Hi, i am not a real pilot, but I once dig deep into that matter. There is no standard PROTOCOL. And if you really want to be sure , you would have to look into the law of the country you are flying in. In most countries, as a non commercial small ga aircraft landing lights is not required during the entire flight. And in some laws it is not even called landing light, but only “white lights”. So dont put too much thought into this in the sim, else you are going nuts, because you will hear a lot of different answers. In real life you would also make it dependend on your aircraft manual. If you have a “weak” alternator and your landing lights want a lot of amps, you most likely would not have it on the entire time if not necessary. And it would never be “wrong” to leave them on the whole time. “See and be seen”. So if you think the landing lights aid you in your safety and your aircraft can handle the amps and spare bulbs arent that expensive in the sim - just let them on. If you think you dont need them, then let them off, until you come near the airport for landing.