LED technology is just starting to find its way into aircraft external lighting. In part this has been because the intensity necessary requires use of more than a single LED and packaging becomes an issue. Avimo Ltd. demonstrated some impressive LED based navigation lights and a beacon that feature arrays of smaller LEDs. They have already been selected for some military aircraft and the Coast Guard's MH-65A helicopter. Nav lights were shown with both rectangular and circular arrays .
Special lenses assure appropriate distribution of the light where required.
It features six arrays of 144 LEDs each . LEDs offer numerous advantages over incandescent lights including reliability due to their solid-state nature, extreme long life and significantly reduced power consumption. There were also infrared units for covert operations. Bombardier Aerospace flew in one of their Canadair CL-415 twin turboprop amphibian aircraft, landing on the St. John's River directly in front of the hotel. EMS Technologies was demonstrating its SARMaster software, designed to ease the job of SAR controllers while speeding up rescue.