Airport Rotating Beacon

Nobody needs to fly at night, it's too dangerous. I'm just glad we can all agree that the beacon isn't needed. It's nice that everyone is on the same page here.
 
Challenged said:
Nobody needs to fly at night, it's too dangerous. I'm just glad we can all agree that the beacon isn't needed. It's nice that everyone is on the same page here.
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I'm sure glad I have the freedom to fly at night, whether I "need" to or not. And I sure hope this post is in jest. :p
 
Ryanb said:
Sorry if I offended anyone.

:)
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I wasn’t. Shoulda put that back on that post. But watch yer step kid. We have geezers staying up all night keepin an eye on things

EDIT: I put them smiley things in this reply. They showed up when I was doin it, but now the aren’t there. ???
 
luvflyin said:
I wasn’t. Shoulda put that back on that post. But watch yer step kid. We have geezers staying up all night keepin an eye on things

EDIT: I put them smiley things in this reply. They showed up when I was doin it, but now the aren’t there. ???
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Forum rules. Geezers aren’t allowed to use smilies. :D
 
☺️☺️

EDIT: I put about 10 different ones there. Only those two showed. I’m confused. I need a nap

EDIT Again: Now I'm on a laptop, was Ipad mini, now those two aren't even yellow anymore. They shrunk and are in Black and White
 
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AKBill said:
This may sound a little foolish, but I'll through it out as food for thought. If the runway lights are remote and turned on by the pilot, could you not also hook the beacon to the same system? The beacon lets say could be turned on lets say 20 or 30 miles out. That would decrease the so called light pollution.
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That would be an alternative thought. The problem with that is the government money would not get involved in the financing such a setup. The beacon has to be on sunset till sunrise.
 
My home airport beacon is little more than a 100 watt light bulb. It’s totally useless from the air. The street lights drown it out. I wish we had a better one.
 
Unit74 said:
I've got to ask, is there any city/county approval actually required? Can you find a FAR that supports your installation?
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Not Really. There is no mandate to have one. When I was visiting one particular airport in NH, PARLIN Field they had a beacon on a tower. I ask one of the local pilots if it was pilot controlled or on a sensor. He looked at another pilot and asked if the damn thing worked. It seemed no one changed the light bulb. It had been NOTAMED for a very long time. I got a kick out of that. They have a great bunch of guys at that field by the way. Why did they not have it operating....The folks have not made the plunge and in any government financing. If they did, they would have to have that beacon operating. Some airports do not want the government funding because of the assurances and obligations that go with the 95% funding. Its a big decision. Many small airports can only survive with this funding.
 
mscard88 said:
Light it up I say!

Beacons are a great navigation aid at night. Good luck with that crowd though.
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We recently had two tests. My first test was not acceptable. The sweep hit trees and a couple of houses. When I tweeted the angle of the beacon up, I noticed one hell of a difference. IT works great.
 
Dennis M Cunningham said:
We recently had two tests. My first test was not acceptable. The sweep hit trees and a couple of houses. When I tweeted the angle of the beacon up, I noticed one hell of a difference. IT works great.
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So the beacon is installed already? Missed that I guess. So if its operational, are they trying to have it uninstalled? o_O
 
mscard88 said:
So the beacon is installed already? Missed that I guess. So if its operational, are they trying to have it uninstalled? o_O
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Actually, No, the beacon is not installed. I have the beacon on a Lift (35 feet) for test purpose. Why we put the cart before the horse is another topic.
 
I have been to 8 or 9 airports that the beacon came on with the airport lights.

Is this airport governed by a HOA..??

I remember as a kid seeing the green/white going overhead from the airport 5 miles away. With all the local light pollution that beacon now can't be seen unless close enough to see the airport. It was one of the old airmail route beacons.
 
Zeldman said:
I have been to 8 or 9 airports that the beacon came on with the airport lights.

Is this airport governed by a HOA..??

