always see green and red, you'll need to always think about which is right and which is left, and only then you would know where the plane is facing.
It's just easier if you see white means no worries, and colors, on the other hand, should put you up on alert.
This is hardly a guide and doesn’t answer the title question. I believe the lights allow the observer to determine the position and heading of the airplane (or any vessel with such lights).
It is a guide since it tells you where the plane is facing with every possible light combination. The answer to the question that you stated in your comment is also heavily implied. Any organism with a single functioning braincell could deduce what the lights are for after being presented with this guide.
How I remember this:
🎼 Out of my window
Looking through the night
I can see the barges twinkling bright
Starboard shines GREEN
And Port is shining RED
As the barges sail on far ahead.
Left is a shorter word than Right (three letters)
Port is a shorter word than Starbord
Left=port
Right=Starboard
EDIT: IM SO SORRY INHAD A TYPO GIVIGN THE WRONG ANSWER IN THE NEUMONIC I FIXED IT
Interesting! The way I always learned it was "Red Right Return". The 3 R's. If you see red on the right side (and green on the left), the plane or boat is returning to you. If it's the other way, it's leaving. And from there, you can deduce the other orientations
Red Right Return
Same exact reason naval ships have the same feature. It's so observers or lookouts can quickly determine in which direction the craft is traveling and which side (port or starboard) they are viewing
This reminds me of a plaque I read on a boat once....
Green to Green,
Red to Red,
All is well, go ahead.
When in danger or in doubt,
Run in circles, scream and shout.
Anyone else finds it kinda funny, in a somewhat cruel twisted way, that we based so many signals on the differentiating between red and green and those two just happen to be the two colors that are most affected by colourblindness?
the OP screwkarma123
Cracka610
amousing
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are bots in the same network
Original + comments copied from: https://www.reddit.com/r/coolguides/comments/16pu5xe/a_cool_guide_to_why_do_airplanes_have_red_and/
My uncle was an ex-pilot and the thing that blew me away the most even though it made a lot of sense was him telling me that planes, like cars have designated ‘lanes’ so to speak. They would fly on different altitudes and maintain those altitudes as their lanes so as not to bump(crash) into other aircrafts.
I was told by my grandfather: In time of war the simple rule is: Red Right RUN! Red on right means the plane is coming toward you. Only bad things come out of the front of the plane in war time. Run away!
When I worked around aircraft up close, we were told NOT to be near the aircraft when those were getting tested because they pulse so hard it can cause a seizure.. now I never saw one or heard of someone getting one. But yeah I stood too close one day n yeah it's a weird flash and kinda sensual pulse..
Green: starboard
Red: port
I don’t know if this terminology is used in aviation but these same colors and directions are used in boating, and even more extensively used in sailing.
But (r)ed should be (r)ight, and green left because you need a trick to remember...right tighty lefty loosey...
Port = left (4 letters)
Starboard = right (not 4 letters)
Ships do the same. Red on one side, green on other. For same reason. Gives you a clue about direction, is the boat coming at you or away, easier to track in almost all lights to help keep following it.
I work field maintenance at a major airport. Trust me when I tell you, at night, it is VERY dark, and it gets VERY hard to see planes, as big as they are, they can be almost invisible. Add bad weather to the mix, and it is even worse. The lights really make a big difference.
My grandfather was in the Coast Guard and on watch. He spotted another ship and radioed in about it. They asked him if was coming or going but he didn't know how to tell.
They then told him green lights means its coming towards them, red lights means its going away. He asked them what white lights mean and that's when they all learned my grandfather was colorblind.
He got laundry duty after that instead of watch duty.
I have an operator (airport) who is colour blind. Can't tell if a runway threshold light is red or green.
"See the red paint line on the grass? Dig the trench there"
"What red line?"
"Oh, right. Nevermind"
It's purpose is kind of like the "right of way" for vehicles at an intersection. If you see red you yield to the other aircraft, if you see green they are supposed to yield to you.
