Heliport Identification Beacon.

Abstract : The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has proposed the adoption of a standard international heliport beacon. This beacon consists of a white strobe light coded to display a sequence of four flashes that signify the Morse code letter 'H'. For evaluation purposes, the proposed strobe beacon was compared to the United States standard three-color rotating beacon. Pilots completed post-flight questionnaires after viewing both beacons. Without any clear-cut choice U to which beacon was the best, pilot responses indicated that both beacons provide adequate guidance in locating a heliport. From these results, we conclude that there does not appear to be reasonable cause for opposing adoption of the proposed strobe beacon as an ICAO standard. Furthermore, there does not appear to be any compelling reason to change the present United States standard for heliport identification beacons at this time.