Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
ChrisKen wrote:They're a north american thing afaiw. Can't recall ever having seen one outside of NA. They're also a fairly redundant feature these days.
ChrisKen wrote:They're a north american thing afaiw. Can't recall ever having seen one outside of NA. They're also a fairly redundant feature these days.
deanva1957 wrote:I know in the USA and maybe Canada if an airport has lighted runways they must have a rotating beacon. How about other countries of the world are they required to have a rotating beacon as well?
7.2 Aerodrome Beacon
Many aerodromes are equipped with a flashing white beacon
light to assist pilots in locating the aerodrome at night. The
aerodrome beacon may be of the rotating or flashing type. The
flash frequency of beacons at aerodromes or airports used by
aeroplanes is 22 to 26 evenly spaced flashes per minute (fpm)
for rotating beacons or 20 to 30 for flashing beacons.
The flash frequency of beacons at aerodromes and heliports
used only by helicopters is sequenced to transmit the Morse
code letter “H” (in groups of four quick flashes) at the rate of
three to four groups per minute.
7.3 Minimum Night Lighting Requirements at Aerodromes
Section 301.07 of the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs)
requires that any area of land that is to be used as an aerodrome
at night shall have fixed (steady) white lights to mark the runway,
and fixed red lights to mark unserviceable (hazardous) areas.
Retroreflective markers may be substituted for lights to mark
the runway at aerodromes, provided alignment lights are installed
(see AGA 7.19). This alternative for night marking of runways,
however, is not approved for certified sites.
Thenoflyzone wrote:I don’t know the regulation for airport rotating beacons here in Canada, but I know that it’s use isn’t standard, even at the largest airports.
Ex. YUL doesn’t have one, but YQB does.
boilergo wrote:The most likely reason they have been deeply ingrained into US standards and not as common elsewhere has to do with their origin: The lighted Transcontinental Airway System. While such systems existed elsewhere, I believe the US system was the largest. Before radios it was the best technology available to get pilots (mail) across the continent during the night. Rotating beacons were placed about 10 miles apart. Some beacons were located at intermediate or emergency landing strips. These beacons had a single beam beacon which rotated 6RPM, and two green course lights which shown up and down the airway, flashing the site number in Morse Code. At beacon stations between airports, these course lights were red.
The combination of green course lights and a rotating white light is what directly evolved into airfield beacons used today, with a dual beam green/white beacon meaning civil land airport. Obviously there are variations to the colors and flash patterns as different landing areas and purposes were created, but it all goes back to the airmail early days. As time went on, other aviation authorities throughout the world adopted variations of this idea.
Thank you for coming to my ted talk.
boilergo wrote:Thank you for coming to my ted talk.
ChrisKen wrote:They're a North American thing afaiw. Can't recall ever having seen one outside of NA. They're also a fairly redundant feature these days.