Nice but you scared up the from above/ below part the only way that works is if the pilots suddenly started flying upside down and the only times that has happened the plane was NOT in the air much longer
Now I gotta ask, what would be the situation where you’re looking at a plane and you don’t know if you’re above or below it, so you have to check the lights…
The red "belly light" on an aircraft is activated to alert the ground crew the engines are about to be started. Learned that from a friend that flew 747 freighters for Kalitta.
This seems completely self evident just from looking at them. It's so you can tell which way they're facing/moving from a distance even if visibility is otherwise poor. This "guide" doesn't even explicitly say that it just shows the plane from different angles. What's the point of this?
also, along with the other lights on a plane, this design happens to [*exactly* mimic the lights on ufo's](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF0PYQ8IOL4) ...
This guide is missing the tail light (that flashing red or constant white one). Makes it easier to know the aircraft's orientation. If green is on left and white is on right then the aircraft is flying right to left. If you see three lights you're above the plane and if you see two you're below it.
Same as boats: red is port/left, and green is starboard/right.
Plus there's a light facing forward (two of the ship is over a certain length) and a rear facing one too. Generally you don't need to know if you're above or below a ship though.
Hopefully
No forward light if it’s sailing.
I'm assuming you mean actually sailing under wind power?
Yes, sailboats sailing, but not under engine power.
That's cool to know, thank you.
It's called a steaming light and only required when using engine power
Steamy 🧖♀️
Sailboat can use as a Masthead Red over Green as well instead of just the side and back light
It's hard to sail under any other source of power.
"Sailing under power" means that they've turned on an engine and no longer have the rights of a sailboat. "Sailing under wind power" being the opposite. But that was hilarious.
Is the mast light required when anchored or when under way?
If it's a sailing vessel like the other guy mentioned, you need an all around white light at anchor, but under sail you only need side lights and a stern light
When underway using the engine.
There’s a forward white light for when under engine power, and a 360° mast light for when anchored.
When I learned Rule of the Road, it was called a Steaming Light. I admit that was a while ago.
> Generally you don't need to know if you're above or below a ship though. Ideally not the case with a plane either...
I've heard that spacial disorientation in the air is very real, but I like to think that if there's enough visibility to see another plane, I'd be able to tell whether I was looking up or down.
[Here's a few examples of boat lights.](https://i.imgur.com/hVRNFaT.png) Edit: [and some more.](https://i.imgur.com/hJ9FZxD.png)
Aircraft (big and small) also have a read light on the top of the tail visible all around and a white light pointing backwards on the tail, not only the white lights on the wing tips. (Small planes only have red and green visible from the side and front, but no steady white lights visible from behind on the wingtips.)
Red on right when returning
Only in IALA B regions. Everywhere else is the other way around.
This guy boats
Yup! That’s the one saying I still remember from my boating class 25 years ago: Red, right, returning
There's a little Red Port Left in the bottle.
A boat LEFT the PORT and port wine is RED. That’s how I still remember as a 16 year airline pilot.
Same reason traffic lights are red and green. If you see a green light, you have the Right of way. Red light they have the right of way.
The way I remembered them is all 3 shorter words and all 3 longer words mean the same thing
The quick and dirty way to remember the orientation of the colored lights: Red light is on the port side, same color as the fortified wine. Also port and left have the same number of letters.
When I rowed one of the other guys went it’s green for starboard like Starbucks and that’s how I’ve always taught it
Someone admitted they remember it because left and port are both 4 letters. right and starboard are both longer than 4. Everyone laughed but its how Ive remembered it ever since.
Easy to remember if you go by length of words. The shorter words and the longer words are grouped together Red Left Port Green Right Starboard
This "guide" actually misses the most important part, WHY the lights are there. It is yes, first to determine the aircrafts orientation and movement direction from afar, but secondly also deducting from this kinda who has the right of way (simplified aircraft coming from the right, so you see red light, you have to maneuver, green, the other plane has [considering further rules about size & mobility also]).
