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Old 17th June 2009 | 21:58
  #119 (permalink)  
Fitter2
 
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,158
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From: 51.50N 1W (ish)
Okay so the lights are a "billion candelera" but surely if is possible to engineer a Light Aviation sensible equivalent........or maybe not?
Unfortunately, not.

1, they are high power, so would flatten a battery in minutes, and burn out an alternator. CAT has much higher power available.

2. They are directional, being primarily the equivalent of headlights, and the threat is 3 dimensional.

Strobes have peak brightness as high as possble, and experiments show that you can identify an aircraft (in daylight) that has a strobe once you have visually acquired it. The presence of the strobe has no statistically significant effect on the range of acquisition. (Cranfield University conspicuity test flights).

But let's keep thinking - FLARM is not the only solution, but it is one that exists and works. If regulatory authorities permitted 10 times the transmit power (which would have only a small effect on unit power, since transmit time is very short) then range in the 10s of Kms is possible, allowing sufficient time for faster traffic to be aware. Of course, the regulators would probably want gold plated certification, multiplying the price by 10, but if united political effort was put into pushing the safety angle, who knows what is possible.
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