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Consultant to adjust airport beacon after neighbor complaints; baffles and angle changes planned
Summary
Robert Pesha & Associates reported work to adjust the airport beacon and PAPI following complaints about brightness and glare; technicians will test settings at dusk and may add physical baffles.
Lance of Robert Pesha & Associates updated the Broadwater County Airport Board on construction tasks at the airport, including an as-built aerial survey, a ground survey, PAPI checks and adjustments to the new LED beacon after several neighbor complaints.
Lance said crews will perform an as-built flight and ground-based survey within about three weeks and will continue construction analysis through the winter for FAA submission. On the beacon, he described factory default aiming and manual adjustments. "Those beacons come, we level them, and then they're adjusted upward at 2 degrees... it does adjust upwards up to 10 degrees," Lance said, adding that increasing the aim angle reduces visibility distance because the beam becomes more restrictive.
Technicians planned to return at dusk to dial the beacon from the factory setting and perform drive-by checks to evaluate glare in surrounding neighborhoods; if that does not resolve complaints, Lance said crews could install metal baffles around the lamp to block lower-angle light spill. He also noted a separate dusk-to-dawn control malfunction that had allowed the beacon to operate 24 hours a day; crews planned to correct that function that evening.
Why it matters: Residents raised multiple complaints about glare from the new LED beacon. Board members asked about previous similar cases; Lance cited a comparable situation in Stanford that required physical baffles and manual adjustment.
Board direction: technicians would attempt incremental adjustments at dusk, drive the neighborhood to evaluate visibility and install baffles if necessary. The board did not take formal action; Lance committed to further field checks and FAA coordination for the overall site work.
Context: Lance compared beacon aiming to PAPI settings and noted that flight checks sometimes require corrections even when instruments show the same aim settings on paper. He emphasized a careful balance between reducing glare and maintaining visibility for pilots.
