Useful Information Regarding Helicopter Landing Lights

الجمعة، 16 نوفمبر 2018

By James Nelson


Helicopters are a special kind of aircraft that does not need a runway in order to land or takeoff from the ground. The aircraft can lift itself up from a landing position without having to go through horizontal movement first. As such, they can land and takeoff from locations with much speed and ease. An area that is specifically designated for the use by helicopters to land and takeoff are referred to as heliports. This is worth knowing about Helicopter landing lights.

This area may be on land, water or on top of a structure such as a building. Similarly, the area may be constructed on a water vessel such as a ship or yacht. The term heliport is used to include any facilities and buildings included in the area if there are any. There are other names that are used to refer to heliports, that is, helistop, helideck, and helipad.

Apart from helicopters, heliports can be used by other vertical lift platforms like drones for landing and taking off. Usually, heliports have one or multiple touchdown and lift off areas. Also, it might have other facilities like fuel stations and hangars. Custom facilities are included in heliports in large towns and cities. A lot of noise is made by helicopters. This factor has limited their adoption.

Usually, the orientation of helipads is in any direction although they have definite departure and approach paths. Numbering done in heliports is not similar to that of airports. It is recommended by ICAO and FAA that TLOF must have an H at its center. The orientation of the H should be in the preferred direction of departure and approach.

The helipad is also required to include information in the TLOF area. The information should specify the maximum amount of weight the facility can accommodate. That means that helicopters that land on the area should not exceed this weight. Also, the information box should contain information regarding the largest size of helicopter that can land on the area. Pilots read this information before they land.

It is very important to include lighting in any heliport facility. There are certain aeronautical standards that should be followed when installing lighting in the facility. The TLOF area is usually fitted with perimeter lights. These lights could be installed flush on the TLOF itself. However, they can also be installed on metallic or concrete extensions placed off the perimeter of the TLOF.

It is very important that the lighting should not constitute an obstruction with which the helicopter may collide. To avoid such collisions, the FAA requires all helipad lighting systems not to extend two inches above the FATO or TLOF. Currently, the lights are required to be green as an industry standard.

Incandescent lighting used to dominate this industry before LEDs were invented. Today, LEDs are taking over and traditional incandescent lights are being replaced by them. LEDs are preferred because they are cheap and have lower energy consumption. These products have also been determined to be capable of remaining functional for several years compared to traditional lighting. Their durability therefore reduces operation costs for heliports.




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