Brian:
I am thinking about install new strobes on N9198S, I already have the tail strobe and I am looking at either a belly strobe or wing tip strobes. I just wondering what the consensus is towards them. Belly versus Wing Tip.
Harry Roussard:
Strobes top and bottom, don’t waste your time and MONEY with strobes in the wings. Just look at the difference, seen from another aircraft (which is what we are concerned about i.e. BEING SEEN)… NONE… you will see a strobe light with 360 degree visibility and you see actually TWO of them (top and bottom strobe in most of the cases) at least for aircraft that you should be concerned about, i.e. those flying somewhat at the same height / level.
Editor:
Here are a few more cents. Many times practicality may rule that the belly and tail strobes make the most sense. Balancing that, the self-contained wingtip strobes, that run off the tip light power wires, are a fairly simple install. They do have their own limitations, of course (no independent switching, no synching without a sync wire, without extra efforts). Alternating wingtip strobes are often the easiest for a tower or other oncoming planes to see, due to the illusion of motion from the separated and alternately-flashing strobes that aren’t shrouded by nose gear and fuselage bulge. Ditto for planes climbing into you or descending on you, where they will have the exposure to three flashing strobe lights (wings and tail or wings and belly), or both wingtip strobes rather than one belly light or one vertical stab light. If you have a Pulselight system that does this with the outboard wing taxi lights, you probably don’t need the wingtip strobes too. There are also drag issues, however slight they might be; but I’m always trying to shed it rather than add to it. The most common belly and vertical stab tip Whelan strobes stick out into the wind by a pretty good margin. The retracts appear to be easier to fish new wires into the wings, compared to the fixed gear planes (wheelwell access panels on the retracts). Lots of pros and cons to all approaches.