SafetyCape - An FAA Approved Superhero Garment

A danger to other aircraft?!?!

Sure, flying superheroes are awesome.  But we rarely consider the implications of their becoming another object in the already overcrowded air traffic patterns over major cities.  The FAA’s Air Traffic Control System (ATC) works around the clock to ensure a safe and easy journey for thousands of flights a day, and pilots of all aircraft types must conform to specific air traffic patterns and airspace restrictions to maintain a safe and efficient sky for all. Unfortunately, not all aircraft are subject to ATC…and flying superheroes especially so. Aircraft flying in uncontrolled airspace, which is the majority of airspace over North America, must instead employ a number of safety features to prevent collisions with other aircraft in midair.  Aircraft must be easily seen by other pilots to provide ample time to perform evasive maneuvers.  Why is this not the case for superheroes?

The SafetyCape is designed to provide a flying superhero with the peace-of-mind that he or she will not be endangering the lives of airline passengers and private pilots with whom they must share the sky.  The SafetyCape consists of a series of FAA approved running lights along the perimeter of the cape that help the average flying superhero conform to Federal Aviation Regulation Part 23 Sec. 23.1401 “Anticollision lighting system”:

Anticollision light system. [(a) General. The airplane must have an anticollision light system that—] (1) Consists of one or more approved anticollision lights located so that their light will not impair the flight crewmembers’ vision or detract from the conspicuity of the position lights; and (2) Meets the requirements of paragraphs (b) through (f) of this section. (b) Field of coverage. The system must consist of enough lights to illuminate the vital areas around the airplane, considering the physical configuration and flight characteristics of the airplane. The field of coverage must extend in each direction within at least 75° above and 75° below the horizontal plane of the airplane, except that there may be solid angles of obstructed visibility totaling not more than 0.5 steradians. (c) Flashing characteristics. The arrangement of the system, that is, the number of light sources, beam width, speed of rotation, and other characteristics, must give an effective flash frequency of not less than 40, nor more than 100, cycles per minute. The effective flash frequency is the frequency at which the airplane’s complete anticollision light system is observed from a distance, and applies to each sector of light including any overlaps that exist when the system consists of more than one light source. In overlaps, flash frequencies may exceed 100, but not 180, cycles per minute. (d) Color. Each anticollision light must be either aviation red or aviation white and must meet the applicable requirements of Sec. 23.1397. (e) Light intensity. The minimum light intensities in any vertical plane, measured with the red filter (if used) and expressed in terms of “effective” intensities, must meet the requirements of paragraph (f) of this section. The following relation must be assumed: Ie=; where: Ie = effective intensity (candles). I(t) = instantaneous intensity as a function of time. t2-t1 = flash time interval (seconds). Normally, the maximum value of effective intensity is obtained when t2 and t1 are chosen so that the effective intensity is equal to the instantaneous intensity at t2 and t1. (f) Minimum effective intensities for anticollision lights. Each anticollision light effective intensity must equal or exceed the applicable values in the following table.

In addition to increasing the safety for passengers and pilots, the SafetyCape can also ease the minds of superheroes by preventing accidental jet engine ingestion.  Let us not forget the demise of poor Syndrome. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2mdFnO1uBI)

Due to the obvious demand the SafetyCape will create, technical drawings will not be posted to the Internet until they have been unveiled at a private briefing.