The Boeing Company
Method, apparatus, and system for producing indicia in the sky

Abstract:

A method, system and apparatus are provided for generating indicia in the sky using a single pass of an aircraft. A system of an embodiment for communicating a message from an aircraft includes: a plurality of valves; a tank in fluid communication with each of the plurality of valves; a plurality of nozzles, where each nozzle is associated with a corresponding valve, and where the plurality of nozzles are distributed along a span of a wing of the aircraft; a controller configured to control each of the plurality of valves, where the controller is configured to actuate the plurality of valves to generate, from contents of the tank received at each nozzle, a plume to be suspended in air to form a plurality of plumes; and a light source configured to project indicia on the plurality of plumes.