I remember as a kid seeing the green/white going overhead from the airport 5 miles away. With all the local light pollution that beacon now can't be seen unless close enough to see the airport. It was one of the old airmail route beacons.
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You old man.

image.gif
 
sarangan said:
...Perhaps also do a systematic measurement from the ground and demonstrate to them that street lights and highway signs produce far more light pollution than the airport beacon...
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As both a pilot and an amateur astronomer, I would disagree. I have many times "discovered" that the rhythmic flashing I'm seeing while night observing is coming from an airport beacon miles away...I'm not sure why...maybe because they are intentionally pointed up?

Can a beacon be sent to come on with the PCL (and then shut off on a timer)? Might be a good compromise...

Edit: @Zeldman beat me to it!
 
Dennis M Cunningham said:
That a true statement Andrew. The sad state is that this small group seem to make an impact to my local select board. We had a public hearing over 1 1/2 years ago and this small coalition made a big stink about this beacon, but were present. I have been networking around the community found that many of the taxpayers are in favor on having this safety beacon installed.
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Light pollution is real...you are located in an area of "moderate" light pollution...which sadly is better than what 95% of the people in this country have. When I observe, I have to travel a minimum of 75 miles just to find skies as dark as yours (from http://darksitefinder.com/maps/world.html ) :



upload_2018-7-21_15-40-30.png
 
Oh, yeah- I suggest enlisting the help of AOPA to see if there is anything they can do, or suggest you can do, to help add the beacon to your airport.
 
Dennis M Cunningham said:
Not Really. There is no mandate to have one. When I was visiting one particular airport in NH, PARLIN Field they had a beacon on a tower. I ask one of the local pilots if it was pilot controlled or on a sensor. He looked at another pilot and asked if the damn thing worked. It seemed no one changed the light bulb. It had been NOTAMED for a very long time. I got a kick out of that. They have a great bunch of guys at that field by the way. Why did they not have it operating....The folks have not made the plunge and in any government financing. If they did, they would have to have that beacon operating. Some airports do not want the government funding because of the assurances and obligations that go with the 95% funding. Its a big decision. Many small airports can only survive with this funding.
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I'm surprised they do not have it working, especially since they now have an RNAV approach into the field.

One of my favorite little airports in New England, by the way. I was just there yesterday, for fuel. I have not been to 5B9 yet, though. I think one of these days I should do that and maybe say hello. :)

BTW, good luck with getting that beacon approved and installed!
 
I was kinda surprised at how prominent an airport beacon was at night, in urban areas. It just jumps out at you, even with city lights around it, or in the background.
 
Sundancer said:
I was kinda surprised at how prominent an airport beacon was at night, in urban areas. It just jumps out at you, even with city lights around it, or in the background.
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Agreed, there are just not that many things that flash green at that interval.
 
azure said:
I'm surprised they do not have it working, especially since they now have an RNAV approach into the field.

One of my favorite little airports in New England, by the way. I was just there yesterday, for fuel. I have not been to 5B9 yet, though. I think one of these days I should do that and maybe say hello. :)

BTW, good luck with getting that beacon approved and installed!
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I tried getting fuel there about a week ago and the fuel machine wasn't working.
 
For safety, when I am flying at night, I try to look for the green-white lights as I move across the path. I actually assumed most/all airports used them. I hope the trend won’t become flipping the switch off.
 
As an old aviator who did the Dee-Dee - Daa-Daa airways I enjoy seeing a real tower light.

They simply have a favored memory for me :)
 
Sundancer said:
I was kinda surprised at how prominent an airport beacon was at night, in urban areas. It just jumps out at you, even with city lights around it, or in the background.
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Depends on which one. My student night XC was to Chandler (KCHD), whose beacon is basically buried in the Phoenix city lights; I couldn't find it until I was pretty darn close to it. (Of course, that might have just been me; my CFI had it well before I did.)
 
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