Simviation Forums

I was asked a question the other day and I had no answer to it and now I am rather curious as to the answer.
The question was: Runway approach lights have a central light that "runs" towards the runway. I am talking about the strobe(s) light(s) that are in the last 100 meters or so of lighting. What is the speed of the strobe effect. Or to put it in a simple form, if you could drive your car down the length of travel of these landing lamps, what speed would you have to travel at to get the light to effectively sit at your shoulder, thus giving you a speed read out of the switching on/off of each lamp.

Matt

...let's give it a try Matt...!

You in your Volkswagen 1500 Beetle, and me on my Honda Fireblade Super-bike.

See who can keep up with the strobe lights, and register the speed......!

Another first for "Top Gear"... ...!

F....Red....Amber...Green....Go!.... 8-)...!

That's an interesting question. I wonder if it's a specific speed, or just kinda random... My first instinct is that it's not the same at every runway. If I ever find out, I'll be back with the answer  8-)

...let's give it a try Matt...!

You in your Volkswagen 1500 Beetle, and me on my Honda Fireblade Super-bike.

See who can keep up with the strobe lights, and register the speed......!

Another first for "Top Gear"... ...!

F....Red....Amber...Green....Go!.... 8-)...!

Whilst I have no doubt that your Fireblade will beat me at the lights, I would like to point out that I am a bit quicker than a 1500 Beetle

Matt




                                             

Nothing can compare the speed of light between the last mouthful of Patak's Chicken Madras Curry, and the nearest Toilet facility.... ...!

The speed of flashing Runway ILS lights fades into insignificance

...trust me... ...!

F.......!

Nothing can compare the speed of light between the last mouthful of Patak's Chicken Madras Curry, and the nearest Toilet facility.... ...!

The speed of flashing Runway ILS lights fades into insignificance

...trust me... ...!

F.......!

Somewhat off topic, but a nothing can beat three or four pints of Weissen Bier and a Gyros Tellar (a sort of Kebab, but on a plate) for a good clear out.

Matt


PS I would still like to know about the lights.

Well... by guestimating...

If the strip of strobe lights is 150m long, from what I have seen FS it takes roughly 1-2 seconds for the light sequence to repeat (Well it looks pretty quick but i'll use 1 for simplicity). So effectively the light is 'traveling' 150 m/sec or 9000 m/min or 540,000 m/hour. Converted into Km/h is 540 Km/h, which is roughly 330 Mph....

So sadly a Volkswagen 1500 Beetle nor Mr F's Honda Fireblade would quite be able to keep up with the lights in this example....

But who knows... each airport could have a different timing....  ::)

Well... by guestimating...

If the strip of strobe lights is 150m long, from what I have seen FS it takes roughly 1-2 seconds for the light sequence to repeat (Well it looks pretty quick but i'll use 1 for simplicity). So effectively the light is 'traveling' 150 m/sec or 9000 m/min or 540,000 m/hour. Converted into Km/h is 540 Km/h, which is roughly 330 Mph....

So sadly a Volkswagen 1500 Beetle nor Mr F's Honda Fireblade would quite be able to keep up with the lights in this example....

But who knows... each airport could have a different timing....  ::)

Thanks for that. I will be in the jump seat of 737-700 tomorrow and a return in a 800 on Sunday 8-), maybe the big man knows the answer.

Matt

I dug through all my "Running Airport for Dummies" information I have in my office with no luck.  Monday I will ask the FAA Airways guy next door.  He maintains the approach lighting.

[quote]I dug through all my "Running Airport for Dummies" information I have in my office with no luck.

Ok, the verdict is in.  ;D  The lights move at 400 feet per second.  And that is the FAA standard for all airports.

[quote]Ok, the verdict is in.

Excellent job Davy. I had my doubts that we could get an answer to this one.
So Fozzer, looks like you would have to strap yourself to a Top Fuels dragster to keep up with it. The Fireblade just won't cut this one

Many thanks.

Matt