Performance Assessment of the Vestas InteliLight™ System as an Aircraft Detection Lighting System

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airport Technology Research and Development Branch (ATR) personnel conducted a performance assessment of the Vestas InteliLight™ System. The purpose of this assessment was to determine if the Vestas InteliLight system meets the aircraft detection lighting system (ADLS) requirements specified in Chapter 14 of FAA Advisory Circular (AC) 70/7460-1L, “Obstruction Marking and Lighting.”

FAA ATR personnel assessed the Vestas InteliLight system at the Braderup Wind Park, located near Braderup, Germany. This performance assessment, consisting of demonstrations, flight testing, and data analysis was conducted on September 20, 2016. In this performance assessment, a series of flight patterns were flown against the Vestas InteliLight system to demonstrate whether it could meet the FAA performance requirements specified in AC 70/7460-1L. The Vestas InteliLight system performed according to the manufacturer’s specifications and met the performance requirements identified in AC 70/7460-1L.

At the time of the performance assessment, the Vestas InteliLight system was not approved for operation in the United States. It was approved for use in Europe, but approval was not received from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and FAA Spectrum Office until January 11, 2017. The Vestas InteliLight system will be installed at a wind park near Hancock, Maine by October 2017. Following installation, FAA ATR personnel will conduct a performance assessment of the Vestas InteliLight system installed in Hancock. At the conclusion of this performance assessment, a description of the system installation, results, and conclusions will be reported.