Both during the flight and on the ground, the airport lighting system plays a major role in keeping everyone’s safety and running. A single mistake can do a lot of harm, especially when we are talking about the lack of visibility. However, there are various curiosities people do not know about the airport lighting system, some of which we have already presented onto the following lines!
What is the approach lighting system all about?
For every pilot, knowing how close he is to the runway is imminent. That is one of the main reasons why the approach lighting system is being used, as they are set up on the approach of the airport runway. In addition, this can give a hand to the pilot on identifying where the location of the runway is, especially during low visibility. When it comes to colour, these types of lights are either white or red coloured. They can be either steady or flashing, but the role they have is the same.
In this category we also find the PAPI lights, which are meant to identify the glide path. At the same time, they have four projectors able to change colour, from white to red. The difference lays in the angle from which the pilot observes the lights. For instance, if all projectors are red, this means that the aircraft is positioned too low. On the contrary, should all projectors be all white, the pilot is positioned too high. In general, the correct combination is made of two lights red and two lights white, all visible for the pilot.
Let’s deep dive into the runway lighting system
Airports are interesting places, but very dangerous should the aircraft not have the necessary lights to be guided with. For instance, the runway lighting system can offer the necessary support to share where the safe to land part is and where is the one out of the airport.
They are made of LED, inset, halogen or elevate and need to be compliant with the regulatory norms to be used as expected. In general, these can be part of the portable lighting domain which adds up additional available options, all presented by Signalight.
At the same time, the runway lighting system also includes the end identifier option. This one consists of a white flashing light that gives the necessary guidance on seeing the left and right sides of the runway threshold.
Nevertheless, there is also the runway edge light helping to illuminating the runway edges. In general, they are either red, white, or yellow coloured. These are part of the airport lighting and can be found on Signalight on different forms and models.
Another important aspect in here that should be taken into consideration is the fact that the runway end lights are always red coloured. They are meant to indicate where the end of the runway is located. Thus, pilots can always comprehend what the available area of movement for the aircraft is, regardless of it being day or night.
Discover the taxiway lighting system
Most international airports use the taxiway lighting system daily with great ease. This one is made of blue colour airfield lights which really make a change on the long run. We are talking here about the fact that they are of elevated or inset type. Usually, the markers are cheaper as they do not require even electricity. The difference is made by the taxiway lights, which are more expensive and ideally found on larger airports. In addition, they are part of the heliport lighting options presented by Signalight.
Introducing you the airport rotating beacon
There is a lot to talk about the airport lighting. However, one of the most interesting aspects to tackle is the airport rotating beacon. This one is presented as a unit and installed right on a high mast. For pilots, this is a very important symbol, as this guide them towards the right airport location from the air. In most US airports, the airport rotating beacon can be found with no issue whatsoever.
Understanding more about the obstruction aviation lights
The obstruction lighting options highlighted by Signalight are red colour and composed of steady lights. These ones might be different from many others, but their main goal remains to illuminate different objects that can be found among aircraft’s way. As its dimensions are wide, every pilot needs the necessary guidance from exterior to get the right position at every step.
Using all this information about the airport lighting systems, it is possible to meet all the necessary criteria and be compliant to all of the regulations that are currently in place for either airports and heliports.
