JOE DAWSON
A BRIGHT beam of light seen blazing over Hawke's Bay in the last few nights comes from thelatest addition to duo Wayne Clark and Jayson Scott's ``collection of oddities' - a World War 2 searchlight.
The men are well known figures in Hawke's Bay, both the proud and passionate
owners of steam engines that can be seen in action at various events, particularly the Art Deco weekend.
Mr Clark said the acquisition of the searchlight in May last year came after years of thinking about getting one and, like the old steam engines the pair love so much, its old-school gadgetry strikes the right chord with the two budding enthusiasts.
Built in 1941 in Sydney, the British Fortress 36-inch searchlight was used in Christchurch during the war as part of a coastal defence plan. It is powered by a generator of the same era, and uses carbon arc light - a 10mm arc flame between two carbon roads - to produce a light that can be seen from 50km away.
That method of producing light is what got Mr Clark interested, many years ago.
``For me personally, I've always been quite interested in carbon arc lights, and the amount of light that can be produced from one tiny point of light.
``What an amazing way of producing light.' For the technical types, the tiny arc burns at a temperature of 6000C - ``an intensely hot flame, brighter than the sun' - runs on Direct Current (DC) power, using 70 volts and 150 amps.
The pair had the light on show at the Fiesta of Lights at Waikoko Gardens last week, and got it going in the backyard a few times while they got the hang of using it.
``I've had people tell me they could see it from down in Waipawa,' Mr Clark said.
The light proved a big success at the fiesta, its huge beam drawing people in to find out more about it.
``The majority see the beam of light and it draws people out of curiosity. Then they have a look through the dark glass at the side of the box and see the little flame and how it runs.
``It's beautiful, it looks like a burning candle.'
