Nav lights... Marine and aviation different?

[vindibona1]

I was informed in another thread that I had my red and green strobes inverted left and right. I thought I had put them on correctly as I googled "navigation lights" and a whole lot of illustrations popped up, mostly on boats. I assumed the configuration was universal... until I was informed this morning that I had them backwards. So instead of just goggline navigation lights, I plugged in "AIRCRAFT navigation lights" and lo and behold, they're backwards to the marine configuration.

Someone want to 'splain this to me?

 

[Kyle76]

I think the illustration you found is wrong. Marine and aviation follow the same navigation light protocol: red to port (left side of the craft of standing in the center facing forward) and green to starboard. Illustrations of aircraft that I have seen are the opposite of the one posted above.

 

[old man mavic]

aircraft use the same nav light orientation as marine
it is an international standard that was established long before aircraft were even thought of

 

[vindibona1]

aircraft use the same nav light orientation as marine
it is an international standard that was established long before aircraft were even thought of

So which is correct????

 

[Kyle76]

Red to port, green to starboard is the correct orientation. I always remember it by recalling that red and port are shorter words than green and starboard.

 

[old man mavic]

So which is correct????

green = starboard red = port, so the fist pic in your post is correct

 

[ATP]

Red on the port side is correct.

 

[bumper]

Red to port, green to starboard is the correct orientation. I always remember it by recalling that red and port are shorter words than green and starboard.

The way we were taught in the Navy:

Port & Wine are red, both have four letters as does Left.

 

[Drbobk]

The way we were taught in the Navy:

Port & Wine are red, both have four letters as does Left.

Just today I saw “Port wine is red” as an aid.

 

[22kane]

Left=red, right=green when sitting in the pilot's seat. Marine or aviation, all orientation is taken when facing forward of the a/c or ship.

 

[Deleted Member 997]

Red,

I was informed in another thread that I had my red and green strobes inverted left and right. I thought I had put them on correctly as I googled "navigation lights" and a whole lot of illustrations popped up, mostly on boats. I assumed the configuration was universal... until I was informed this morning that I had them backwards. So instead of just goggline navigation lights, I plugged in "AIRCRAFT navigation lights" and lo and behold, they're backwards to the marine configuration.

Someone want to 'splain this to me?

View attachment 113636View attachment 113637

This would be correct if we were looking at it from the tail

 

[Wozza]

If you see red on the left and green on the right, the boat/aircraft is heading away from you. If it's red on the right and green on the left, get out of the way. It's heading towards you.

White light front and back and just a red in the middle - it's moving right to left. Same white lights and just a green? It's moving left to right.

 

[Deleted Member 997]

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[G Saunders]

'Johnny Left Port with a Red Nose' is the way my daddy taught me, worked for planes and boats. For boats there was also the three Rs, 'Red Right Returning' to stay on the proper side of channel markers...

 

[howardK]

Many years ago I went and graduated from Mass Maritime Academy. I was in the marine engineering curriculum but as a youngie (freshman) you get half a year engine and half a year deck. It was during the latter that i was told that many of the older vessels had a steer board hung over the right side stern. This was known as the "steer board" side which morphed to starboard. The vessels would tie up with the left side to the dock hence the left side faced the port and became known as the port side. For the colors the green on the starboard side represented the sea and the red faced the port side because after all, when sailors went on liberty they would look for the "red light" areas.

 

[Ken-Mav-Mtl]

A Google search appears to confirm "howardk"s post:

Port and Starboard Of Vessels Explained – Everything You Wanted To Know

Marine Insight - The maritime industry guide.

www.marineinsight.com

Origin of the Terms – Port And Starboard
Port and starboard are non-interchangeable terms referring to the two halves of the vessel. When looking from the bow to the stern, the port lies on the right side while the starboard side lies on the left side.

In nautical terms, the bow or fore lies at the forward of the ship, while the stern or aft is the rear portion. This definition of port and starboard ensures that these directions are unique irrespective of the position of the concerned party.

