Airport Markings, Signs & Lighting

Runway markings

Definition

Runway markings are white. The big number is the runway designator — the runway's magnetic heading rounded to the nearest ten degrees, with the last zero dropped (Runway 27 points about 270°). Down the runway you'll see the centerline, threshold markings at the landing end, a fixed aiming point, and touchdown-zone bars.

Explanation

Two special cases matter. A displaced threshold (a solid line across the runway with arrows leading up to it) means the pavement before it is usable for taxi and takeoff, but you must land beyond the displaced threshold. A blast pad or stopway is marked with yellow chevrons — it looks like runway but is not for taxiing, takeoff, or landing.

Figure coming soon image: airport_runway_markings

Why it matters

Reading the runway right — the number, the aiming point, a displaced threshold — is basic to lining up on the correct runway and touching down in the right place.

A DPE might ask

What does the runway number tell you?
What does a displaced threshold mean? What are the chevrons?

PHAK ch. 14 — Runway markings

Taxiway markings & the hold-short line

Definition

Taxiways are yellow — a continuous centerline you follow and edge markings that define the pavement. The single most important marking on the airport is the runway holding-position (hold-short) marking: two solid and two dashed yellow lines across the taxiway.

Explanation

You approach the hold-short marking from the solid-line side. You stop at the solid lines and do not cross onto the runway until you have a clearance (at a towered field) or you've confirmed the runway and approach are clear (at a non-towered field). Crossing from the dashed side means you're leaving the runway, and no hold-short applies.

Figure 14-26. Holding position marking on a taxiway. — Figure 14-26 · FAA-H-8083-25C, Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (p. 349)

Why it matters

The hold-short line is the boundary of a runway incursion. Knowing exactly where to stop — and not to cross it without a clearance — is a core ground-safety habit.

A DPE might ask

Describe the runway holding-position marking.
From which side do you stop, and when may you cross?

PHAK ch. 14 — Taxiway & holding-position markings

Airport signs

Definition

Airport signs come in six types, and the color tells you the job at a glance. The one to know cold is the mandatory sign — a red background with white text — which marks a runway hold-short or a no-entry area.

Explanation

Location signs (black background, yellow text) tell you where you are. Direction and destination signs (yellow background, black text and arrows) tell you where a taxiway leads. Information signs (also yellow) carry frequencies and advisories. And runway distance-remaining signs (black background, white number) count down the thousands of feet of runway left. Red = mandatory = stop.

Sign	Color & meaning
Mandatory	Red background, white text — a hold-short or no-entry instruction (e.g., "15-33" at a runway hold). Never cross without a clearance.
Location	Black background, yellow text/border — tells you where you are (the taxiway or runway you're on).
Direction	Yellow background, black text and arrows — where a taxiway leads at an intersection.
Destination	Yellow background, black text — the way to a runway, ramp, or FBO.
Information	Yellow background, black text — frequencies, noise abatement, and other advisories.
Distance remaining	Black background, white number — thousands of feet of runway remaining (a "3" = 3,000 ft left).

Why it matters

Signs are how you navigate the airport surface without getting lost or blundering onto a runway. Confusing a location sign for a mandatory one is a classic ground error.

A DPE might ask

What does a red sign mean? A black location sign?
What does a runway distance-remaining sign tell you?

PHAK ch. 14 — Airport signs

Airport & runway lighting

Definition

At night the airport talks to you in light. The rotating beacon — alternating white and green flashes — marks a lighted civil airport; if it's running in the daytime, the field is often below VFR minimums.

Explanation

Runway edge lights are white, turning amber over the last part of the runway as a caution zone; threshold lights are green as you approach and red facing the far end. Runway End Identifier Lights (REIL) flash to make the approach end obvious. Taxiways use blue edge lights (and green centerline lights where installed). At many non-towered fields the lighting is pilot-controlled — you key the mic on the CTAF to turn it up.

Lighting	What it tells you
Rotating beacon	White-and-green flashes mark a lighted civil airport. On in the daytime often means the field is below VFR (IFR conditions).
Runway edge lights	White, turning amber over the last 2,000 ft (or half the runway) as a caution zone.
Threshold lights	Green as you approach the landing threshold; red facing the far (departure) end.
REIL	Runway End Identifier Lights — synchronized flashers that make the approach end easy to pick out.
Taxiway lights	Blue edge lights; where installed, green centerline lights.
Pilot-controlled	At many non-towered fields you key the mic on the CTAF (3, 5, or 7 clicks) to bring the lights up.

Why it matters

Night and low-visibility operations depend on reading the lights right — and a daytime beacon is a free heads-up that the weather may be worse than it looks.

A DPE might ask

What do the beacon colors mean, and what does a daytime beacon suggest?
How do you use pilot-controlled lighting?

PHAK ch. 14 — Airport & runway lighting

VASI / PAPI

Definition

On final approach, a visual glideslope indicator keeps you on a safe descent path to the runway. A VASI (Visual Approach Slope Indicator) is two bars of lights; a PAPI (Precision Approach Path Indicator) is a single row of four.

Explanation

On a two-bar VASI, red over white means you're on the glidepath — 'red over white, you're all right.' White over white means you're too high; red over red means you're too low ('red over red, you're dead'). A PAPI reads the same way by count: more white lights = high, more red = low, two-and-two = on path. Fly the glidepath down to the runway.

Figure 14-29. Two-bar VASI system. — Figure 14-29 · FAA-H-8083-25C, Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (p. 351)

Why it matters

The visual glideslope keeps you off the terrain and the trees on approach — especially at night or into an unfamiliar field. It's a free, always-on approach aid.

A DPE might ask

Interpret a two-bar VASI: red over white, white over white, red over red.
How does a PAPI show your position on the glidepath?

PHAK ch. 14 — VASI & PAPI

Wind indicators & staying off the runway

Definition

At a non-towered field, the segmented circle near the middle of the airport is your ground-based briefing. Inside or beside it a wind sock (or a tetrahedron) shows the wind, which tells you the runway in use and the pattern direction.

Explanation

The wind sock points where the wind is going to and stands out stiffer in a stronger wind; you take off and land into the wind, so it tells you the active runway. Segmented-circle indicators can also show a non-standard (right-hand) pattern. And the safety bottom line for the whole lesson: the hold-short line is the one marking you never cross without a clearance — that's where runway incursions happen.

Figure 14-38. Segmented circle. — Figure 14-38 · FAA-H-8083-25C, Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (p. 355)

Why it matters

Reading the wind indicators picks the right runway at a field with no tower to tell you — and the hold-short reminder ties the whole airport-surface picture back to not becoming a runway-incursion statistic.

Common error

A common mix-up is reading the wind sock backwards. The sock points in the direction the wind is blowing TOWARD; since you take off and land INTO the wind, you use the runway whose numbers you'd be heading toward as you face into the wind — roughly opposite the way the sock points.

The wind sock points toward the south (the wind is from the north). Which runway is favored?

A DPE might ask

How does the wind sock tell you the runway in use?
Where do runway incursions happen, and how do you avoid one?

PHAK ch. 14 — Segmented circle & wind indicators