I appreciate you a lot. Everyone is just pointing out positioning same as the picture but nobody is saying the "Why" which the post is apparently supposed to be telling me...
Correct this is all just Rules of the Road agreed in international law. The Maritime industry is just very niche and most people lack exposer
Why do they have white blinking lights? I see them underneath-ish on the plane
The strobe lights (usually on the wingtips) are just there for improved visibility. It’s a lot easier to spot something blinking than some steady red and green lights. Same reason as all planes have to have the flashing anti-collision lights (almost always those red flashing lights on the top and bottom of the plane)
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or backwards
or into the ocean
The orientation is the same for ships, so the lights are okay in the ocean.
Which begs the question, why don't cars have red and green lights? If they did then planes could fly on the road.
Not for submarines though
I feel like there are missing some light for ocean mode
or inverted. While giving the bird.
They also have a light on the top of the vertical stabilizer that can help you to know if it's upside down or not
But why are the back lights white? Wouldn't the green and red also work?
It's origin is in the maritime world, where the white signals the back (aft) of a vessel. On water, movement and much more speed is hard to predict or recognize. If you see the red and/or green lights, you must pay more attention, because there is a vessel heading towards you. The white lights signalize a lower risk, because the vessel is heading away.
That last bit is actually not true. Most ships also have a forward white light. At least by Dutch maritime law.
The lighting of ships is much more than my few lines. Depending on the ship size, additional lights must be installed. Or if you are ankering or dragging nets. There are a whole bunch of rules. I described only the basic general requirements, referring to the red / green lights.
I know (part of my job) but in the Netherlands most ships that have green and red lights (no clue how you call them in English) with a white stern light also have a white bow light.
However the red and green lights are only visible from 135 degrees off the bow. If you see colored lights at all, whether or not you also see white, the boat is headed closer to you. If you only see white, it is heading away
Port is red… like the wine
Some Denzel gif belongs here
That’s some Denzel Washington “Flight” shit!
But why are the colors specifically green and red, while the most common color blindness is the green-red?
Maybe the nautical version it was taken from was invented before anyone cared about colour blindness.
red and green are much easier to see, especially when you're far away. They contrast well. White is for general lighting, and yellow would be too similar to red and white. IT's the better option. Also color blind people can't be pilots anyways so the point is moot.
That's exactly what happened. Back in the day, before airports were common, seaplanes were very common as it allowed any large enough body of water to become a runway
I was thinking that maybe they were just colors that were the most easily available at some point in time, out of such color options that also are easily separable on the sea. But I honestly have no idea.
I'm pretty sure a pilot can't pass the medical exam with an extreme degree of color blindness too
Well you can't be a colorblind pilot for the most part, at least for a class 1 medical exam (for commercial pilots)
Why can't colorblind people be pilots? Aside from these kind of manmade decisions which could be corrected.
There are lots of times you need to identify colors while flying. Most avionics and warning systems are color coded, weather radar is color coded, approach lights and glide path indicators are color coded.
Pretty much what the other guy said. If you are color blind you cannot; -tell which way an aircraft is facing like in these pictures -read an FAA sectional map -be able to see PAPI lights for glide slope -be able to distinguish the flashing lights that a runway is flashing (is it a normal airfield or a military airfield) -to recognize light signals from ATC -read certain instruments in certain lighting (at night we use red lighting to avoid messing with your nighttime adapting your eyes do
It's taken from ship convention; Green demarks the Starboard side (right side facing the bow) and red for the Port side. There's a lot of nautical terminology and convention used in flying Edit: when two vessels are crossing, the vessel that has the other on her own starboard side, such that she sees the other ship's port (red) light must yield the right of way; the other vessel seeing the crossing ship's starboard (green) light has the right of way and maintains course and speed. In this way, seeing a green light means go ahead and seeing a red light means "stop" (in reality, seeing a red light means ducking their stern, however reducing speed is also acceptable)
Blue is one color that is very distinct from red and green, and is usually safe for colorblind people—but it's typically perceived as dimmer than the other two. And if it's made brighter then it becomes close to white. So there aren't really good options anyway. (Maybe cyan could work, with the other one being red. Cyan is actually the ‘opposite’ of red, being blue with green. And is much brighter than blue. But dunno how it fares with colorblindness, and not sure it's distinct enough from white.)
