Military Airfield Procedures..

Dan wrote:
Last night I took a quick trip to KYUM. On approach, the controller
mentioned that the "arresting gear was up" on the runway I was to land
on. Being unfamiliar with arresting gear and flying an Archer, I asked
the controller specifically what that meant. He indicated that it
consisted of a cable stretched across the runway about 6 inches high.
Since it seemed that this could seriously damage an Archer, I made sure
to land beyond it. (although it's exact position was difficult to
determine at night.)

Does anyone know what would have happened if I had landed on it? This
type of thing seems quite dangerous to GA aircraft.

On another note, as I was inbound on the ILS, the tower handed me over
to someone else for a "monitored" approach. This controller called my
position on the ILS and advised of any deviations. There was no
parallel ILS in progress. Is this just the way things are done at a
military field?

-Dan

The cable is suspended above the ground by rubber "donuts" to give it
enough height for a tailhook to engage it. Acft with very small tires
will feel like the aircraft "bounces" when going over the cable. The
cable could possibly bounce up slightly when you run over it and snag
any very low antennas or other protuberances on the bottom of the
aircraft, so it's best to land beyond it. Most cables used to be either
connected to large heavy anchor chains that create extra drag as the
aircraft pulls the cable down the runway, acting as brakes, or they were
connected to B-52 brake mechanisms housed in small shacks on either side
of the runway.
Those airports that have Precision Approach Radar (PAR) routinely
"monitor" aircraft flying the ILS. The only thing they do on the monitor
is get your landing clearance from the tower for you, give you an
"approaching glidepath, wheels should be down" advisory, and verify that
you don't go outside the PAR lateral safety limits or below the vertical
safety limits, since the glidepath and course are depicted on the
controllers radar scope. The safety limits of the PAR and ILS are the
same. You could also ask for a PAR approach from the same controller,
and they will provide course and glidepath advisories once every 5
seconds on final. Even better, ask for a "no-gyro" PAR approach, and the
controller will get you down to the 100 or 200 HAT (whichever is used
there) using "turn left, stop turn" or "turn right, stop turn"
directions. Expect the phrase "make half standard rate turns" once you
get on final.

From the AIM;
2-3-14. Aircraft Arresting Devices

a. Certain airports are equipped with a means of rapidly stopping
military aircraft on a runway. This equipment, normally referred to as
EMERGENCY ARRESTING GEAR, generally consists of pendant cables supported
over the runway surface by rubber "donuts." Although most devices are
located in the overrun areas, a few of these arresting systems have
cables stretched over the operational areas near the ends of a runway.

b. Arresting cables which cross over a runway require special markings
on the runway to identify the cable location. These markings consist of
10 feet diameter solid circles painted "identification yellow," 30 feet
on center, perpendicular to the runway centerline across the entire
runway width. Additional details are contained in AC 150/5220-9,
Aircraft Arresting Systems for Joint Civil/Military Airports.

NOTE-
Aircraft operations on the runway are not restricted by the installation
of aircraft arresting devices.

John

"JPH" wrote in message
news:VW9Mf.172831$WH.127355@dukeread01...
same. You could also ask for a PAR approach from the same controller, and
they will provide course and glidepath advisories once every 5 seconds on
final. Even better, ask for a "no-gyro" PAR approach, and the controller
will get you down to the 100 or 200 HAT (whichever is used there) using
"turn left, stop turn" or "turn right, stop turn" directions. Expect the
phrase "make half standard rate turns" once you get on final.

And the phrase "Do not acknowledge further transmissions".

If you've never done a "talkdown" before, have a go when it's convenient for
you and the controller. I did one as part of my IMC rating training, and
it's immense fun. The controller who did mine (at a civilian airport, so
they don't do all that many) told me he enjoyed it too, as it had good
training value for him.

D.