Monday, November 19, 2018

What To Know About Helipad Lighting Suppliers

By Andrew Jackson


Heliport refers to a designated area on a structure, water, or land where helicopters use for landing and taking off. In other terms, a heliport is a small airport that is specific for utilization by helicopters and other vertical lift platforms. The term vertical lift platforms are platforms that take off and land vertically from the ground. They do not need to cover some horizontal distance in order to land or take off from the ground. Useful information regarding helipad lighting suppliers.

Usually, designated heliports in most cases have multiple or one touchdown or liftoff areas. These heliports might have limited facilities like fuel sources and hangars. Platforms located in large towns or cities could contain facilities for forwarding and clearance of cargo as well. Advocates hoped that the introduction of heliports would become a widely adopted idea, but that has not happened up to today.

One of the major reasons why heliports have not become widespread is that helicopters make a lot of noise when they are landing or taking off. Such levels of noise pollution are unsuitable in urban places. An entire fleet of helicopters can cause devastating levels of noise. That is why even major cities only have a limited number of heliports. Besides being few in number, they are also small in size.

There are other terms that can be used when referring to heliports. Helistop, helideck, and helipad are some of these terms. Helipads can be used at night though some specific aeronautical standards are to be met when lights that help improve visibility are installed. Compliance with aeronautical standards is compulsory for all helidecks because they are very strict. Local aeronautical bodies in an area have the responsibility of ensuring that lighting is of the required standards in heliports around them.

Generally, helipad perimeter lights are usually installed around the TLOF region. They may be flush installed on the TLOF itself. In other cases, they are mounted off the perimeter of the TLOF on short extensions made of metal or concrete. There are usually two alternatives to lighting. That is, besides lighting the TLOF area, FATO area can be lit.

There are a number of conditions that have to be met in order to light the FATO area instead of the TLOF. Both areas can however be lit under certain environmental conditions. The lighting should not act as an obstruction during landing or taking off of the helicopter.

To prevent lighting from being an obstruction, certain laws have been enforced in the United States. For instance, the lighting is not allowed to extend more than 2 inches above the FATO or TLOF. Another rule requires that all lights used on the perimeter must be green in color. Amber and incandescent lighting have been in use before, but they were determined to interfere with night vision goggles.

Surface operation is enhanced on heliports by use of flood lights. However, flood lights must be limited to ground operations only because they can interfere with flight operations. LEDs have a longer life cycle and have lower power requirements, which are the two factors that have caused their widespread adoption.




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