Photoluminescent Floor Path Lighting
 

Anybody using this stuff?

We're installing it on some of our aircraft but I'm a bit worried about the legality of boarding passengers in the morning without it being fully functional.

For those who don't know what it is just think of radium dial watches -glows in the dark after light exposure. The typical battery powered floor path emer exit lights are replaced by these glow in the dark strips, totally autonomous from aircraft power.

The specs says the light strips need to be charged for 15 minutes under full bright cabin lighting, with bin doors closed and no passengers on board. Operationally, on a 6:00 am departure, using a bird thats been dark all night, that requirement isn't exactly convenient, particularly if we have a last minute substitution. The manufacturer doesn't provide specs for a lesser charging period so cabin crew need to be on the plane 15 minutes before the passengers board to turn the lights on.

I'm reluctant to shorten the 15 minute wait because I'd be faced with the issue of boarding pax without a fully functional emer lts sytem.

Any experiences to share?

Have it on our B737's. We have a requirement to have the cabin lights full bright 30 minutes prior to departure and full bright between flights. No FAA requirement prior to boarding.

Get some Informations here:
http://www.lufthansa-technik.com/gui...e/welcome.html

Our F100's have Safe-T-Glo floor marking systems. No moving parts, no clever electrical gismos - appears to work! If you get a late substitution then you get an additional 30 minutes "rest" with the FTL clock ticking.

PM

FTL clock?

I know I'll shame myself here but what is that?

I have a Luminox Stealth Fighter Pilots watch that uses micro gas lights for the illumination of the marking on the face. This material requires no daylight charging and will happily glow away for 25 years in a dark room. Would've thought something along these lines would be better.

Nice watches, but I think the application might be problematic when it comes to aircraft... The light comes from tritium gas-fiilled 'bulbs" which are nothing more than sealed borosilicate glass capsules which have been coated on the inside with phosphor before filling with the gas. The gas emits low-energy radiation which causes the phospor to glow. So, for the time being, it seems to me that we're talking about glass filled with pressurized gas--probably not the most robust material out of which to construct emergency floor lighting.

Radium is the stuff you need - glows forever. ;)