But it is not only the A380 which is creating demand for longer runways and new or updated

lighting systems to ensure their safety. The increase in domestic and short haul flying too has led
to increased demand even at local level and in smaller foreign markets.
As Richard Farmer, product development manager for Alstom a leading company which has been
involved in aviation lighting for 75 years said, "The airfield ground lighting sector is worth around
£20m a year in the UK, globally it is worth around £200m." A large section of the market in a
literally globe-spanning industry and it is a market with good prospects for growth Farmer said,
adding "We envisage a tripling of growth within 30 years."
SAFETY FIRST
But what are the lighting systems so central to the safety of air travel? Airport ground lighting
systems are those networks of lights and circuits which help guide aircraft in take-off, landing and
taxi-ing along the runway, easily overlooked by air travellers but they play a vital role in safe air
travel. They must meet internationally agreed standards set by ICAO and the FAA (Federal
Aviation Authority).
"Airfield ground lights consist of elevated lights at the
side of runways and taxiways and inset lights."
Some have been inclined to see it as a traditional sector, less characterised by innovation than
others – an old advert for an airfield lighting manufacturer featured a pensioner telling his
grandson that he would grow old before the airfield lamps did. Richard Farmer describes airfield
lighting systems as a 'quite a conservative, safety-led technology'.
It would be a mistake to portray airfield lighting systems as unchanging and unsophisticated.
Environmental exigencies have helped drive the development and use of newer forms of
technology in the sector and since each airfield is unique, so too are airfield ground lighting
systems, which must always be designed on a bespoke basis.
The first use of lights in connection to air transport predates the development of even the most
primitive lighting systems and consisted of little more than a beam projected into the skies as can
be seen in the image on the right. Each of the 2m metallic mirrors of the aerial beacons reflected
a brilliant 800,000,000 candlepower beam of light into the French skies around Paris in 1921.
These airport arc lights each brandished a horizontal set of carbons drawing 300A at 90V. When
the atmosphere was clear, a pilot flying at night at around 17,000ft could detect their beams from
a distance of 150km.
LIGHTING TRADITION
Conservative or not, airport lighting systems have a long history with the first having been
installed in the late 1920s with approach lighting coming into use in the 1930s. These were used
to indicate the proper direction and angle of descent with the colours and flash intervals of such
lights being standardised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
The 1940s saw the slope-line approach system introduced. This consisted of two rows of lights
that formed a funnel indicating an aircraft's position on the glideslope. In addition to which extra
lights indicated incorrect altitude and direction. Since the Second World War lighting systems
have become ever more sophisticated, with the addition of computer-controlled systems and in
low-traffic airports pilot-controlled systems.
"The industry is looking at light-emitting diodes as a
substitute for capsule lamps currently used."
Airport lighting systems have developed considerably since the 1940s increasingly as a result of
commercial pressures in what was and remains a dynamic expanding economic sector.
As Richard Farmer said "the airfield ground lighting market is aligned to a country's GDP, and
mirrors demand for air traffic, domestic and freight. The more flights, the more area needed, the
more lights are needed. It's not just the airfield itself also the infrastructure, the surrounding area."
A happy perspective from an industry insider describes the functioning of airport lighting systems
as 'visual aids which help aircraft manoeuvre around the airport, runways and taxiways, and
assist them in landing and taking off'.
Airfield ground lighting works on a familiar principle, he explained. "They're like cats eyes, but for
airport users and in fact aren't just used by aircraft but also maintenance vehicles and anything
