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It's a big red light placed near the runway where a pilot can see it. The control tower can turn it off and on. When it's on, takeoff has not been cleared. When it's off takeoff MAY have been cleared, so they need the usual radio clearance.
Baby Elephany walk -- Henry Mancini
https://www.youtube...watch?v=b1z4JfxFb6c
[Voice, Jan 27 2021]
[link]
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Why not a gate, like at a level crossing, but scaled up to
aeroplane size? |
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Well I suppose once you have taken off the switch, then the light is not going to work, so you may as well take it off as well. Then you can use a single plate (or bit of parcel tape) to cover both mounting holes. |
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Why not use the very same traffic signal light fixtures we use out on
the roadways? Everybody is already familiar with them, even the
pilots (one would hope). Don't the Brits also have an audible chime
that goes clang! when the lights change? |
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No, it's a man in tudor robes and a wig ringing a handbell |
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Runway traffic signal lights could be mounted on tall poles, bringing
them up to the eye level of the pilots of those really big planes. Of
course, when the plane moved forward the wing would catch the pole
and knock it over thus creating the necessary job of Air Traffic Takeoff
Clearance Light Pole Restander Upper. |
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Any increase in visual clutter around the runway threshold is not a good thing. |
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However, with the development of high-intensity LED lighting, which allows lamps to change their emitted colour as required, there is scope for changing the centreline lights between white (runway available) and red (runway in use) on command from the tower. |
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That would require agreement by the ICAO but it's probably being discussed already ... they have standing committees on all sorts of stuff like that. |
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// Air Traffic Takeoff Clearance Light Pole Restander Upper. // |
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On flattops, various bits of hardware hinge or drop down flush with the deck during operations. Doing the same with a set of traffic lights would be practical, but the mechanism would have to be very, very reliable. Existing light gantries, and antenna supports, that are positioned close to runways are specified as being frangible, so if they are hit, they just shatter, doing minimal damage - but it doesn't take much to damage the leading edge of a wing traveling at 150 kts*. |
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Interestingly, some early traffic lights were gas-lit. |
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*<Pause for reverie while contemplating the idea of piloting a plane capable of 150kts in anything less than a steep dive/> |
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<Further pause for reverie while contemplating the idea of flying in or out of an airfield that actually has runway lights, or indeed any facilities other than "a nasty little hut full of dead flies"./> |
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//That would require agreement by the ICAO// -
interestingly, in a previous job, I did actually get ICAO to
agree to something I wrote |
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[hippo]: "Dear ICAO, I suspect I am an idiot. Is this correct ?" |
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[ICAO]: "Yes, we have checked our records and can confirm that you are an idiot." |
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<cough!> //something I wrote// |
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"The lady doth protest too much, methinks ..." |
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//[-] WKTE. Takeoff Hold Lights (part of runway status light system, linked) work pretty much as Voice described.// |
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No. The important part is they're controlled by the control tower. Thus automated systems, which may not be trusted, need not be relied upon. |
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<Bitter resentful rant about high landing fees, hangarage charges, limited landing slots, preferential treatment for 100-tonne passenger aircraft, and the vicissitudes of having to negotiate an "elephant walk" both in the air and on the ground, leading to unreasonable demands for unattainable approach speeds and subsequent laundry bills /> |
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A comparison of dictionary definitions and similies, plus consultation of a thesaurus, suggests that the precise term is "Aluminium alloy piggy bank" |
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It fulfills all the criteria, in that it just sits there while the owner stuffs money into it on a regular basis, said money being thereafter permanently inaccessible - unless the thing is broken up into component parts. |
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I just wish we could fly somewhere. (Apply this comment to
all other ideas about flying and planes till we can do that
again in the future) |
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This might be a good visual indicator for individual
commercial air passengers. Instead of conventional
time and gate information, this would be a colored
lantern issued to passengers upon check-in. The
light starts out red and gradually shifts toward green
as the passenger's departure time grows closer
and/or if the passenger is becoming closer to their
departure terminal, eventually becoming fully green
when the passenger walks through the departure
gate at the specified time. Passengers would locate
their terminal by using a hot/cold search approach,
walking in a direction and watching the color of their
light. (For colorblind customers, a faint humming
noisemaker would perform the same function
instead.) If the light turns blue, this means that the
passenger has missed their flight and needs to
rebook and receive a new lantern. |
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