taxiway lights

[malc4d]

Does anyone know why, as a taxiway joins a runway the taxiway lights couldnt be, say green or any other colour than blue............. I've been flying a lot at new airports at night, and finding the way off of the runway could be made soooooo much easier.

just a thought....

[A Comfy Chair]

Usually, Guard lights are Orange... Stop Bars are Red, Taxiway EDGE lights are Blue and Taxiway CENTRELINE lights are Green...

If the edgelights were green too, we'd have a lot of tyres in the dirt :}

[chevvron]

CAP 168 makes allowance for this; taxiway turnoffs may be bracketed by blue filters on the adjacent runway edge lights; but I don't know any airports that actually do this!

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

malc4d... Presumbaly you haven't flown into any airfield that has green taxiway lights leading you off the runway and all the way to the stand?

[malc4d]

Na, mostly teaching in Luscombs (L11E) pa 28, be 76 or pa 44 in sunny Florida. Very rare to see centre line lights where we fly..........:cool:

[Fenders]

At some airfields a system of alternate orange/green lights (RETILS) are displayed extending from the runway centreline to the next available high speed turnoff (rapid exit taxiway) which provides pilots with a distance to run. Once vacated from the runway there is a system of green centreline taxyway lights. At some airfields these green centreline lights are switchable so as to provide a clear route to the parking gate. These routes are protected using red stopbars at various locations and at junctions with other taxyways.
I believe another forumite (Heathrow Director) has already provided an excellent description of the system elsewhere on this forum.

[A Comfy Chair]

malc4d,

In that case the answer to your question is that the other colours are used for other meanings. If the airport you fly to only has edge lighting for taxiways, unfortunately it has to be blue.

(And I do sympathise... I think the blue is the hardest of the lot to see, and often the widest spaced)

[malc4d]

Thats the point...... at night it all looks the same (duh) runway, grass and taxiway and finding the taxiway in a sea of widely space blue lights could be made easier ( maybe if your 40' up in the cockpit its easier, but down low where l am............)

[A Comfy Chair]

You'll just have to convince the aerodrome operator to install the nice bright green taxiway centreline lights... then its easy :}

[Sir George Cayley]

RETILS = Runway Exit Turnoff Indicator Light System.

Both Annex 14 and CAP 168 show these as only Amber (Orange/Yellow) lights in groups of 3, 2 & 1 equating to hundreds of metres to the RET.

Alternating Yellow/Green Lead-off/TWY c/l lights are UK specific to show pilots the extent of the ILS Localiser Sensitive Area (LSA) which extend to 137m from the RWY c/l as opposed to 150m at say CDG.

Hope this is now clear to you all.

Sir George Cayley

[Musket90]

Sir George - Slight correction - RETILs, Rapid Exit Taxiway Indicator Lights.

[bluehawaii]

They are also FAA specific ILS Critical Area(Holding point), usually applies while vacating the active runway. In low visibility conditions, pilots can report ‘clear of the runway’ when passing the location where the lights change from alternating green and yellow to all green taxiway centerline lights.

[malc4d]

Hey, l'm lucky if you can still see a faded yellow line going from the runway centreline to the taxiway in daylight..............at night well......:eek:

[chevvron]

Found the reference in CAP 637:
'Runway exit lighting.
One or two omni directional blue lights may replace or supplement (runway)edge lights in order to indicate an exit taxiway'.