airside. They're dedicated lights, providing a standard lighting pattern throughout the world."
AIRFIELD GROUND LIGHTS
Airfield ground lights consist of elevated lights at the side of runways and taxiways and inset
lights which are embedded in the airport surfaces enabling aircraft to run over the lights and
withstand 'roll on and roll off' – the impact of wheels on landing.
Farmer said: "There is a whole power distribution and control and monitoring system for these
lights. It's like building a fire alarm system, a dedicated monitoring system."
"Airport lighting systems have come a long way since
the birth of air transport as a large-scale
phenomenon."
Heathrow Airport uses tried-and-tested technology for its airfield lighting, a system known as the
aeronautical ground lighting system. A spokesperson for the airport said: "The system enables
pilots to follow a path of green coloured lights from the runway, onto the taxiways and to the
aircraft stand. Air traffic controllers, at the tower use a touch screen panel to set the lights. The
type of lighting guidance system is ideally suited to Heathrow's large and complex operation and
helps to ensure a safe and efficient operation."
Alive to the demands on power supply created by such complex systems and mindful of
environmental concerns, efforts are being made to design new, more efficient lighting. Farmer
added "The industry is looking at light-emitting diodes as a substitute for capsule lamps currently
used. They have better, longer lives and use less power. Like any large organisation, power
consumption and how to reduce it is an important topic; LEDs are one way."
Paul Gurney of Systems Interface Limited, a leading British-based company specialising in air
traffic control systems capability, is optimistic about the continued expansion of the market for
airport lighting systems. Systems Interface, which installs but does not manufacture lighting
systems, is currently working on a contract in Gambia for replacement lighting systems at Banjul
International Airport, the first phase of which has been estimated at approximately £800,000 with
the entire project costing an around £2m.
According to Gurney this is a normal cost for an airport lighting system. The FAA estimates that
such systems will normally last for 15 years. It notes that the A380 Superjumbo can be used in
conjunction with existing systems and facilities but runway services will need to be upgraded at
which point it is expected that lighting systems will be similarly upgraded.
Describing a typical lighting system Gurney said "Lighting systems are always bespoke, the basic
system is always the same but each airfield is different. The technology we use for lighting
airfields is fairly basic – the system lights run on a constant current of 6.6A. You have circuits
cabling around the airfield like a ring main system. Each lamp has a transformer attached to it
and a constant current ensures that at the same airfield, the lamps are at the same brilliance.
"The original airport arc lights each brandished a
horizontal set of carbons drawing 300A at 90V."
On runway-edge lighting and approach lighting circuits you have interleaved circuits, with every
other lamp connected to the same circuit so if one circuit fails or there is a cable fault, you still
have a pattern of lights around the runway. So there is still a pattern of lights for the aircraft so the
runway edge can be seen."
Airport lighting systems have come a long way since the birth of air transport as a large-scale
phenomenon.
But despite, or perhaps because, it is based on proven slow developing technologies, it is today
an established and crucial part of the expanding air transport industry.
In the early days of flight, there were no navigation aids to help pilots find their way. Pilots
flew by looking out of their cockpit window for visual landmarks or by using automobile road
maps. These visual landmarks or maps were fine for daytime, but airmail operated around the
clock. In 1919, U.S. Army Air Service Lieutenant Donald L. Bruner began using bonfires and the
first artificial beacons to help with night navigation. In February 1921, an airmail pilot named
Jack Knight put this to the test with his all-night flight to Chicago from North Platte, Nebraska.
Knight found his way across the black prairie with the help of bonfires lit by Post Office staff,
farmers, and the public.

