Skip to content
View in the app

A better way to browse. Learn more.

The AVSIM Community

A full-screen app on your home screen with push notifications, badges and more.

To install this app on iOS and iPadOS
  1. Tap the Share icon in Safari
  2. Scroll the menu and tap Add to Home Screen.
  3. Tap Add in the top-right corner.
To install this app on Android
  1. Tap the 3-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the browser.
  2. Tap Add to Home screen or Install app.
  3. Confirm by tapping Install.

Where are the Airport Beacons (at night)?

Featured Replies

Does anyone see the airport beacon at small airports at night?  I don't see any at all.

My Liveries | FAA ZMP | PPL ASEL |
| Windows 11 | MSI Z690 Tomahawk | 12700K 4.7GHz | MSI RTX 4080 | 64GB 6000 MHz DDR5 | 500GB Samsung 860 Evo SSD | 2x 2TB Samsung 970 Evo M.2 | EVGA 850W Gold | Corsair 5000X | HP G2 (VR) / LG 27" 1440p |

 

 

6 minutes ago, ryanbatcund said:

Does anyone see the airport beacon at small airports at night?  I don't see any at all.

Yes they do exist but distance from which you can see them is unrealistically short. In fact you see approach lights long before rotating beacon 

Life time flight sim enthusiast, current airplane owner 172P (past C182F). FAA CP/IR ASEL/AMEL, FI ASEL

My System: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D , MSI X870 GAMING PLUS, 64G RAM, ASUS RTX5090, 4T SSD

Put my hands on (pic/dual/given)

7GCAA, 8KCAB, BE24, BE76, BE35-C33, BE35, C150, C152, C172B/N/P/R/SP, 182F, M20E,M20C, M20J, AT6(SNJ4), PA28-140,PA28-151, PA28-161,PA28-181,PA28RT-201,PA28R-180/201T, PA24-250, PA32-300R, PA44, AC114, YAK-18T, YAK-52, SR22

 

I'll take a look at this tonight.  They used to be visible from really far away.

AMD 3950X | 64GB RAM | AMD 5700XT | CH Fighterstick / Pro Throttle / Pro Pedals

  • Author
15 minutes ago, marsman2020 said:

I'll take a look at this tonight.  They used to be visible from really far away.

Right...  which again, they must have over-corrected this hehe.  I know it all depends on the night sky, light pollution etc etc.  But I'd say 5-10 miles out is pretty realistic but most of my night flying is in rural areas.

My Liveries | FAA ZMP | PPL ASEL |
| Windows 11 | MSI Z690 Tomahawk | 12700K 4.7GHz | MSI RTX 4080 | 64GB 6000 MHz DDR5 | 500GB Samsung 860 Evo SSD | 2x 2TB Samsung 970 Evo M.2 | EVGA 850W Gold | Corsair 5000X | HP G2 (VR) / LG 27" 1440p |

 

 

This has been an issue for a while. I noticed that the beacon would trigger within about 7-10 miles inbound to an airport, but if you took off from an airport, the beacon would remain visible for a much greater distance. 
 

I did much of my time building for the commercial rating at night and could generally spot beacons 20+ miles out on clear nights.

I don’t do much night flying in the sim, but it would be great to have this fixed.

Chris

Used to see the beacons way too far away. Now it might be appearing too close to the airport. However, I kind of prefer they appear too close up than miles away. Finding airports at night are challenging sometimes when lost in the glow of surrounding city lights. It takes the challenge away when you see the beacons from miles away. Now if Asobo can do something similar for the runway approach lighting. 🙂

  • Author
20 minutes ago, gr8av8r said:

Used to see the beacons way too far away. Now it might be appearing too close to the airport. However, I kind of prefer they appear too close up than miles away. Finding airports at night are challenging sometimes when lost in the glow of surrounding city lights. It takes the challenge away when you see the beacons from miles away. Now if Asobo can do something similar for the runway approach lighting. 🙂

The night lighting is better overall...but the airport environment is all whacky.  You can see taxiway lights from miles away in the sim, and the runway, you can barely see even when almost on top of it.  I agree that when landing at small airports in a large city, it would be hard to find.  But in the country, further from light pollution, you would be able to see the runway a lot better than what it is now.  Also, you'll rarely see taxiway lights when approaching the field.  I have a love hate relationship with this sim.  

My Liveries | FAA ZMP | PPL ASEL |
| Windows 11 | MSI Z690 Tomahawk | 12700K 4.7GHz | MSI RTX 4080 | 64GB 6000 MHz DDR5 | 500GB Samsung 860 Evo SSD | 2x 2TB Samsung 970 Evo M.2 | EVGA 850W Gold | Corsair 5000X | HP G2 (VR) / LG 27" 1440p |

 

 

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Account

Navigation

Search

Search

Configure browser push notifications

Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.