Information On Aircraft Warning Lights On Buildings

By Sarah Smith


Aircraft warning lights refer to high-intensity lighting devices that are attached on structures such as buildings in order to avoid collision. These devices serve as a measure for avoiding collision. The intention of using these devices is to make buildings more visible to aircraft passing by. In most cases, they are used at night even though they can be used during daytime too. Aircraft warning lights on buildings must be visible from several miles away for them to be effective.

In general, there are two types of these lights in use today, that is, red and white lamps. The red lamps may be constantly on or they may turn on and off at a slow rate. The rate is usually predetermined and does not accelerate or slow down. White varieties are usually xenon discharge flashers. In most countries such as the UK, white flashers are being replaced, with red ones being adopted more.

Red lamps have incandescent filament bulbs installed into them. Red lamps have a very short lifespan, something that has made their design to be ruggedized to improve lifespan. Operating power used in them is also lowered in order to achieve a higher lifespan. Incandescent bulbs are in the recent past started to be replaced by high-power red LEDs.

LED-based lamps have a much longer lifespan. This increases reliability while reducing maintenance costs. Some manufacturers have started to produce medium-intensity strobes basing on LED technology as a replacement for xenon flashers. This has made xenon flashers still desirable in the US. Thus, white flashers are used during the day while red lamps are lit at night.

The use of red lamps tends to be dominant in urban areas, because they can be spotted easily by pilots from a height. Even though white flashers are used in some urban areas, they are not very common. They are usually not common because they tend to merge with background lighting at night, something that makes it difficult for them to be spotted by pilots. This problem does not occur in rural areas.

In general, any kid of structure can be installed with the lamps. Some examples of structures are wind turbines, electricity pylons, water tanks, tall buildings, chimneys, cranes, broadcast masts, and broadcast tower. Shorter structures may also have the devices installed if they have a close proximity of an airport. Here, they warm incoming and outgoing pilots.

Normally, the lights are arranged in clusters of two or several lamps around the structure. The arrangement is done at specified heights along the height. In most cases, a set will be placed at the top of the structure followed by several sets at specific intervals down the structure. How many sets are installed will be determined by the height of the structure.

Major concern related to these lamps is that they contribute to light trespassing. Most people located in places with the lamps usually complain of light trespass. Light pollution has also been reported together with towerkill of birds.




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