What are aircraft beacons?
An aeronautical light beacon is a visual NAVAID displaying flashes of white and/or colored light to indicate the location of an airport, a heliport, a landmark, a certain point of a Federal airway in mountainous terrain, or an obstruction. The light used may be a rotating beacon or one or more flashing lights.
How were beacons used in transcontinental airway system?
The beacons were five million candlepower, and rotated six times a minute. “Ford beacons” (named after Ford Car headlights) were also used, placing four separate lights at different angles. Airports used green beacons and airways used red beacons. The beacons flashed identification numbers in Morse code.
Are airport beacons required?
“There is no regulatory requirement for the daylight operation of airport beacons. At some locations with operating control towers, ATC personnel can turn the beacon on or off when the controls are located in the tower.
Can you fly without a beacon?
Legally? Yes, as long as you have and use strobe lights. The beacon light is classified as an “anti-collision light”, and the regs say you need a working anti-collision light system. The strobes also qualify.
How did the transcontinental airway system help pilots navigate?
The purpose was important: helping early pilots navigate U.S. transcontinental flights at night. In a era before radar, pilots used ground-based landmarks for guidance. This solution worked for flight during the day, but grounded pilots at night.
How do airport beacons work?
The beacon may be an omnidirectional capacitor-discharge device, or it may rotate at a constant speed, which produces the visual effect of flashes at regular intervals. The combination of light colors from an airport beacon indicates the type of airport.
Do all airports have beacons?
All airports with runway edge lights and heliports are required to have a rotating airport beacon. The color of the beacon indicates what type of airport it is. A flashing white and green beacon indicates a civilian airport on land. A flashing white an yellow beacon indicates a water airport.
Can GPS replace VOR?
When a VOR is decommissioned, it is replaced with a GPS based intersection and GPS based airways. For most of us, the effect will be minimal. Only the rare GA aircraft that is still navigating solely by VORs will see an impact—and that is still years away. As of April 2019, the FAA had decommissioned 23 VORs.”
Where can I find list of airway beacons and arrows?
The following is an incomplete list of airway beacons and arrows. The original list, compiled by Roger Barnes in 2003, was drawn from the NGS database of survey marks. In recent years, many other contributors have shared their knowledge and added other beacon and arrow sites to the list.
When to use aircraft lights ( beacon, position, position )?
My plain English summary will come first. There is no published requirement for rotating beacons that I could find in the regulations. However, AIM 4-3-23 on the use of aircraft lights (copied below) suggests using the rotating beacon anytime the aircraft is in operation.
What was the purpose of the airway beacons?
In Europe, they were used to guide aircraft with lighted beacons at night. A network of aerial lighthouses was established in the United Kingdom and Europe during the 1920s and 1930s.
When to use beacon, anti-collision light system?
An aircraft anti-collision light system can use one or more rotating beacons and/or strobe lights, be colored either red or white, and have different (higher than minimum) intensities when compared to other aircraft. Many aircraft have both a rotating beacon and a strobe light system.