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US 7,023,361 B1Granted
Covert runway lighting apparatus and method
OwnerRoger S. Wallace, Renae L. Wallaceinventors
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OwnerRoger S. Wallace, Renae L. Wallaceinventors
Estimating the term…
A runway lighting fixture of the type normally permanently installed at an aircraft installation such as an airport to provide visible light signals to an aircraft, the fixture having an internal, non-visible light source such as an infrared lamp capable of being activated to provide a non-visible light signal to an aircraft specially equipped to see such non-visible signals. An airport normally having arrays of permanent visibly-lighted fixtures can be equipped for long-term or permanent covert operations capability by installing covert, non-visibly-lighted fixtures in place of visibly-lighted fixtures. In a preferred form the covert fixtures are capable of being both visibly and non-visibly lighted to allow normal appearing non-covert operations at the airport, and unobtrusive covert operations whenever needed.
In a permanently installed runway lighting fixture at an aircraft landing installation comprising a permanently installed array of visible-lighting fixtures comprising visible light sources electrically interconnected to said control means remote from said fixtures and normally used to provide non-covert visible lighting to non-covert air traffic, the improvement comprising:
A method for covertly lighting an aircraft installation having a plurality of permanently installed, non-covert runway lighting fixtures electrically interconnected to control means remote from said fixtures and producing visible, non-covert light signals to guide aircraft, comprising the following steps:
A covert runway lighting fixture for permanent installation at an aircraft landing installation having visible runway lighting fixtures electrically interconnected to control means remote from said fixtures, comprising a non-visible light source in the fixture adapted to be electrically interconnected to said visible runway lighting fixtures and said control means and a fixture housing externally similar to a visible runway lighting fixture housing lighting said non-visible light source being selectively activated by said control means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.