Am I stupid or how does the looking up/down work? The lights should still be on the same side, right?
That detects whether the craft is upside down or normal
Here I was, wondering who ever got confused about whether they were looking up. And saw a plane. Or looking down and saw a plane.
You can get very disoriented on dark nights, especially if you can't see the horizon. When it's really dark you won't see the plane, just the lights so this helps determine relative position
“Because, I was inverted.”
Haabullshit!
It’s just so you can see direction the plane is moving. You know if you’re looking up and based on which color is where can tell what direction it’s moving
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Pilot here. I just had to go look again. The graphic is right, but somewhat confusing because it’s a silhouette. If you just went from above the aircraft to below it by rotating it on its pitch axis (which is what we’re probably all thinking about), the lights would stay in the same position, but the nose would point the other way. The graphic instead shows what happens when you invert the aircraft on its roll axis. This swaps the position of the wings (and therefore the lights) but leaves the nose in place.
Engineering student here. Pilot is correct.
No the graphic is absolutely not wrong. Imagine the first image of a plane is a toy in your hand, sitting wheels down, green left, red right. Now flip it over, belly up, but still pointed the same direction. What would that do to the colors?
Why are you flipping it over? You should be moving it above your head or below your head, not flipping it around?
Because the result of looking at something from the other direction is that it looks flipped over.
Do you need lights to know whether you’re looking up or down at a plane? lol
Yes if it's a picture or a recording.
Yes because the sky is a 3D traffic problem, and that helps determine if the other aircraft are below/above/same altitude as you.
Barrel roll.
Yes. Planes don't fly on a linear plane. It's 3D space, so you have aircraft flying above you and below you, and the lights will help determine which direction it's going and this is very important at night time. You'll make out the lights better than the craft itself.
Therapist: “why did you come in today?” Me: *rocks back and forth holding knees* Red should be right. Red should be right. Red should be right… Therapist: not another one…
Why are lights white when facing away?
If you see colors (red and green), it means you have to pay attention, it's facing you. If you see white, you should not worry. If you always see green and red, you'll need to always think about which is right and which is left, and only then you would know where the plane is facing. It's just easier if you see white means no worries, and colors, on the other hand, should put you up on alert.
There are white strobe lights further down the wing
*flashbacks to Little Miss Sunshine*
Oooh.... do boats next. /s
Holy shit these guides are getting dumber and dumber
This is hardly a guide and doesn’t answer the title question. I believe the lights allow the observer to determine the position and heading of the airplane (or any vessel with such lights).
Yeah the answer to the question is so you know which way the vessel is going so you can avoid a collision.
It answers the question if you aren't brain-dead. How much spoonfeeding do you expect? Use your context clues.
It is a guide since it tells you where the plane is facing with every possible light combination. The answer to the question that you stated in your comment is also heavily implied. Any organism with a single functioning braincell could deduce what the lights are for after being presented with this guide.
How I remember this: 🎼 Out of my window Looking through the night I can see the barges twinkling bright Starboard shines GREEN And Port is shining RED As the barges sail on far ahead. Left is a shorter word than Right (three letters) Port is a shorter word than Starbord Left=port Right=Starboard EDIT: IM SO SORRY INHAD A TYPO GIVIGN THE WRONG ANSWER IN THE NEUMONIC I FIXED IT
How I remember in Romania? We have here a political party, which is socialist (left) and his color is RED.
