Pilatus PC-12 NGX External Lights Not Working

Bug Reporting Hub Aircraft & Systems
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1

ISSUE DESCRIPTION

The Navigation Lights and Beacon Lights on the Pilatus PC-12 NGX don’t work. Even if you switch all of them on, there is no beacon light or nav light visible on the aircraft. Only the strobe lights work as they should. This is apparent both during the day and night (easier to observe during night conditions).

The Taxi Light modeling is also wrong. The light source from the Taxi Light is actually on the plane of the propeller, and not where the actual taxi light on the main gear is. You can also observe this by turning on the Taxi Light, preferably at night.

Edit: Added career-mode as a tag because the bug may apply there and not Free Flight.

FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

Every time.

REPRODUCTION STEPS

  1. Load a flight with the Pilatus PC-12 NGX. Preferably during night conditions where the external lights are easier to observe.
  2. Start the aircraft and switch on all external lights (Beacon, Nav, Strobe).
  3. Switch to external view and look around the aircraft. (Note: If cannot reproduce in Free Flight, try Career Mode.)

YOUR SETTINGS

N/A (Xbox Series X)

MEDIA

Please add a screenshot or video of the issue occurring.

2

Could me a LOD issue, try moving closer and see if they pop up.

3

The external camera by default is close enough so that every light should be visible. But I also zoomed in further and there are simply no Nav and Beacon lights on the aircraft.

4

I don’t think it’s just the Pilatus. None of the external lights on any aircraft I have used work properly.

This was a bug logged that now shows ‘fixed SU3’ in the development updates, but as far as I can tell, there is no difference whatsoever. Very disappointing.

5

All lights, including Nav and beacon are working for me on the PC-12.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 - 1.5.27.0 8_22_2025 7_37_46 AM
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 - 1.5.27.0 8_22_2025 7_37_46 AM1920×1080 41.9 KB
6

Drop the gear and turn on the landing and taxi lights… you should see the bulbs like a meter in front of where they should be.

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7

Maybe it’s game mode dependent? I use the plane in Career and there’s no beacon or nav lights. I don’t even know where they’re supposed to be because I’ve never seen them. Only the strobes flash at the edges of the wings.

8

Beacon should be smack dab on top of the stabilizer. Saw it today in free flight so yeah must be different in career mode.

9

Could be! I’m using free flight with an external career program.

10

The landing lights have two “sparkles”, one in front of the other when they are on.

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12

I confirmed it, in Career Mode only the strobe lights work, nothing else.

13

Okay, I realized the problem. The Standby Battery has to be ON in order for the Nav and Beacon lights to work. If it’s off, only the Strobe lights work. I don’t know if it’s intended or it’s a bug in the electrical system. Regardless, all lights work in Career Mode as well, you just have to turn the standby batter on too.

(Note: this solution applies to Sim Update 3. I don’t know if future updates will change the electrical system behaviour.)

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14

I have added the workaround tag to your topic since not sure if it is the expected behaviour or a workaround. Does the “Standby Battery” knob position comes in the checklist maybe ?

Edit: as per the checklist, seems correct to have it set to ON, there is not step to turn it off after startup:

Screenshot (1457)
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Also, when you start on the runway, this switch is ON, so it seems to be the correct position during a flight.

1 Like