External illumination system for helicopters - uses optical blocks on rotor blade tips to reflect and refract light from source at blade root

摘要

An external illumination system for a helicopter during night flying uses a lamp (1), mounted near the blade root. The lamp (1) is supplied with current through a flexible cable (5) from the aircraft generator. The lamp (1) projects a beam of light onto an optical block (2) mounted near the blade tip. The optical block reflects light towards the fuselage so that it is visible to the pilot. It also refracts the light outwards so that it is visible to pilots of other aircraft flying in formation. The reflected light also illuminates fluorescent areas (3) on the blade surface.