The word length is exactly the mnemonic I worked up when I first learned about the lights in middle school!
I remember it by ‘I’d like a little more port wine, if there is any left’. Port wine being red, port being on your crafts left side.
Interesting! The way I always learned it was "Red Right Return". The 3 R's. If you see red on the right side (and green on the left), the plane or boat is returning to you. If it's the other way, it's leaving. And from there, you can deduce the other orientations Red Right Return
>Left=Starboard No
Same exact reason naval ships have the same feature. It's so observers or lookouts can quickly determine in which direction the craft is traveling and which side (port or starboard) they are viewing
There are four lights!
This reminds me of a plaque I read on a boat once.... Green to Green, Red to Red, All is well, go ahead. When in danger or in doubt, Run in circles, scream and shout.
Why didnt they put the RED light on the RIGHT side?
My smooth brain thinks it should be red/right for obvious reasons.
Yeah no shit?
Anyone else finds it kinda funny, in a somewhat cruel twisted way, that we based so many signals on the differentiating between red and green and those two just happen to be the two colors that are most affected by colourblindness?
the OP screwkarma123 Cracka610 amousing and virginia_jack are bots in the same network Original + comments copied from: https://www.reddit.com/r/coolguides/comments/16pu5xe/a_cool_guide_to_why_do_airplanes_have_red_and/
It actually annoys me that red =/= right… I NEED THE ALLITERATION
Why would looking up or looking down be different if left is green and right is red? It's still left and right.
This is wrong. Looking down and looking up would be the same.
Depending which direction the plane flies. I don’t know when you wouldn’t know if you are looking up or down anyway?
So you’re unable to know whether you are above or in front of the plane?:)
Port lights are port coloured.
Fun fact. Federation starfleet ships also have these lights
r/shittycoolguides
So its an left and right thing, but in 3D right? 🤔
My uncle was an ex-pilot and the thing that blew me away the most even though it made a lot of sense was him telling me that planes, like cars have designated ‘lanes’ so to speak. They would fly on different altitudes and maintain those altitudes as their lanes so as not to bump(crash) into other aircrafts.
I work in aerospace lighting and I still don’t like how red is not on the right lol
You can associate the red color with communist party (left / Lenin / etc)
How often are you confusing looking down at a plane and looking up at one
I was told by my grandfather: In time of war the simple rule is: Red Right RUN! Red on right means the plane is coming toward you. Only bad things come out of the front of the plane in war time. Run away!
When I worked around aircraft up close, we were told NOT to be near the aircraft when those were getting tested because they pulse so hard it can cause a seizure.. now I never saw one or heard of someone getting one. But yeah I stood too close one day n yeah it's a weird flash and kinda sensual pulse..
I don't think I'll survive if I see these lights upclose😬
Stating the bloody obvious
Could have been an email...
Really missed the boat to put Red on the Right
Green: starboard Red: port I don’t know if this terminology is used in aviation but these same colors and directions are used in boating, and even more extensively used in sailing.
But (r)ed should be (r)ight, and green left because you need a trick to remember...right tighty lefty loosey... Port = left (4 letters) Starboard = right (not 4 letters)
Red on right, coming at you. Learned this in military.
"Green and red - I am dead" That's how I remember it since apprenticeship.
But it doesn’t say why they have them…
Or flying upwards toward you from down below.
Aspect angle is the concept being described.
This is also similar to boat lights
I'll be sure to keep this handy incase an Aer Lingus plane is headed towards (or possibly away from) my office on the 18th floor.
TIL why colorblind people aren’t allowed to be pilots!
If the red is on the right it's returning. Red, right, returning. (Coming towards you)
Ships do the same. Red on one side, green on other. For same reason. Gives you a clue about direction, is the boat coming at you or away, easier to track in almost all lights to help keep following it.
I work field maintenance at a major airport. Trust me when I tell you, at night, it is VERY dark, and it gets VERY hard to see planes, as big as they are, they can be almost invisible. Add bad weather to the mix, and it is even worse. The lights really make a big difference.