By July 1923, Bruner's ideas for lighted airport boundaries, spot-lit windsocks, and rotating
beacons on towers had taken hold. The Army opened an experimental lighted airway between
McCook Field in Dayton, Ohio, and Norton Field in Columbus, a distance of 72 miles (116
kilometers).

Beginning in 1923, the Post Office worked to complete a transcontinental airway of beacons on
towers spaced 15 to 25 miles (24 to 40 kilometers) apart, each with enough brightness, or
candlepower, to be seen for 40 miles (64 kilometers) in clear weather. On July 1, 1924, postal
authorities began regularly scheduled night operations over parts of this route. In 1926, the
Aeronautics Branch of the Department of Commerce took over responsibility for building
lighted airways. By June 1927, 4,121 miles (6,632 kilometers) of airways had lights. By 1933,
18,000 miles (28,968 kilometers) of airway and 1,500 beacons were in place.

Each tower had site numbers painted on it for daytime identification. At night, the beacons
flashed in a certain sequence so that pilots could match their location to the printed guide that
they carried. Besides the rotating beacon, one fixed tower light pointed to the next field and
one to the previous tower, forming an aerial roadway. Official and emergency fields were lit
with green lights while dangerous fields were marked with red.

Because of this effort, by the mid-1920s the swashbuckling days of airmail operations had
begun to pass. The lone pilot dressed in a leather flight suit who sat in an open cockpit battling
the elements to deliver the mail was romantic but inefficient. The Postal Service began to
focus on safety and reliability as well as on expanding operations. It established minimum
lighting requirements for all airmail stations: a 500-watt revolving searchlight, projecting a
beam parallel to the ground to guide pilots; another searchlight projecting into the wind to
show the proper approach; and aircraft wingtip flares for forced landings. It also prescribed
that all landing fields should be at least 2,000 feet by 1,500 feet (610 meters by 457 meters) to
allow plenty of room for landings. As a final safety device, the requirement for a searchlight to
be mounted on airmail airplanes was appended to the Post Office's set of requirements.

The use of lighted airways allowed pilots to fly at night, but pilots still needed to maintain
visual contact with the ground. A really useful air system demanded two-way voice
communication and the ability to find out about changing weather conditions while in flight.
But in 1926, pilots could only receive weather information and details about other planes in the
air just before takeoff. If conditions changed while flying, the ground had no way to warn
them. A pilot, too, had no way of communicating with the ground.

The Bureau of Standards began to work on two-way technology in December 1926 at its
experimental station in College Park, Maryland. By the next April, it had an experimental
ground-to-air radiotelephone system operating that could communicate up to 50 miles (80
kilometers). Soon after, a transmitter installed at Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, on the
transcontinental airway, successfully communicated with an airmail plane 150 miles (241
kilometers) away.
In October 1928, the Aeronautics Branch installed a group of new radio stations to complement
the 17 it had inherited from the Postal Service. It also began sending voice information to help
pilots navigate, first by radiotelegraphy and then by teletypewriter. By the end of 1934, there
were 68 communications stations and many pilots could request navigation help by two-way
radio.

In 1928, the Bureau of Standards also developed a radio navigation beacon system, and in 1929
the Aeronautics Branch standardized a four-course radio range whereby pilots listened to audio
signals to determine if they were on course. The Aeronautics Branch stepped up installation of
four-course radio ranges, and this technology became standard for civil air navigation through
World War II.

In September 1929, Army Lt. James H. Doolittle became the first pilot to use only aircraft
instrument guidance to take off, fly a set course, and land. He used the four-course radio range
and radio marker beacons to indicate his distance from the runway. An altimeter displayed his
altitude, and a directional gyroscope with artificial horizon helped him control his aircraft's
orientation, called attitude, without seeing the ground. These technologies became the basis
for many future developments in navigation.

The Aeronautics Branch began formal flight inspection of airway navigation aids in 1932. Six
pilots were each responsible for about 3,500 miles (5,633 kilometers) of federal airway.
Through 1935, the antennas for transmitting and receiving radio range beacons were improved
and more instrument navigation tests conducted. September 1935 marked the first
simultaneous transmission by radiotelephone of voice and weather information and radio
beacon signals for navigation, and by the end of 1938, six stations were complete and 159 were
in progress.

In May 1941, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) opened its first ultrahigh-frequency
radio range system for scheduled airline navigation, eventually expanding use of such
equipment to 35,000 miles (56,327 kilometers) of federal airways. In 1944, with wartime
advances in radio, the CAA began testing a static-free, very high frequency (VHF)
omnidirectional radio range (VOR) that allowed pilots to navigate by watching a dial on their
instrument panel rather than by listening to the radio signal.

