CURRENT STATE AND PROSPECTS OF IMPROVING THE LIGHTING EQUIPMENT OF AIRCRAFTS

Abstract

The development of aviation technology is directly related to technological progress. Taking this into account, the question of switching to modern light sources on aircraft arises. Lighting equipment plays an important role in ensuring the operation of aircraft and flight safety, especially at night. Among the elements of aircraft’s electrical equipment, lighting equipment represents a fairly large electrical load (5.20 % of the total power of consumers).Today, incandescent lamps are most often used in aircraft lighting systems, in which an incandescent thread (a refractory conductor, a spiral made of tungsten alloy), located in a glass vessel with a vacuum or filled with an inert gas, is heated to a high temperature (luminosity temperature) due to the flow of electric current through this thread.
 Recently, reliable and energy-efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) light sources have been widely implemented in lighting systems for various purposes. Light diodes have now become light sources that are produced on an industrial scale for a variety of needs. LEDs are one of the key devices in today’s technological society. Unlike many other light sources, LEDs can convert electrical energy into light with an efficiency close to unity. It is expected that the role of LEDs will only grow and in the future they will become the main source of light.
 Consequently, the light sources currently used on aircraft of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are outdated and do not correspond to the level of accumulated scientific and technical potential. Therefore, research aimed at introducing LED light technologies to the lighting equipment of aircraft is relevant.
 The article considers the typical structure and main characteristics of aircraft’s lighting equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The stages of development of aircraft lighting equipment, the main types of existing lighting sources and their features are considered. It is noted that the development of lighting technology and the successful introduction of LEDs into lighting technology for various purposes allow us to consider the possibility of using them as the main light source on aircraft in order to improve operational characteristics. The relevance of conducting research aimed at improving the lighting equipment of aircraft is substantiated.