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    "How often do you maintain the markings at your airfield?" was a question we asked every airport during the research for the Airfield Marking Handbook way back in 2006. "Every month," some responded; others, "at least once a year." And yet others go for years trying to stretch every last molecule out of the paint. The results are varied, but all affect safety.

    "How often should the markings be painted?" is a question often asked now; and the answer is simple: take the length of your runway in linear feet, multiply it by pi, then divide that by the two digit number of your birth year, and voila! Actually there is no one answer. It depends on many factors, the main one being how well they are applied to begin with.

    The picture to the right shows a runway centerline marking that had been painted earlier that evening with a truck-mounted system, with good quality paint and glass beads, and yet the appearance is spotty, uneven, and not as good as it could be. Why? Because material guns have not been calibrated; film thickness is uneven across the 3-foot wide marking; glass beads are actually covered by paint because the truck was moving so fast, the beads rolled in the wet paint... Need I go on?

    Granted runway centerlines get buried quickly on busy airports from rubber that builds up within days of being repainted; but the other markings not affected from wear on this runway also looked pretty sketchy, for the same reasons.

    If you are not getting the life out of the markings, (2-3 years on the non-traversed markings), your airport is missing the mark, spending more dollars than it should, and compromising the safety of the pilots and their passengers.

    Our regional Airfield Marking Symposiums can provide the training your staff needs to detect problems and fix the easy ones. Sightline is available to help with the more complex issues; all you need to do is ask!

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