Alice025,
Spasibo for the translation.
The "lantern" that was shown at the Smolensk beacon, is turned on during the day when poor visibilty (fog) is at the airfield.
(photos)
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There is a reason for this type of neon lantern that glows red.
In
1928 General Electric developed red neon lights for the purpose of warning pilots and captians on ships.
As was discussed on the Russian avaiation forum in 2007, the "lantern" is used at some airfields and is placed at the beacon. And it flashes the Morse Code.
The two 5 meter T-antennas in the picture are found with the Automated PAR-10s and the mobile
PAR-10.
The two same 5 meter T-antennas are also at Smolensk.
(photo)
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The military vehicle that is "khaki" in color and has the lantern setting on top, it is an earlier
Gaz-66.
This is the same truck profile that is shown in the photo on the specifications of the PAR-10.
Given this, why has no one in the Russian forums or this forum asked if this "lantern" was turned on during the fog?
The pilot makes no mention of seeing this lantern and given this lantern can be seen from pilots from as far as 60km on a clear night, I question why would they not see this lantern (location of lantern was to the right when the plane clipped the first tree) before they were at 8 meters high 40 meters to the left of the centerline when the aircraft clipped the first tree.
I would hate to think that the reason that it was not on, was because it was broken or the residents of the area complained because it was too bright.
This apparatus was designed for the fog.
