Harrier GR7/9 Beacons

[Andrew Perren]

Hi guys, quick question for the Harrier gurus.  Building a Hasegawa GR7/9 as ZD404 Lucy in Afghanistan.  The upper and lower anti-collision beacons ( triangle shaped ones) seem to have two distinct variants. Clear with a red bulb or green glass unknown bulb colour.  Can anyone share what  the difference is and why ? My ref pics show ZD404 fitted with clear so that is what I will go for but I'm still curious.

 

Cheers

Andrew P

[Troffa]

Anti-Collision beacons are traditionally (and probably legislatively) "White" for daylight, "Red" for Night. In my day we had a similar (if not the same) Anti-Col Beacon on the Tornado F3, and initially, the lense cover was swapped out dependant on day or night flying. Later on in it's service,  a modified light assembly was fitted that allowed the lamp to be either red or white at a flick of a cockpit switch.

That Bluey-green lense on some Harrier Anti-Col Beacons  looks suspiciously like one optimised for use with Night Vision Devices.  (i.e. NVG equipped crews can see you, bad guys can't.) 

 

 

 

[Dave Swindell]

Wot Troffa sez- green glass = NVG compatible

[Andrew Perren]

Thank you very much guys.  I'll keep it simple and match my refs for day ops.

[Harrierpilot]

The green coloured lensed lights flash white.... a bit like the old fasthioned flash bulbs for you camera.

 

The lights for the NVG's a small low voltage bulb which don't look like they are switched on to the naked eye

[Troffa]

Thanks Mr Harrier Pilot, so the green lense still shows white to the naked eye, but at a reduced intesity if viewed through NVG. And the IR light/ strobe is invisible to the naked eye but visible through NVG ?