Photo By Tech. Sgt. Laura Tickle | U.S. Air National Guardsmen with the 145th Civil Engineering Squadron, install a...... read more read more
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STANLY COUNTY, REGIONAL TRAINING SITE— Stress, tension, and attention to detail cover the end of the runway at the North Carolina Air National Guard (NCANG) Regional Training Site (RTS) in Stanly County as 145th Civil Engineering Squadron members work together to install a Mobile Aircraft Arresting System (MAAS) during a Combat Readiness Inspection (CRI) held November 1st-4th, 2024.
“Today on the runway, we were tasked with setting up a MAAS to essentially catch planes that are landing on the runway,” clarifies U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Keegan Lumley, 145th Civil Engineering Squadron engineering assistant. “ In order to stake out the locations for the MAAS we have to know where the approach runways are going to be. We captured the width of the runway and we used a formula given to us from the technical order for the MAAS and used the width calculated to offset some more, about 12.5 feet, of where the MAAS should be located.”
The significance of the MAAS is the potential to save a life or lives and assist with shortened runways and specific aircraft landing on them.
When you’re catching an aircraft that’s 30-40k pounds traveling at 200 miles an hour, you don’t want them to move,” agrees Senior Airman Christopher Miller, 145th Civil Engineering Power Production Journeyman.
“Whenever a jet comes in to a shortened runway or landing strip, it doesn’t always have the capability to just stop on its own,” says Lumley. “It’s coming in at such fast speeds that it needs something to assist it at stopping motion. When it lands, they have a hook and that hook catches the cable that sits across the runway...When the jet engages the cable, there’s a certain poundage of braking that occurs, but the brake gets stronger as the jet goes and pulls away. It’s like gradually pushing on the brakes when you’re in your car until you’re stopped.”
An essential part of staking out the location for the MAAS system is the dirt and/or soil consistency.
“After, we were able to stake that location, we then needed to verify that the ground was suitable for the MAAS to be installed there; that would depend on a California Bearing Ratio (CBR),” explains Lumley. “The CBR lets us know how tough the soil is so whenever we’re using the DCP (Dynamic Cone Penetrometer), it tells us each layer of the soil and how thick or strong that layer of soil is. Once we know that the soil will be able or suitable to hold the anchor mounts for the MAAS. For that, specific, MAAS, I believe on undisturbed soil, the CBR needed to be a seven as a minimum. Anything above that number means that the soil is much stronger than at least that seven and we reached a ten, which is really good. We know that if we needed to set a MAAS out there, that we could and that the existing soil would not need to be altered in any way. We can just set it down and anchor them in where they’re supposed to be.”
The MAAS installation requires someone to manage and lead with the necessary skills and knowledge; transferring it to the Airmen under their guidance. For this particular installation, Senior Airman Seth Casey, 145th Civil Engineering power production journeyman, led the way.
“Between the set-up of yesterday and today I think it went well,” states Casey. “It was my first time being responsible for it all and there were some learning points here and there but, overall, it was great!”
The Air National Guard only has four regional MAAS training sites in the nation, and one is located under the NCANG in Stanly County due to site requirements and abilities. The MAAS installation is an intricate balance of safety, technical know-how, and precision.
“There’s really not a mindless task to any part of installing this MAAS,” ensures Casey. “It can be mundane but if something goes wrong—everything that comes along with the system is heavy so safety is a big component.”
MAAS installation also generally relies on a team of twelve power specialists however, in most cases, a team of four will suffice with eight other members assisting and learning the process as it is being conducted.
Ideal conditions would include twelve power production people,” says Miller, “But it usually ends up being four with other individuals that we have to train—which adds some stress, but at the end of the day I still enjoy it!”
Once the lines are set and the soil tested, the installation with the team can proceed.
“We rely on engineer assistants to get our centerline of our runway which tells us the width of runway, cable length, where the units will be placed.”
“We lined up with the markers where they needed to be set and lowered them (MAAS) down,” explained Miller. “It’s like the air rise on a car where you can raise and lower. You can literally put them on the floor with the wheels up in the air.”
Today, we had to do a tape stretch,” expresses Miller. “We take the truck and hook the tape connector to the truck, which, the tape is the actual part that stops the airplane. The plane catches on the cable and at the end of the cable we use about 9-10 inch wide by 1250 foot elastic/teflon tape and hook it up to the back of the truck, drive it off, and remove slack and elasticity to provide tension.”
“When the jet engages the cable, ”confirms Lumley, “there’s a certain poundage of braking that occurs, but the brake gets stronger as the jet goes and pulls away. It’s like gradually pushing on the brakes when you’re in your car until you’re stopped.”
The hours of work dedicated to accomplishing the MAAS installation comes with its challenges.
“The most difficult thing about getting the MAAS installed are the stakes,” says Miller. “The stakes that go in the MAAS and connect the body to the ground are hard to get to which adds time. It takes a lot of precision and time. Truly, the most difficult part is uninstalling the stakes—if. Not removed correctly they could snap since they’re made from aluminum.”
During a simulated war-time environment, however, usual tasks can be muddied or stalled by injected tasks.
“There were a couple hiccups,” says Miller, “like seeking hardened shelter and having to stop our work—but then they call us back and tell us to resume.”
“There’s really not a mindless task to any part of installing this MAAS,” says Casey. “It can be mundane but if something goes wrong—everything that comes along with the system is heavy so safety is a big component.”
With the opportunity to practice a MAAS install, which is not in a typical day-to-day workload for engineer assistants or power journeyman, the task time may be slowed to ensure all learning opportunities are supplied.
“We took the time to slow down and get everyone who wanted more knowledge to get more time and understanding with the MAAS,” says Casey. “We wanted to eliminate any confusion of things that seemed hard and really break them down. It’s a big investment up front so it’s smooth sailing down the line. You have to understand the bigger picture—the squadron is putting that money into you, so you can put that knowledge back into the squadron.”
Once the installation is complete, the work is not finished. The MAAS must be tested to make sure that an aircraft can safely land using the arresting system.
“We do a mock engagement or certification engagement to test a plane (without an aircraft present) hitting the cable at a certain speed and brakes appropriately,” explains Miller.
“You rule out every single area that can cause a difference,” agrees Casey, “—some people get scared and don’t want to touch it because there is a liability to it.”
Such time, precision, hard work, and sacrifice is not without its rewards.
“The most rewarding thing about this is receiving the certification engagement because you know everything you did up to this point, worked! If they need it we saved a pilot’s life and the government a boatload of money.”
For this MAAS installation, it was a sure success with Casey leading the helm of a team ready to fly, fight, and win!
“Casey killed it today,” expresses Miller with a smile. “The supervisor told him to be in charge of it and he took it and ran!”
“As I look to my future in the guard,” Casey reflects, “I want to become a knowledge base, not just for my shop but for the squadron and areas I’m supposed to serve. I’d like my legacy to be a net-positive for the area I was in by passing on my knowledge.”
| Date Taken: | 11.04.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 11.05.2024 11:35 |
| Story ID: | 484666 |
| Location: | NEW LONDON, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 98 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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