VisualAids

The pilot needs visual aids while landing or taking off during all weathers and at every time. The pilot usually takes help of the
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view of the runway and other ground reference marks during landing operations. Runway threshold, runway edges and the runway centerline are amongst the most essential items which should be clearly visible to the pilot. In order to enhance day time visibility, runways, taxiways are marked with lines and numbers. In day time during poor weather conditions, or at night, the visibility reduces, so lighting is used in airports which should do what marking do in day time.

AirportMarking
Airport area is marked in simple manner so that the pilot can easily spot and recognize the various airport elements. The airport markings are divided into the following groups:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
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Runway Marking Taxiway Marking Runway and Taxiway shoulder Marking Apron Marking Wind Direction Indicator Landing Direction Indicator

RunwayMarking
The markings made on the runway are of the following:
I. II.

Runway threshold marking

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Runway touch down zone or landing zone marking edge strip marking centerline marking

III. Runway IV. Runway V.

Runway number which indicates the magnetic altitude of the runway measured clockwise from north to the nearest 100. thus the east end of an eastwest runway is marked with number 9 while the west end is marked 27.

RunwayMarking,Contd
vi.

If there are two or more number of parallel runways, they are marked as follows at the threshold:

forthreeparallelrunways:L,C,R forfourparallelrunways:L,LC,RC,R Runway threshold is indicated by a series of parallel lines starting from a distance of 6 m (20 ft) from runway end. Runway touch down area is indicated by series of strips marked parallel to the centerline of runway. The number of strips decreases gradually in the direction of landing.

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fortwoparallelrunways:L,R(i.e.leftandright)

FacultyofEngineering,TantaUniversity AirportEngineering,SecondTerm2010,2011

FacultyofEngineering,TantaUniversity AirportEngineering,SecondTerm2010,2011

Touchdownzone marking

LandingDirectionIndicator
This is in the form of a Tshape and is placed at the center of a segmented circle. The purpose of this is to indicate to the pilot
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the direction of active runway of the airport.

Airportlighting
During an aircraft landing operation, the pilot should have the following guidance :
1. 2. 3. 4.

Alignment guidance Height Information Distance Estimation Roll Guidance

The color and general pattern of lighting are standardized for all civil airports. The standardization of lights helps the pilot who is not familiar with a particular airport.

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AlignmentGuidance
The pilot must know if his aircraft is heading straight toward the runway. Most of the runways are 45 to 60 m (150 t0 200 ft) wide and have lengths varying from 900 to 3900 m (3000 to 13000 ft.). Therefore the runway appears like a narrow ribbon when first seen from a great distance. Airport marking and lighting which develop contrast of the pavement with its surroundings help the pilot in attaining the alignment information.
FacultyofEngineering,TantaUniversity AirportEngineering,SecondTerm2010,2011

HeightInformation
The pilot must know how much high the aeroplane is above the ground. A large percentage of accident, even during good visibility conditions, have been due to inadequate ground reference data which caused difficulty to the pilot in judging the height while landing. One purpose of providing lighting at the airport is to provide adequate ground reference data to the pilot
FacultyofEngineering,TantaUniversity AirportEngineering,SecondTerm2010,2011

DistanceEstimation
The pilot must know how far he is from the runway. In the day time, when the weather is clear, the pilot uses the markings on the runway and the surrounding terrain conditions as the side for distance estimation. In the night and during bad weather, the guidance obtained from terrain conditions is very poor. The visibility is enhanced by lighting the airfield.
FacultyofEngineering,TantaUniversity AirportEngineering,SecondTerm2010,2011

RollGuidance
The pilot must know if his aircraft is banked in relation to the ground surface. This is said to be as an aircraft roll or aircraft altitude. The roll is considered to be about the axis which coincides with the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. If such a condition is not corrected, the lower wing of the aircraft would strike the runway pavement. The view of the horizon, the natural ground terrain and the water surface, etc. provide sufficient guidance for the correct angle of roll.
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AirportLightingElements
The airport lighting can be divided into the following elements:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Rotating beacon Code beacon Boundary lighting Approach lighting Threshold lighting Runway lighting Taxiway lighting

8. 9. 10.

Apronandhangarlighting Lightingofwinddirectionindicator Lightingoflandingdirection indicator

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AirportRotatingBeacon

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Airportlighting

Taxiwaylighting