Airport beacons

[frostbite]

I live about 2 miles from Southend airport and when we moved in, many years ago, a rotating green/white beacon was clearly visible on most nights.

Now it's not there anymore, and hasn't been for some time. Is this a general airport thing, perhaps as a result of improved navaids, or are there still some in use elsewhere?

[Talkdownman]

Ours is well and truly in use. It used to be white, flashing a two-letter morse ident. It has recently been changed to green for (civil) compliance.

[2 sheds]

Southend has a white flashing (rotating) aerodrome beacon (as opposed to an ident beacon) and has had for years - not green/white.

2 s

[niknak]

If it has gone it almost certainly won't be replaced for the reasons you state -improved nav aids on the ground and also improved technology in aeroplanes, they're also very costly to repair.

Very few civil airports have them now, although I believe the military do keep them going at some airfields where the based aircraft aren't grey, pointy and go everywhere at 400kts.

[frostbite]

That's interesting 2s - must be low power or located away from the original site - there's not a trace of it at my location.

The alternating green/white one was in operation when we moved in in 1959 and ran for many years with the beam at around 35º I would guess.

[gg190]

I seem to remember from when I was there in December that Leeds Bradford has got one on the Multiflight side of the field.

[chevvron]

For civil airports, an 'Aerodrome Beacon' is either flashing alternate white/green OR may be a white strobe light where there is no risk of confusion between airports (s'funny but both Blackbushe and Fairoaks have white strobes and they're not too far apart as the Cessna flys) whilst an 'Identification Beacon' flashes the code letters for the airfield (not necessarily the ICAO letters)in morse code and is coloured green only. A list of these is published in the AIP.
At Military airfields the ident beacon flashes red.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

I believe the green "LH" beacon, located on Beacon Road, south of the old intersection between 05R and 33L, has long gone. One of the past DCATCOs at Heathrow always used to ask about it during Aerodrome validation boards... "You've driven round the airfield?".. "Yes".... did you notice anything particular on the southside?".. "Er.... the green beacon flashing LH?" "Ah yes.... very good". Tick!

[Bern Oulli]

Years ago Stansted had a white rotating jobber. A pain in the eyeballs when trying to get some kip on a night shift. I remember a Channel Airways Comet (that dates me) calling up for the weather and reporting "Field in sight". As he wasn't due for some time I asked where he was. "Overhead Zurich, FL360" or some such high level. To which I replied, "Report downwind lefthand for 23". It was a crystal clear winters night. Apparently he could also see the Cambridge beacon. Happy days.

[niknak]

At civilian airfields, the ident beacon will flash the morse for the predominat instrument approach facility, i.e. if the airfield has an ILS the beacon will flash I - xx, if has an NDB it will flash the code for that e.g for Southend "SND", if there is no instrument approach it will broadcast the ICAO three letter code, i.e HUY.

As I said, these things are incredibly ancient and inefficient, most are a mass of flurescent tubes and very expensive to maintain, consequently when they conk out they go to wherever they go to die.

[2 sheds]

Niknak

Where on earth did you get that information from? And what is an ICAO 3-letter code?

And quite a few civil aerodromes still have ident beacons - Southend's is an exception.

2 s

[Barnaby the Bear]

Southends beacon is very much old, but alive and kicking. Its located on the Northern boundary next to the Golf course. It can be seen mid-channel on a good day/night.

:ok:

[chevvron]

Niknak you're talking rubbish! Ident beacons whether civil or miltary ONLY flash a 2-letter morse ident which in many cases bears no relationship to the 4-letter ICAO code OR the 3-letter IATA code OR the iap facility code!
However, the ident beacon will flash the same letters as the two in the airfield signals square.

[frostbite]

Thanks for some interesting replies chaps.

The information from Barnaby prompted me to spend several minutes last night looking for a beacon, but nothing seen. I'm roughly NW of the field at around 2 miles, so thought it should be visible.

[spekesoftly]

flash a 2-letter morse ident I can recall showing a group of civilian visitors around ATC at RAF Linton-On-Ouse one evening in the mid seventies. Explaining the purpose of the red "Pundit", I mentioned how it flashed LO, LO, LO.

One lady in the group was heard to comment "Oh how friendly!"

[Barnaby the Bear]

frostbite, the beacon is below the tree line, so from the North/Northwest on the ground it would be difficult to see. From the air it is very visible. :ok:
On Hazy/misty evenings you can see the glow from the rotating beacon.

Owl Light on Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/21428529@N00/3147991579/)

[niknak]

Niknak you're talking rubbish!

OK, I'll bite.
at all the UK civil airfields I've worked at (four) all the ident beacons flashed the 3 letter ident code for the ILS or NDB or VOR.
I didn't mention any four letter codes.

Now get out yer bath chair, it's time for a warm cup of Horlicks and bed for you, if you behave nurse will give you an extra spoonful of cod liver oil in the morning. :p

[Jan Olieslagers]

But you did mention
ICAO three letter code, i.e HUY.
which is incorrect. ICAO codes are four letters, i.e. EGNJ.

[2 sheds]

Niknak

No need to be rude. Could you, perchance, name just two of these alleged aerodromes with ILS codes on the ident beacon?

2 s

[FantomZorbin]

Waterdromes had Yellow station identification beacons (pundits) ... the last one I knew of was Lee on Solent.

collects anorak and exits stage left ... :rolleyes:

[Spitoon]

collects anorak....Don't you mean Sou'wester?

[oldandbald]

For what its worth my 1971 copy of Pooley's lists a large number of aerodromes with Aeronautical Light Beacons, picking some out we have

Southend White/Green ( no code )
Luton Green coding LT (behind the Tower if I remember)
London Heathrow Green coding LH
London Gatwick Green coding GW
Hatfield White / green ( no code )
Cambridge Green coding CI

[chevvron]

Details of ABN/IBN for individual civil airfields are in Section AD 2.15 of each airfields AIP entry.
When Niknak mentions '3 letter ICAO codes' I believe he's getting confused between ICAO and IATA; IATA codes have 3 letters, ICAO codes have 4. He mentions 'HUY' which I believe (don't know much about IATA codes) is the IATA code for Humberside. Humberside is not listed as having either type of beacon.

[Little One]

IATA-Code: HUY
ICAO-Code: EGNJ
Location: Kingston upon Hull
Airport: Humberside
Country: United Kingdom

[Punditgreen]

Humberside had a beacon until 1998 when it became too expensive to keep serviceable. It was a "punditgreen" coded "HS".
Pundits nearly always had a bigraph code which corresponded to the i/d letters in the signals square. AFAIK they were never coded to the approach aid nor to the ICAO "last two", unless these corresponded to the signals square.

PG

[ZOOKER]

Yes, yes, yes,
- But why were they called 'pundits'?
Saw the Heathrow installation in '68. Allegedly visible from 30,000 over the English Channel.
EGNX had an aerodrome light beacon, flashing green ('Charlie Alpha'), between the original tower and the grass strip, (01/19).- about where the current ATC facility is sited.
EGCC had a green beacon in the '90s, which superseded an ABn on the hangars north-east of the tower.
EGBB had a green and white ABn, in the early 1970's.

[Level bust]

The Luton beacon was indeed behind the Control Tower. It was on the roof of a building on the approach road. I can't remember what the building originally was (before my time), but it ended up as something to do with Vauxhall.

The light went when the building was demolished in the early 70s, if I remember correctly.

[2 sheds]

But why were the called 'pundits'

Wasn't it the commercial name of the original ident beacons?

Pundits nearly always had a bigraph code

And there was I thinking that they just flashed two letters in Morse.

2 s