Nellis Air Force Base (Nellis AFB, Nellis) is called the "Home of the Fighter Pilot" and for good reason. The base is a member of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command and the home of the Air Warfare Center, the largest and most demanding advanced air combat training mission in the world. On July 4th, Nellis Air Force Base in was colored red, white, and blue as part of special “Tribute to the Troops” display. Light America, which was involved in the Famous “Tribute in Light,” commemorating the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York, was commissioned to create the special event.
According to Michael R. Hyams, CEO of Light America, more than 60 of the company’s 7,000W Light cannons were used to light up the entire Sunrise Mountain range, near the air base. “This is a very spectacular use of our dichroic Xenon projection technology,” he added.
Osram Sylvania donated the Osram XBO® Xenon lamps that were used to create the red, white, and blue effect. The company agreed to supply the specialized 7,000W lamps needed to produced the more than 400,000W of power necessary to create the immense amount of focused light. “Xenon lamps are ideal sources for spotlight applications due to their high brilliance and daylight quality, which enables the true representation of vivid colors, such as those being project at this patriotic event,” said Jeremy Pymento, product manager at Osram.
“When Nellis contacted us about doing the show, we were thrilled to participate, as wel have always wanted to do something on a large scale like this and the opportunity will truly set the tone and excitement for the July 4th weekend, said John Bielinski, chairman and owner of Light America, speaking before the event. He added, “We lit up a small mountain back in March for the Governor’s Ball and everyone was simply astonished…but this time it will surpass that show tenfold.”