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As they do around town, signs tell pilots where they are on Chicago Executive Airport and point the way to the runway and ramp and the taxiways that connect them. The only difference is that airport signs are color coded, lighted, and much closer to the ground on their frangible mounts. And they are sometimes painted on the pavement, usually identifying positions on low visibility taxi routes. In all, there are six types of airport signs. They relay mandatory instructions, location, direction, destination, information, and runway distance remaining.
Mandatory instruction signs are red with white letters and identify critical areas, such as the entrance to a runway or areas where aircraft entry is prohibited. Runway hold position signs are adjacent to the yellow hold short markings on the pavement and their alphanumeric display identifies the intersecting runway. If the taxiway intersects the runway at midfield, the runway numbers on the sign correspond, left and right, to the respective runway’s threshold. Similar signs that bear a runway number and APCH or ILS indicate holding positions that keep aircraft a safe distance from the runway in foul weather so they do not interfere with instrument approach operations or the electronic systems that are guiding pilots to the runway.
Location, direction, and destination signs use combinations of yellow and black. Taxiway location signs use yellow characters on a black background with a yellow border. Often they are connected to direction or runway holding signs. Direction signs use black symbols in a yellow background and identify the intersecting taxiway with its alphanumeric designator and an arrow pointing in the direction a pilot would normally be expected to turn.
Direction signs are generally located on the left side of the taxiway before an intersection. If there is more than one way to go, the taxiway designations and their associated arrows are displayed clockwise starting from the first taxiway on the pilot’s left.
Information signs have black characters on a yellow background and provide pilots with all sorts of pertinent information such as applicable radio frequencies or noise abatement procedures. Their content is determined by each airport’s operator.
Runway distance remaining signs are white numbers on a black background and are installed along one or both sides of a runway. The number indicates the distance, in thousands of feet, of the remaining useable runway. The last sign—1—will be at least 950 feet from the end of the runway.
All signs work in conjunction with pavement markings, which correspond to each airport’s diagram. The diagram is the pilot’s airport map that shows and names each runway and taxiway that lead to ramps and hangars and fixed-base operators. And at airports with towers, like Chicago Exec, the ground controller provides them with a taxi clearance that delineates their route from point to point, and will provide progressive instructions to newcomers that will lead them, turn-by-turn, to where they want to go.