Next time you fly, think about the lights

Exel Composites blog by Pertti Kainu

If you have flown recently, you may have had the opportunity to watch your take-off and landing from an entertainment system at your seat. It’s always an exciting experience, especially at night, to watch the aircraft line up with the lights of the runway. Those lights are designed to be seen from quite a distance out; and yet we probably don’t think too much about how hard each of those lights needs to work.

Those lights are part of the airport’s approach lighting system. Composed of hundreds of lights which are carefully positioned, each light or array of lights is held in place with a mast or pole.

Because they are in the path of the aircraft they also need to break apart easily; they must meet specific frangibility requirements and yet be lighweighted. Essentially, if for some reason an aircraft contacts one of the lighting masts, the mast needs to break apart in such a manner that it does not interfere with the performance of the aircraft.

This puts a lot of focus on the design and material selection of the masts. Not only must they meet the safety requirements, they also need to ensure a long service life with minimal maintenance costs. On top of that, they need to withstand the repeated and continual jet blasts and high wind speeds, as well as a full spectrum of weather conditions, from cold winters to long hours of UV in the desert sun and sand storms.

Material choice makes a difference

Today, the most common materials you will find used in approach lighting masts are fiberglass and aluminum. Each material provides different mast design options, and the airport lighting designer and installer will choose according to needs.

Alternatively, using fiberglass allows for a fully-frangible mast, without the need to engineer in breakaway zones as with aluminum masts. This is an area where we at Exel Composites have developed quite a lot of experience and expertise since year 1988.

Using a fully frangible fiberglass mast system for approach lighting greatly simplifies the mast design. This is important when you consider the number of masts deployed at both ends of every runway.

Fiberglass with PU painting has also proven itself to be a very durable and weather resistant material. Because the actual color of the mast can be integrated into the composite itself, the masts will retain their safety color throughout their operational life.

Fiberglass is also very resistant to UV, and with a high ultimate tensile strength, provides the stiffness and resistance to strong winds and repeated jet blasts. Unlike metals, fiberglass is also transparent to radio frequencies (RF), another safety consideration for airports.

Many considerations

Air traffic is estimated to continue to increase, and the need for cost efficient approach lighting will continue to grow. With experience in more than 600 airport installations around the world, we understand the many complexities and considerations when designing approach lighting systems. No two airports are the same design; yet the needs are similar. Long life, low cost, reliable service.

That is why we recommend using a simple, fully-frangible fiberglass mast solution. If you are considering a new or upgrade approach lighting project, send an email or give me a call to discuss. We are positioned to serve our customers globally, and have the engineering, design, and manufacturing capacity to deliver, no matter where the airport is located.


 

Pertti Kainu
Product Business Owner
Mobile +358 50 573 4979
pertti.kainu@exelcomposites.com

Exel Composites in brief

Exel Composites is the world’s leading composite technology company that engineers and manufactures composite products and solutions to an extensive range of demanding industrial applications. 

The core of the business is based on the employees’ high level of expertise and own, internally developed composite technologies, which have been perfected over decades with a steady focus on innovation. With nine manufacturing plants across Europe, Asia, and North America, and a global sales network, Exel Composites is firmly driven by superior customer experience and world-class operations.

Headquartered in Finland, Exel Composites employs approximately 650 people globally. The company’s shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki exchange.

www.exelcomposites.com