The origin of these terms come from the old English usage for their respective purposes. In the times of early boats that were steered with the aid of a steering oar at the stern, the majority of sailors were right-handed.

These steering oars functioned as the rudders of the craft and had to be expertly manoeuvred. Hence, it was easier to have the steering oar on the right-hand side so that the sailor was facing forward comfortably. This led to the right half that he sat on being called the steerboard which was later corrupted into starboard.

For smaller crafts and sailboats, this led to some difficulty in loading goods from this side of the vessel. So, boats would dock with their left-hand side against the port wharves.

This led to the left side being called the larboard, based on the corruption of the old English term for loading. However, it was common to confuse the terms larboard and starboard while sailing, as they sounded similar. Thus, larboard was later replaced by the term port. This also aided in other terminology, as it was the left-hand side that was moored to the port

Most interesting lesson in nav history...!

 

[GB1Yorkshire1]

A Google search appears to confirm "howardk"s post:

Port and Starboard Of Vessels Explained – Everything You Wanted To Know

Marine Insight - The maritime industry guide.

www.marineinsight.com

Origin of the Terms – Port And Starboard
Port and starboard are non-interchangeable terms referring to the two halves of the vessel. When looking from the bow to the stern, the port lies on the right side while the starboard side lies on the left side.

In nautical terms, the bow or fore lies at the forward of the ship, while the stern or aft is the rear portion. This definition of port and starboard ensures that these directions are unique irrespective of the position of the concerned party.

The origin of these terms come from the old English usage for their respective purposes. In the times of early boats that were steered with the aid of a steering oar at the stern, the majority of sailors were right-handed.

These steering oars functioned as the rudders of the craft and had to be expertly manoeuvred. Hence, it was easier to have the steering oar on the right-hand side so that the sailor was facing forward comfortably. This led to the right half that he sat on being called the steerboard which was later corrupted into starboard.

For smaller crafts and sailboats, this led to some difficulty in loading goods from this side of the vessel. So, boats would dock with their left-hand side against the port wharves.

This led to the left side being called the larboard, based on the corruption of the old English term for loading. However, it was common to confuse the terms larboard and starboard while sailing, as they sounded similar. Thus, larboard was later replaced by the term port. This also aided in other terminology, as it was the left-hand side that was moored to the port

Most interesting lesson in nav history...!

the derivation was that ships had an external steer board so you could only moor on the LARBOARD side ( lee board) prior to lifting central dagger boards
During stress the words Larboard and Starboard could be misheard so it became Port to avoid any ambiguity
Larboard is a Norse or Viking derivative PORT came in to use around the time of gunpowder when commands had to be both decisive and heard.

 

[BigAl07]

When I as modeling a full size GA plane (R/C plane) many years ago as a youngster I asked the guy helping me, "How do I know which side to put the RED light on and which to put the GREEN light on?"

His comment was simple, effective, and easy to remember:

From inside the plane as pilot always remember "Red Aint Right".

 

[MROJAS]

I was informed in another thread that I had my red and green strobes inverted left and right. I thought I had put them on correctly as I googled "navigation lights" and a whole lot of illustrations popped up, mostly on boats. I assumed the configuration was universal... until I was informed this morning that I had them backwards. So instead of just goggline navigation lights, I plugged in "AIRCRAFT navigation lights" and lo and behold, they're backwards to the marine configuration.

Someone want to 'splain this to me?

View attachment 113636View attachment 113637

Marine and Aviation:
Red=Left
Green=Right
White=Tail
Not the case with drones.

 

[BigAl07]

Marine and Aviation:
Red=Left
Green=Right
White=Tail
Not the case with drones.

True and that's mostly because "MultiRotors" (all R/C aircraft are drones/UAS/UAV) are able to hover, fly in any direction, and are fairly symmetrical so having "Regulation Correct" lighting doesn't help a lot.