Two quick white flashes alternating with a green flash are for airports you should probably not be landing at…they are for military airports The combination of colours from the beacon indicate the type of airportįlashing white and green are for civilian airportsįlashing white and yellow are for water airportsįlashing white, yellow, and green are for a heliport Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the pilot to determine if weather conditions meet VFR requirements. If the ceiling is less than 1000 ft and/or the ground visibility is less than 3 statute miles (VFR minimums) the beacon is switched on. However, this is not a requirement for airports. These help pilots to identify an airport at night and are normally operated from dusk until dawn. Luckily, for you travellers of the Infinite Flight world and within real world aviation, airport lighting is standardised. The variety and type of lighting systems depend on how complex the layout, and volume of traffic of that particular airport. The majority of airports, no matter the size or location, have some type of lighting. Per usual fashion, I will include visual aids to provide a better understanding of what I’m trying to convey. In this essay, I will briefly discuss different lighting systems such as VASI, RCLS, and others. Airport lighting can even help you make a nice, smooth touchdown. Airport lighting can save your life and those of others. LED bulbs also typically have a longer operational lifespan, in which studies have shown that they last 5-10x longer than halogen bulbs.Whilst this might be considered to be a boring topic for some, it is a very important topic in all actuality. In the United States, it is an FAA requirement for a runway to be equipped with HIRL for CAT II and CAT III operations.Īpproach Lighting Systems such as HIRL and various other aerodrome lighting have commonly been made of halogen material, however, this has recently been shifting at some airports towards an LED-based runway lighting system.Īdvantages of an LED-based system include lower operating temperatures of HIRL systems along with lower and more efficient energy levels required to power the system. HIRL are most commonly found at large, major international airports which facilitate CAT II and CAT III instrument approach procedures. While the exact Approach Lighting System (ALS) differs from airport to airport, the HIRL systems typically offer a much more versatile solution to various operations. Runway edge lights must be installed within 10 feet off the paved surface of the runway.Runway lights are white until the approaching aircraft is at 1,000 feet, in which they then transition to a solid red color.There must be centerline lights every 30-50 feet for the entire runway.Runway edge lights must not exceed 200 feet in separation.Under HIRL conditions, the following runway light configuration will be selected: Once the UNICOM frequency is selected (122.80), this will allow for the runway lighting to be activated and the intensity setting to be selected.ĭepending on weather conditions and time of day, the High-Intensity Runway Lights (HIRL) setting may be selected. PCL can be activated by the pilot holding down the communications microphone for several seconds. Known as Pilot Controlled Lighting (PCL), this system is commonly found at airports that have restricted ATC operating hours or at uncontrolled airports. Pilots of approaching aircraft that require the activation of runway lights or the adjustment of intensity lighting can do so by requesting it via ATC.Īt uncontrolled airports, this may be activated if a PCL system is installed to the Approach Lighting System (ALS). The intensity settings can be controlled by the Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower or in some instances by pilots in approaching aircraft. On runways that are equipped for night operations and low visibility weather conditions, there will be a series of runway intensity lighting settings available. This range of specifications includes lighting intensity. Runway lighting systems are separated into categories based on their specifications.
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