Surely you have noticed them on a road trip, taking a walk through the field or in the vicinity of an airport. They are spheres of an intense orange or red that hang from the highest cables of high voltage lines. They might seem an inscrutable electrical piece, but reality is much simpler.
They serve to save lives. Far from being an electrical component, these spheres have a simple function regulated by international aeronautical regulations. They have nothing to do with the management of electricity that circulates through the cables. His mission is to see.
Signaling beacons. The technical name of these balls is spherical visual signaling beacons or beacon spheres, for friends. Its objective is to signal the presence of electric laying on aircraft pilots that fly at low altitude: helicopters, light airplanes, fumigation planes or emergency services, hot air balloons …
In conditions of little visibility, with the light of dawn or sunset, or simply because of the thinness of the cables themselves, a high voltage line can become practically invisible against the bottom of the terrain or sky, which represents a risk of catastrophic collision. The spheres, with their bright colors and their considerable size, break the camouflage of the electric laying and alert the pilots of an obstacle that could be a deadly trap.
They regulate civil aviation. Its installation is mandatory in areas of special risk according to the civil aviation regulations of each country, which in turn usually follows the guidelines of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). That is why they are usually quite standardized.
They are in the vicinity of airports and helipuertos, crossing large valleys or rivers, in mountainous areas where aircraft can fly below the top and on large masses of water, such as lakes or reservoirs.
They are not small. Its diameter is usually a minimum of 60 cm, although they can reach 90. They are made of light but extremely resistant to ultraviolet rays, such as reinforced polyester with glass fiberglass or high density polyethylene. Its weight is around 5 to 7 kilograms.
The most common color is aviation orange, but white and red are also used, sometimes alternately, to maximize visibility in different light conditions and varied funds, such as a snowy field or a cloudy sky. The distance between spheres does not usually exceed 60 meters, although it can be reduced to 30 meters in critical areas such as the vicinity of a landing track.
Secondary function. Although its main purpose is air security, these spheres fulfill a second ecological function: the protection of the avifauna. Bird collisions against electrical lines are one of the main causes of unnatural mortality for many species, especially for large and fast flights such as craps, stork or raptors.
As for a pilot, for a bird in full migratory flight a thin cable is almost undetectable. Color beacons act as an element of visual deterrence that helps birds identify the obstacle and vary their course. In fact, in this field more specific devices have emerged already complementary, known as lifeguard or bird flight divers.
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