[LIGHTS]
//Types: 1=beacon, 2=strobe, 3=navigation, 4=cockpit, 5=landing
light.0 = 3, -1.02, -18.20, 0.62, fx_shockwave_navred
light.1 = 3, -1.06, 18.20, 0.65, fx_shockwave_navgre
light.2 = 10, -1.3, 0, 1.90, fx_vclightpa32
light.3 = 10, -5.10, 0, 1.80, fx_vclightpa322
light.4 = 2, -1.19, -18.20, 0.62, fx_shockwave_strobe_nl
light.5 = 2, -1.23, 18.20, 0.65, fx_shockwave_strobe_nl_2
light.6 = 5, 9.55, 0.00, -0.50, fx_shockwave_landing_light
light.7 = 1, -16.86, 0.00, 5.45, fx_shockwave_beacon_rotating_red // Shockwave light added new
// note: there is no beacon switch in this aircraft; beacon will go on & off with "L" key
As the comment line implies, the Carenado Saratoga SP has no Beacon, and thus, no Beacon switch. I actually wrote to Carenado to ask, incredulously, why there was no Beacon. Their response was that their airplane was modeled after a RL Saratoga SP that, mysteriously, had no red beacon. My logs show that I have flown 4 different Saratoga SP's over the years, and they ALL had beacons. I didn't know there was such an animal as a beacon-free Saratoga.
With the Beacon added in aircraft.cfg, when the airplane loads up in FSX the beacon is ON of its own accord, which is fine if you have FSX configured to place you in the sim with the engine running, but not so fine if you prefer a "dark cockpit, no engine running" entry into the sim.
Pressing the L key once turns ON all lights (the beacon is already on), and pressing L a second time turns OFF all lights including the beacon. After engine start, you can press L once to turn ON all lights (including the beacon) then use the cockpit switches to turn off whatever lights you don't want on- Nav, Strobes, Landing and Cockpit lights are all controllable from the VC.
The RL "rule" on Beacons & Strobes is:
Beacon: ON at all times when the engine is running. Period.
Strobes: ON when taking the runway for takeoff (even if "position and hold" is the clearance), ON at all times while flying unless cloud/snow reflections become an issue, and OFF only when exiting the runway after landing.
If all of the extra "switchology" relating to forcing a beacon onto this airplane via aircraft.cfg is too much rigamarole and/or too unrealistic for your tastes, simply comment out the Beacon line (Light.7.....) using "//" at the beginning, or delete it completely. For me, the very concept of any GA airplane built since the 1950's without a red beacon is more troublesome than a few extra button pushes to overcome the absence of a Beacon switch in the VC.
Adding the Shockwave lights really brought this airplane to life, and solved the problem of lights seeming to be somehow obscured in Exterior view- you could look back at the airplane from in front of it with the landing light supposedly shining in your face and you couldn't even SEE the landing light itself, day or night- just the cone of light on the ground. The Shockwave LL fixed that, and then some.