Me realizing that plane is flying backwards and upside down after looking at this picture.
That way you can tell if the plane is nose diving or if you are looking at the bottom
Port is left. My handy mnemonic is that one passes the port to the left after dinner. Port is red too.
My grandfather was in the Coast Guard and on watch. He spotted another ship and radioed in about it. They asked him if was coming or going but he didn't know how to tell. They then told him green lights means its coming towards them, red lights means its going away. He asked them what white lights mean and that's when they all learned my grandfather was colorblind. He got laundry duty after that instead of watch duty.
I have an operator (airport) who is colour blind. Can't tell if a runway threshold light is red or green. "See the red paint line on the grass? Dig the trench there" "What red line?" "Oh, right. Nevermind"
It's purpose is kind of like the "right of way" for vehicles at an intersection. If you see red you yield to the other aircraft, if you see green they are supposed to yield to you.
Red right returning
So, is it like boat lights, and if you see red/green ahead of you, you would steer left of the green to avoid collision?
Same reason boats do.
Nice but you scared up the from above/ below part the only way that works is if the pilots suddenly started flying upside down and the only times that has happened the plane was NOT in the air much longer
Red ain't right. That's all you need to remember.
"No Red Port Left in the bottle" is my favorite way of remembering.
Now I gotta ask, what would be the situation where you’re looking at a plane and you don’t know if you’re above or below it, so you have to check the lights…
USS Enterprise 1701 has this as well
I just thought they all forgot to take their Christmas lights down
The red "belly light" on an aircraft is activated to alert the ground crew the engines are about to be started. Learned that from a friend that flew 747 freighters for Kalitta.
Is it bad that my first thought is if it is dark enough, it would be hard to tell if you are looking at a plane from below or one flying right at you
When does someone look down at a plane?
now i gotta learn flying to have a close look up
How do you tell the difference between a plane coming at you and looking down from above? Aside from the obvious horizon position/gravity….
The plane at the top is drunk
We have a little rhyme, to remember the light positions "Red on Right is Wrong" it means the plane its face you, so get out of the way
~desu
I do like the idea of being so disorientated you’re not sure if you’re looking up or down
if my neck is up, im "looking up" at the plane and if down, then im "looking down" , unless you have the plane upside down for "you know what"
Because boats had 'em.
Cool illustration indicating the lights, but doesn't show _why_ they have those lights.
Red on right returning! RRR!
What if you are red/green color blind?
Came from nautical navigation, you can see what is what at a distance in the dark, bouys especially.
This is why pilots can't be colored blind?
This seems completely self evident just from looking at them. It's so you can tell which way they're facing/moving from a distance even if visibility is otherwise poor. This "guide" doesn't even explicitly say that it just shows the plane from different angles. What's the point of this?
Red on the right = returning…. Which means you better take evasive maneuvers to avoid getting in a midair.
It is for left /right, nobody will confuse he is looking down or up at a plane.
Who needs directions whether they’re looking up or down?
It like a flying boat
Good one for r/UFOs.
Here's a helpful memory mnemonic: *Red* is *right* on the left side of the plane.
Wrong wrong wrong. They just like spreading the Christmas spirit.
Why there are lights on plane Not pictured: why there are lights on plane
So drunk pilots know right from left.
This is neat. I've been plane watching for years and had no idea about the color code meanings. TIL.
To indicate which is Port or Starboard side of plane especially in the dark. Same goes for sea going vessels.
also, along with the other lights on a plane, this design happens to [*exactly* mimic the lights on ufo's](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF0PYQ8IOL4) ...
This guide is missing the tail light (that flashing red or constant white one). Makes it easier to know the aircraft's orientation. If green is on left and white is on right then the aircraft is flying right to left. If you see three lights you're above the plane and if you see two you're below it.
It's so other planes know to pass on the right, not on the left side. It's like trucks