Night Flying - Airport Lighting

[L-1011]

Just wondering if I am the only one that has noticed that an Airport in a densely populated area is the hardest thing to see. I have yet to fly into a city where the Airport is the easiest thing to see.

The average mall, ware house, or city street has brighter lights then an Airports. You pretty much have to get them to set the lights to full intensity to be able to see them coming in.

This applies to VFR only of course!

[xchox]

Nope. You're not the only one. Just flew to London last night, and didn't see runway lights till I was pretty much on base.

[SkunkStripe]

Long time ago had to get vectored into CYOO... They set the lights to max and couldn't see it till I was pretty much over it. Prolly just a Southern Ontario thing!

I know the 401 looks more like a runway then most runways in the area. ha

[nightbird]

Look for the beacon instead. Using your peripheral vision helps find it in the sea of lights...

[pelmet]

Some airports have removed the beacon. It can be helpful in some cases with large airports to look for a large area with no lighting(except the parking areas). Runway flashing strobes(REIL) can help too if installed and depending on the direction of arrival. I have noticed at least sometimes that when not aligned with the runway, the runway lights are not as visible.

[photofly]

Airports in built-up areas are easy to spot at night. They're the big completely black areas surrounded by streetlights.

[Posthumane]

Agreed, even though I know where the airport is in my city I find that I have to really look for it when approaching in the evening. Usually looking for the dark spot that's surrounded by lights at the perimeter is the way to go. Having lead in strobes makes it a lot easier.

[cncpc]

Buttonville was always a real challenge.

[KK7]

I used to do a lot of night VFR flights into YUL, and that was always tough until I knew what to look for. YUL has built up areas between the parallel runways so there is no big dark spot to look for. In the case of YUL I was always coming from the west so I learned to look for the bright red AC logo on their hangar.

Other airports in built up areas, I used to look for the flashing lights of all the vehicles on the airport property. So many flashing orange lights, you'll only find those on a construction site or an airport.

Now I just opt to take the approach, or OBS on the GPS.

[172PIC]

Ya Buttonville is a lot of fun to find at night lol. Look for the black hole with red lights on the buildings around it. Rural airports are a lot easier to see.

[Rookie50]

Buttonville was always a real challenge.

+1 I think the hardest

[vanNostrum]

I find YOW some times difficult to see . I remember ,years ago,some american crews frequently requesting that the lights to be turned up even though they were already at max

[Cessna driver]

Yeg is difficult to see at times from the north and east, blends in with leduc

[G.N. Thompson]

You are quite right gents. Having installed a few thousand edge lights...the Westinghouse units are aligned to toe slightly towards the center line and your eyes while on approach. As you get closer the angle increases and it dims a bit. Then there is a reflector inside the glass to block the main glare as you pass the light allowing you to see further ahead into the snow or fog. They normally are spaced 200 feet apart. Wattage on those at B5 is 204, so given enough time they normally melt off frost from freezing fog, slop from runway sweepers, or drifted snow that gets packed into the grooves of the lenses. The main light is also tilted up to the approach path...about 8 degrees for the ODELs. Annual maintenance included soap and water for a thorough rinse inside and never-seize on all the threads and complete alignment when they still did that. I always liked the old style 2000 watt rotating beacons you could see from 40 miles back even tho they were very high maintenance, kinda like an old girl friend. Hope that helps.

[xchox]

Great info GN!

I wish all airports still had beacons.

I wonder how many are left?

[halfmilevis]

Buttonville - CYKZ... Surrounded by the 404 and 401, you have to look for the black whole... Still a pain in the ass to find!

HMV.

[HiFlyChick]

Come out to Halifax, boys! It sits way outside the city and is as easy as pie to find.
Course if you're taking a cab into town it'll cost you $50....

[xchox]

CYTZ is easy peasy as well. Aim for the CN and just look for the lights on the lake!

[photofly]

CYTZ also has a beacon, on the roof of hangar 1. Although it looks like it hasn't worked in years. I would love to get it working again and see the stream of complaints from people living in lakeshore condos.

[xchox]

CYTZ also has a beacon, on the roof of hangar 1. Although it looks like it hasn't worked in years. I would love to get it working again and see the stream of complaints from people living in lakeshore condos.

HAHA Love you dude! Let's do it!