Thursday, April 25, 2019

By Walter Bell


Air travel has been considered for a long time as the safest means of transport. In order to reach this kind of safety, a lot of thought and planning is necessary. All the aspects of the flight are to be planned cautiously from taking off to landing. Many standards have been set in order to realize the safety and ensure that it is sustained always. This is worth knowing about Lights for heliport.

In the United States, the FAA is the government agency that is concerned with the introduction and enforcement of standards in the aviation industry. Helicopters are a special of aircraft that do not have fixed wings. Instead, they have a propeller that allows them to land and takeoff vertically. They do not need a runway for horizontal movement before takeoff and touchdown.

This ability enables the landing and takeoff of helicopters from any platform that has enough size to accommodate them. For instance, landing and taking off can happen on watercrafts, battlefields, buildings and aircrafts among other platforms. However, to be able to do this, the intended area for landing and taking off should be uniquely demarcated for this function.

The area that is demarcated specifically for helicopters to land and take off is normally known as a heliport or a helipad. Usually, the area is demarcated in a circular manner with a capitalized letter H at the center. It is a necessity for a heliport to have a minimum of one touchdown and liftoff area. This area is abbreviated as TLOF according to aviation standards. The TLOF area is placed at the middle of the Takeoff and Final Approach area which is abbreviated as FATO.

The TLOF and FATO areas must be accompanied by a peripheral safety area. This area must have two or more departure and approach paths. The length of the TLOF area must be equal to or more that the rotor diameter of the largest helicopter that is expected to use the helipad. On the other hand, the FATO must be at least 1.5 times longer that the length of the helicopter.

The safety peripheral areas, the TLOF and FATO should be sufficiently and properly lit so that they are visible to the pilot when they advance or leave from the helipad. It is a must that lights remain on during night time. Lighting fixtures should be installed in FATO area, windsock, taxiways and TLOF area. Visual aids such as flood lights, taxiway lights, heliport identification beacon, landing direction light and heliport approach path indicator are important in aiding the landing process.

As defined by the standards of the FAA, the TLOF perimeter should have flush green lights to define them. If the TLOF area has a square or a rectangle like shape, there should be at least four light fixtures on each side. There must be corner lights on each corner and those put between them must be uniformly spaced.

If the TLOF is shaped like a circle, it is necessary to illuminate it with a minimal of eight lights. The lights must also be evenly spaced. Just like the TLOF, FATO needs to have the same type of lighting. These lights ought to be of green color and should be of the same intensity like those used in TLOF area.




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