Wind Farms & Aviation Safety
Here in the UK our government ministers, and politicians of all parties, whose total knowledge of electrical power generation would probably fit on a pinhead, have decided that we are to have nation-wide eco-friendly power sources.
This means that there will be thousands of large wind turbines on land, and hundreds of ‘wind farms' with even bigger wind turbines offshore around the UK. Another favoured idea is that every building in the UK will be covered in solar panels.
I am wondering also if any of these people have given a single thought to aviation safety. A ‘Google’ through the UKs websites detailing these things shows that, although shipping safety around off-shore wind farms has been addressed, aviation safety is not even mentioned. Of course, the fact that a bird has been killed by a wind turbine did get a mention!
Just imagine you are a GA pilot heading for Britain in poor visibility. Will you fly high enough to avoid our huge wind turbines – up to 70 m (230 ft) high, with 50 m (165 ft) blades, or will you even see them through the murk? As a stranger to these shores, will you be expecting huge structures in the sea taller than the largest ship?
And where is the collision avoidance beacon installed on a wind turbine? If it is on top of the tower, that is not the highest point. Each blade will, at some point in the revolution, be higher than the tower. So, should a beacon be fitted on the end of each turbine blade?
No doubt the UK CAA and military know of the problems, and aviation charts will highlight the obstructions. But already a number of planes and helicopters entering UK airspace have come to grief approaching high ground.
So who will be the first pilot to collide with a wind turbine or wind farm? Obviously, solar panels would not be dangerous but, even then, flying over the UK will require the wearing of sunglasses (shades), because of the glare from all those solar panels!
In spite of my light-hearted post, some serious discussion on the World-wide introduction of ‘alternative energy’, and its effect on air movements, would be a good thing. Have you had a problem with wind turbines in or around your country? What do you think?
Brine