Left is Port and Right is Staboard...

Go4Fun · Post by **Go4Fun** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 6:50 pm

... but which side is green and which is red in space? Also do they they have different colored lights on the dorsal (top) surface and belly (bottom) surfaces?
Where is my copy of the Starfleet and UESPA regs?

Is it the same as terestrial boats, ships and aircraft.
I know this is Simple Simon stuff but I imagine I'm just the first to ask out loud.

Ziz · Post by **Ziz** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 7:26 pm

Count the letters. The short words go together and the long words go together.

Port-Left-Red

Starboard-Right-Green

Go4Fun · Post by **Go4Fun** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 7:46 pm

Thanks for your answer Ziz. But are there lights on the dorsal and ventral surfaces? Are they colored?
Details may help. I'm doing a ship in the early Starfleet era when the United Earth Space Probe Agency still had say in civilian and comercial ships.

Paulbo · Post by **Paulbo** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 8:46 pm

Planes don't have top/bottom differentiation lights. Of course it's easy to tell whether you're above or below another plane in flight (look up and you're seeing the bottom, look down and you're seeing the top).

OTOH - in the Trek universe (and in most every other SF universe) everyone flies oriented the same way so the above still applies

Ziz · Post by **Ziz** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 8:54 pm

The lights are the same regardless of top/bottom. If they were reversed, then if you approached from a different angle you'd think you were approaching from the opposite side, which would just make things more confusing.

Go4Fun · Post by **Go4Fun** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 9:55 pm

Say your coming in to dock on an unfamilar ship. If there is no automated guidance available for whatever reason it would kind of embarassing to come at a docking bay upside down and rely on the ol' Mark 1 eyeball to correct it!

I think a flashing white light on top and a steady white on the bottom (Or vice-versa) might be helpful. Just saying.

Ziz · Post by **Ziz** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 10:12 pm

Oh, you mean literally top and bottom. Yeah, I think those have always been white. I was referring to the top/bottom lights on the left/right edges of the saucer.

Go4Fun · Post by **Go4Fun** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 11:03 pm

My ship will be oddly shaped by Trek standards as it was (susoposedly) built in 2060 and the last major refit was in 2072. It's a space freighter and the only saucer shaped section is in the forward 'Command' section.
Here is a link to the design I made.

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z102 ... Object.jpg

Johnnycrash · Post by **Johnnycrash** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 11:34 pm

Go4Fun wrote:My ship will be oddly shaped by Trek standards as it was (susoposedly) built in 2060 and the last major refit was in 2072. It's a space freighter and the only saucer shaped section is in the forward 'Command' section.

In that case, a split light is used. Same colour scheme applies, except that the light, when viewed from either side, you can ONLY see the colour of that side. This light is usually on the center line when there is no way of significantly separating the lights on the hull.

http://img.nauticexpo.com/images_ne/pho ... 256153.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f337/ ... lights.jpg

http://marineinsight.com/wp-content/upl ... NL_all.gif

http://marinequipment.com/media/Sailing ... ations.gif

Go4Fun · Post by **Go4Fun** » Wed Nov 14, 2012 12:03 am

Most of those show lights as you say JohnnyCrash.
BUT they also show a top light of white along with a white stern light.

From Wikipedia:
"Aircraft navigation lights are placed in a way similar to that of marine vessels, with a red navigation light located on the left wingtip leading edge and a green light on the right wingtip leading edge. A white navigation light is as far aft as possible on the tail or each wing tip.[3] High-intensity strobe lights are located on the aircraft to aid in collision avoidance.[4]

Navigation lights in civil aviation are required to be turned on from sunset to sunrise. High-intensity white strobe lights are part of the anti-collision light system, as well as the aviation red or white rotating beacon. The anti collision light system (either strobe lights or rotating beacon) is required for all airplanes built after March 11, 1996 for all flight activities in poor visibility, and recommended in good visibility, where only strobes and beacon are required. An example of this would be just before push back, (push and start) the beacon lights are required, to notify ground crews that the engines are about to be started. These beacon lights will stay on for the duration of the flight. While taxiing, the taxi lights are activated. When coming onto the runway, the taxi lights are deactivated and the landing lights and strobes are activated. When passing 10000 feet (or FL100), the landing lights are no longer required, and can be turned off at the pilot's discretion. The same cycle works when landing, but in reverse order. There are also other non-navigational lights on civilian commercial airliners. These include logo lights, which illuminate the company logo on the tail fin. These lights are optional to turn on, though most pilots switch them on at night to increase visibility from other aircraft. Modern airliners also have a wing light. These are positioned on the outer side just in front of the engine cowlings on the fuselage. These are not required to be on, but in some cases pilots turn these lights on for engine checks and also while passengers board the aircraft for better visibility of the ground near the aircraft".
Wouldn't the same thing work in space?

Johnnycrash · Post by **Johnnycrash** » Wed Nov 14, 2012 12:13 am

Go4Fun wrote:Most of those show lights as you say JohnnyCrash.
BUT they also show a top light of white along with a white stern light.
I'm thinking aircaft do the same except for the stern light. I shall need to examine this further.

So, what's the issue?? Coloured to the sides, white in the middle (stern/top/bottom).

Go4Fun · Post by **Go4Fun** » Wed Nov 14, 2012 2:52 pm

Yeah Johnny I must be getting old...ER!

I didn't think to try and find something on Wiki before I asked the original question.

But I wondered if in space things might be a little different. I mean is there a standard attitude of ships that has to maintained at all times?
Do they have traffic cops out there to give out tickets for people flying their ships along on their side or upside-down?

karim · Post by **karim** » Wed Nov 14, 2012 4:15 pm

Go4Fun wrote:Yeah Johnny I must be getting old...ER! I didn't think to try and find something on Wiki before I asked the original question. But I wondered if in space things might be a little different. I mean is there a standard attitude of ships that has to maintained at all times?
Do they have traffic cops out there to give out tickets for people flying their ships along on their side or up-side-down?

upside-"Down" ????

Go4Fun · Post by **Go4Fun** » Wed Nov 14, 2012 4:34 pm

What I mean is upside-down to the standards of the other ships.