STUDY OF OPTICAL TECHNIQUES FOR INDIRECT GENERATION OF RUNWAY APPROACH LIGHTS
The steel towers which are currently used to support runway approach lights present a significan collision hazard to landing aircraft, and are being replaced by frangible towers which reduce, but do not eliminate, this hazard. This study analyzes optical concepts for indirect generation of runway approach lights which would reduce the tower height or the mass of elevated components. Three concepts are investigated: projection of images with mirrors, use of a ground based lamp in conjunction with a diverging mirror in the light plane, and use of a fiber optic light pipe. The projection of images can achieve a height reduction of several feet, but would require the construction and maintenance of large mirrors. The other two techniques could eliminate wiring from elevated structures, but would require more complex optics and higher levels of power consumption. None of these techniques appears to be practical when the marginal benefits are weighted against their complexity and cost. (Author)
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Corporate Authors:
Operations Research Incorporated
Silver Spring, MD United StatesFederal Aviation Administration
William J. Hughes Technical Center, Airport Technology Research and Development Branch
Atlantic City International Airport
Atlantic City, NJ United States 08405 -
Authors:
- Bremer, J C
- Happel, L J
- Parise, R A
- Publication Date: 1979-9
Media Info
- Pagination: 57 p.
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Airport runways; Approach; Fiber optics; Height; Imagery; Instrument landing systems; Lamps; Mirrors; Optical waveguides; Reduction (Chemistry)
- Uncontrolled Terms: Optical images
- Old TRIS Terms: Approach lights; Reduction
- Subject Areas: Aviation; Pavements;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00313165
- Record Type: Publication
- Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
- Report/Paper Numbers: ORI-TR-1557, FAA-RD-79-114
- Contract Numbers: WI-79-5327
- Files: NTIS, USDOT
- Created Date: May 7 2002 12:00AM