McConnell water towers gets re-lamped

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Krystal Jimenez
  • 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  The water tower on the east side of base parallel to Rock Road underwent construction, Tuesday Feb. 3 at 9:00 a.m.

The military airport rotating beacon was nearing the end of its service life and was in need of a replacement before it failed.

"The airfield beacon is an essential part of the airfield approach lighting system," said Albert Seemayer, 22nd Civil Engineer Squadron construction project manager. "It is often the first airfield light a pilot can see when flying nighttime operations, and can be seen from a distance of 40-60 nautical miles, at altitude, under clear conditions and even further in ideal conditions."

A Robinson R44 helicopter crane from Wichita based company, was used to replace the beacon that rests on top of the base water tower.

"The rotating beacon has had some major repairs done to it and is at a point where it needs to be replaced," said 1st Lt. Hollis Troxel, 22nd Operations Support Squadron airfield operations flight commander.

"McConnell's airfield beacon rotates at six revolutions per minute while flashing two white lights and one green light," said Seemayer "This unique strobe color sequence helps pilots differentiate between a military and a civilian airfield, which flashes one white and one green light."

According to the FAA typical service life of a military rotating beacon is over 20,000 hours or four-five years.