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Old 15th Aug 2008, 05:19
  #11 (permalink)  
Tinstaafl
 
Join Date: Dec 1998
Location: Escapee from Ultima Thule
Posts: 4,273
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Continuing with taxiway lighting: In the US I don't think I've *ever* seen green centreline lights except for runway lead off lights. Small aerodromes, large airports makes no difference - they're enamoured with blue sideline lights here. One would think green centreline lights are anathema.

It's a pain ! One is confronted with a carpet of 'blue light - black space - blue light - black space -blue light - black space...' so spotting the line of a taxiway amongst the sea of blue/black/blue/black/... is so much more difficult than spotting strings of green. It's just not as easy to determine 'I can taxi into that black area but not into that similar size black area next to it'. Especially at an unfamiliar airport. In the darkness of night one black area looks much like another black area so having a group of taxiways marked by blue edge lighting - but nothing that distinguishes the dark taxiway from the dark non-taxiway - just makes it more difficicult than it needs to be. Even worse is when taxiways are of a width that is similar to the spacing between the taxiways.

I believe that *all* taxiways should be required to use green centreline lighting with blue sideline lights reserved for corners and ramp/apron boundaries where the expectation is that you can taxi anywhere between the easily determined blue boundary.
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