An airport beacon is a light that tells pilots, at night, what kind of airport is below. The colors are a short memory item on the test.
Airport beacons help pilots identify an airport at night, and the color combination shows the airport type. Flashing white and green is a civilian land airport, white and yellow a water airport, and white, yellow and green a heliport. Two quick white flashes alternating with a green flash mark a military airport.
The FAA says airport beacons are normally operated from dusk until dawn. Sometimes they are turned on if the ceiling is less than 1,000 feet and/or the ground visibility is less than 3 statute miles (VFR minimums), but there is no requirement for this, so the pilot has the responsibility of determining if the weather meets VFR requirements.
The beacon has a vertical light distribution that makes it most effective from 1 to 10 degrees above the horizon, although it can be seen well above or below this spread. It may be an omnidirectional capacitor-discharge device, or it may rotate at a constant speed to produce flashes at regular intervals.
For a remote pilot, the beacon colors are airport lighting knowledge from the ACS (UA.V.B.K8). Spotting a military airport or heliport from its beacon is a recall question, not a Part 107 rule; the airspace authorization rule is explained on our 14 CFR 107.41 page.
Sources: FAA-H-8083-25C, ch. 14, Airport Beacon · ACS, Area V Task B
FAA-H-8083-25C, ch. 14, Airport Beacon
Airport beacons help a pilot identify an airport at night. The beacons are normally operated from dusk until dawn.
FAA-H-8083-25C, ch. 14, Airport Beacon
Flashing white and green for civilian land airports
FAA-H-8083-25C, ch. 14, Airport Beacon
Flashing white, yellow, and green for a heliport
FAA-H-8083-25C, ch. 14, Airport Beacon
Two quick white flashes alternating with a green flash identifying a military airport
Sources: FAA-H-8083-25C, ch. 14, Airport Beacon · FAA-H-8083-25C, ch. 14, Airport Beacon · FAA-H-8083-25C, ch. 14, Airport Beacon · FAA-H-8083-25C, ch. 14, Airport Beacon
Similar to the FAA test, not the actual test questions. Each answer shows its FAA source.
Question 1 of 3
(Heliports, when lighted, are identified by a green, yellow, and white rotating beacon. Flashing yellow indicates lighted water airports (seaports).)
FAA source: FAA-H-8083-25C ch. 14, Airport Beacon
Question 2 of 3
(A military air station can be identified with a white, white, green rotating beacon.)
FAA source: FAA-H-8083-25C ch. 14, Airport Beacon
Question 3 of 3
FAA source: FAA-H-8083-25C ch. 14, Airport Operations, Airport Beacons
Normally from dusk until dawn. It is sometimes turned on if the ceiling is under 1,000 feet or the visibility under 3 statute miles, but the PHAK says there is no requirement for this.
Source: FAA-H-8083-25C, ch. 14
Not necessarily. The PHAK says the beacon is sometimes turned on in low ceiling or visibility but there is no requirement, so the pilot decides whether the weather meets VFR requirements.
Source: FAA-H-8083-25C, ch. 14
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More on this topic: Part 107 operations and decision-making.