After the war ended, in 1946, the U.S. Department of Commerce took over 200 air navigation
facilities that the U.S. military had built in 68 foreign countries. Domestically, in 1947, the CAA
opened Skyway One, a pair of 40-mile (64-kilometer)-wide paths from Washington, D.C., to Los
Angeles. The next year it added Skyway Two between Seattle and Boston. In June 1948, the
CAA installed the first high-powered, low frequency, long-range navigation facility on
Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, mainly to aid ocean flights. Similar 300-foot (91-meter)
towers were built on both coasts and in Omaha.

By the middle of 1952, 45,000 miles (72,420 kilometers) of VHF and VOR airways, referred to as
Victor airways, supplemented the 70,000 miles (112,654 kilometers) of federally maintained
low frequency airways. The CAA began to shut down the low and medium frequency four
course radio ranges.

In 1961, the FAA began using distance-measuring equipment on its entire system. This
equipment allowed aircraft to determine their distance from known checkpoints in order to
confirm their position. The first Doppler radar version of the VOR system made it more
accurate for longer distances.

The FAA participated with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the first public
demonstration of a new system in March 1967 that would use orbiting satellites to transmit
navigation data from aircraft to ground stations. The test was followed by further development
of aircraft antennas to send and receive satellite messages.

In October 1969, 16 area navigation routes were developed. Previously, pilots had flown
directly toward or away from the ground-based radio navigation aid (a VOR or VORTAC). This
aid transmitted a course along invisible lines called radials. With area navigation, pilots could
fly any pre-selected flight path roughly within the boundaries of that local system while an
onboard computer tracked and reported the aircraft's position. Courses could be established
along the shortest path within these route segments. By the end of 1973, nearly 156 high-
altitude area navigation route segments were available.

The last airway light beacon from the system begun in the 1920s was shut down in 1973. By the
middle of 1982, the first of 950 new radio navigation aids equipped with solid-state
construction and advanced features was installed. Navigation aids, the computers supporting
the system, and cockpit displays and instruments to send and receive navigation data all
improved steadily throughout the 1980s.

In October 1994, the FAA requested a government/industry study of the Free Flight concept,
which may allow pilots to choose the most efficient routes without having to fly the prescribed
routes that connect the navigation aids. Further development of Free Flight, including flight
tests, continued. In 1998, the FAA and its industry partners began limited application of some
of the capabilities associated with the concept.

Additional navigation technologies are in partial use or development, including the Global
Positioning System both to locate and help control aircraft by satellite, the Future Air
Navigation System for remote and oceanic flights, and the Communication, Navigation and
Surveillance for Air Traffic Management system. These technologies combine the need for
point-to-point navigation and for higher quality voice and data communication with the need
for air traffic control--the safe separation of aircraft from hazards and other aircraft.

--Roger Mola

Selected Bibliography and Further Reading

Bilstein, Roger E. Flight in America, From the Wrights to the Astronauts. Revised Edition.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994.

Burkhardt, Robert. The Federal Aviation Administration. New York, Frederick A. Praeger, 1967.

Gilbert, Glen A. Air Traffic Control: The Uncrowded Sky. Washington: Smithsonian Institution
Press, 1973.

Komons, Nick A. Bonfires to Beacons: Federal Civil Aviation Policy Under the Air Commerce
Act, 1926-1938. Washington: DOT/FAA, 1980.
Preston, Edmund. FAA Historical Chronology, Civil Aviation and the Federal Government 1926-
1996. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration Office of Public
Affairs, Washington, 1998. Available at http://www.faa.gov/docs/A-INTRO.htm

Spence, Charles F. Aeronautical Information Manual/Federal Aviation Regulations. New York:

McGraw-Hill, 2000.

Poole, Robert W., Jr. “Building A Safer and More Effective Air Traffic Control
System.” http://www.rppi.org/ps126.pdf.

Thompson, Scott. “The History of Flight Inspection in the United States of

America.” http://avstop.com/Stories/inspection.html. Also
athttp://avnwww.jccbi.gov/icasc/fh(united_states).html