Retroreflective Markers Only)
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DOT/FAA/CT-83/5 DOT/FAA/RD-82/91 Identification of Exit Taxiways (Retroreflective Markers Only) Larry W. Hackler Prepared By FAA Technical Center Atlantic City Airport, N.J. 08405 April1983 Final Report This document is available to the U.S. public through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia 22161. US. Department of Transportation Federal Avkltion Administration Systems Research & Development Service Washington, D.C. 20590 NOTICE This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for the contents or use thereof. The United States Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturer's names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of this report. T •chnlcal ICepOft Oocu1Hntati011 Pat• 1. Report No. 2. Go¥ernlllettl Acceaaion No. 3. Recipient' 1 Cotalog No. DOT/FAA/CT-83/5 4. Title ontl Subtitle 5. Report l)ate April 1983 IDENTIFICATION OF EXIT TAXIWAYS (RETROREFLECTIVE 6. Petfo,...lng Organiaotion Code MARKERS ONLY) t-:;~:--:---;-;--------------------------1 8. Petfor•int Organiaotlon Report No. 7. Authorl •l Larry W. Hackler DOT/FAA/CT-83/5 9. Performing Orgoniaotlon N-• ontl Atltlron 10. Worlc Unit No. (TRAIS) Federal Aviation Administration Technical Center 11. Controct or Grant No. Atlantic City Airport, New Jersey 08405 081-502-540 13. Typo of Report ond Period Co.,orotl ~~~-------------~~------------------------112. S,on1orlng Agency N-• anti Atltlron U.S. Department of Transportation Final Federal Aviation Administration March 1981 - October 1982 Systems Research and Development Service 14, Sponaoring Agency Code Washington, D.C. 20590 16. Abatroct The purpose of the exit taxiway lighting is to enable the pilot to expeditiously exit from the runway to a taxiway~ There is evidence that this has not been satisfactorily accomplished by the present lighting for short-radius exit taxiways. This report evaluated the use of surface retroreflective markers for identifying short-radius exit taxiways at night. The markers are intended for locations where the cost of inset centerline lighting cannot be justified. The results indicate that there was an improvement in the pilots ability to identify the exit taxiway associated with the exit-taxiway retroreflectors. The results also show that the retroreflectors should be placed on an arc from near the runway centerline to the taxiway centerline using a cord spacing of 12.5 feet (4 meters). 17. KoyWorda 18. Dlatrillution Stat-ont ~rport Lighting Aids Document is available to the U.S. public Taxiway Guidance throught the National Technical Information Exit Taxiway Lighting and Marking Service, Springfield, Virginia 22161 Visual Aids for Airports Retroreflectors 19. Security Clauil. (of thia r.-rt) a. Security Ciani f. (of thi I Pat•> 21· No. of Pot•• 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 13 Form DOT F 1700.7 Cl-72) Reprothlctlon of co•plotecl Pot• outhorlzecl METRIC CONVERSION FACTORS Approximate Conversions to Metric Measures "' _ ::l Approximate Conversions from Metric Measures :: Symbel When Yea bow Maltiply lly To fi•ll S,_.ol SyiRIIol Wile• You Know Multiply by Ta finll Symllal =-=-------- ----=- ~ .. LENGTH .. ~ LENGTH - mm millimeters 0.04 inches in ~ em centimeters 0.4 inches in - m meters 3.3 feet It in inches •2.5 centimeters em - 00 m meters 1.1 yards yd ft feet 30 centimeters em ...,. - km kilometers 0.6 miles mi yd yards 0,9 meters m =-=---- mi miles 1.6 kilometers km = !:: AREA AREA ~ 2 en -- err?- square centimeters 0.16 square inches in 2 2 in square inches 6.5 IQUIIre centimeters cn1l ~ m square meters 1.2 square yards yct2 2 2 tt square feet 0.09 oquare meters m - 1un2 square ki10118ters 0.4 square miles mi2 ~ square yards 0.8 square meters • ~ .., ha hect•es (10,000 m2) 2.6 acres mi2 square miles 2.6 square kilometers ~ _ - acres 0.4 hectares ha _ .., "' §--- - MASS (weight) MASS (weight) - .. - g grams 0.035 ounces oz oz ounces 28 grams g -=----= kg kilograms 2.2 pounds lb lb pounds 0.45 kilograms kg ;:: t tonnes kg) 1.1 short tons 11000 short tons 0.9 tomes t -- (2000 lb) • =----,.0 VOLUME -- VOLUME = ... tsp teaspoons 5 milliliters ml ~ ml milliliters 0.03 fluid ounces II oz 00 Tbsp tablespoons 15 milliliteA ml - I l~ters 2.1 pon~s ~ fl oz fluid ounces 30 milliliters ml w _ I hters 1.06 qua q c cups 0.24 liters 1 ,_ 1 litars 0.26 gall.ons ~I pt pints 0.47 liters 1 m3 cubic meters 35 feet ft cub~e 3 qt qtlarts 0.95 liters 1 _ - m3 cubic meters 1.3 cubtc yards yd gal gallons 3.8 liters I 3 3 tt 3 cubic feet 0.03 cubic meters m -- .., TEMPERATURE (lliiCt) yd cub1c yards 0.76 cubtc ""'ters m3 w TEMPERATURE (uact) .. •c celsius 915 (then Fahrenheit "F _ temperature add 32) temperature °F Fahrenheit 5/9 (after Celsius •c _ .., temperature subtracting tan..,erature _ _ °F 32) °F 32 98.6 212 - ... -401 • • • • • I I I I I I I I I ' ~ ·14~ e~ ~ ~~o ~~o I~) t II I I I I · -· · - I I •1 in : 2.54 !exactly). FOf other exact converstons and more detaded tables. see NBS Mtsc. Publ. 286. ~ ~ 1 20 40 60 80 lOll~ Untts of Weights and Measures. Pnce S2.25. SO Catalog No. C13.10:286. : 20 0 ----= _ ~ -:~ - 37 oc TABLE OF CONTENTS Page EXECUTIVE SUMMARY v INTRODUCTION l Purpose l Background 1 EVALUATION 2 Technical Center Test 2 Bader Field Test 2 RESULTS 5 Technical Center Test 5 Bader Field Test 5 CONCLUSIONS 8 Technical Center Test 8 Bader Field Test 8 REFERENCES 11 APPENDICES A - NAFEC Technical Letter Report B - Questionnaire for the Evaluation of Retroreflective Runway Markers at the Technical Center C - Interview Questionnaire for the Evaluation of Exit Taxiway Identification at Bader Field D - Questionnaire for the Evaluation of Retroreflective Exit Taxiway Markers at Bader Field E - Statistical Methods iii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1 Retroreflector Configuration at Atlantic City Airport, (ACY); 3 Atlantic City, New Jersey 2 Retroreflector Configuration at Atlantic City/Municipal/ 4 Bader Field (AIY), Atlantic City, New Jersey 3 Layout of Exit Taxiway Retroreflectors With Centerline 9 Retroreflectors on Same Side as Exit Taxiway 4 Layout of Exit Taxiway Retroreflectors With Centerline 10 Retroreflectors on Opposite Side from Exit Taxiway LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Pilot Responses to Questionnaires (Technical Center) 5 2 Results from Interviews 6 3 Statistical Results from Comparison of Interviews 6 4 Pilot Responses to Questionnaires (Bader Field) 7 iv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Exit taxiway lighting and marking should enable the pilot to expeditiously exit from the runway to a taxiway. The present lighting for short-radius exit taxiways does not provide this guidance at night. Systems Research and Development Service requested the Technical Center to evaluate a system of surface retroreflective markers to provide this guidance for identifying short-radius exit taxiways at night. Project personnel evaluated the system at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Technical Center's Atlantic City Airport (ACY) by obtaining FAA, general aviation, commuter, and air carrier pilot opl.nl.ons. Project personnel then revised the system, using these opinions, and installed the revised system for an inservice test at Bader Field in Atlantic City, NJ (AIY). The inservice test used questionnaires and interviews to determine the usefulness of the system. The questionnaire results indicated that 91 percent of the pilots responding were helped by the exit taxiway retroreflectors. The interview results indicated a statistically significant increase in the pilot's ability to identify the exit taxiways. Also, the evaluation team observed a more orderly flow of traffic after the installation of the retroreflective markers. The inservice test indicated that the system of surface retroreflective markers should: 1. Be placed in an arc from the runway centerline to the taxiway centerline. 2. Have the retroreflectors spaced 12.5 feet (4 meters) apart. 3. Have the retroref lectors oriented with the reflective face toward the approach to the exit. 4. Have a color pattern of green-green-yellow. In conclusion, retroreflective markers improve the pilots ability to locate, identify, and use the short-radius exit taxiways. v INTRODUCTION PURPOSE. The work described in this report was performed in response to a request by the Office of Flight Operations (AF0-1), "AFS 9550-1, Request No. 200-79-10 as amended on October 13, 1980." It was accomplished under Technical Program Document No. 08-493, Subprogram 081-502, Project 540, "Identification of Exit Taxiways (Retro reflective Markers Only)." The purpose of this project was to perform an evaluation of surface retroreflective markers for identifying short-radius exit taxiways ("low-speed" exits). The markers are for use at night at airports where the cost of centerline taxiway lighting cannot be justified. A preliminary evaluation of this concept was pre viously completed at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Technical Center and described in a February 1980 Letter Report (appendix A). Described in this report are the results of further investigations; an extensive evaluation conducted at the FAA Technical Center's Atlantic City Airport (ACY) Atlantic City, N.J.; and a 3-month inservice test conducted at Atlantic City Municipal/Bader Field (AIY); Atlantic City, N.J. BACKGROUND. The primary purpose of taxiway lighting and marking is to provide guidance between the runway and the apron. An earlier study (reference 1) states that a critical part of this function is to enable the pilot to expeditiously exit from the runway to a taxiway. There is much evidence that this has not been satisfactorily accom plished by the present lighting for short-radius exit taxiways.