Military Airfield Procedures..

"John Doe" wrote in message
news:2fjMf.42118$Dh.501@dukeread04...

"Dan" wrote in message
oups.com...
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.


I've done it in a C-150, at NAS Millington, TN, with a flying club
aircraft. I was unfamiliar, simulating a dead stick with an Instructor, when
we touched down before the last wire. We rolled right over it. No damage.
When I saw we were going to hit it, I held the nosegear well clear, and hit
it with the mains. We were probably still doing about 30kts, and had full
flaps, so there was some lift being generated. I am a little amazed the
cable didn't pop up and strike the tiedown ring on the tail cone which must
have been a foot off the ground or so. Of course the cable is pretty heavy,
and I doubt the 150 moved it much.
The system they used to have installed at Klamath Falls,(Kingsley
Field), had the same wire and donut scheme, but it was connected to what
looked like anchor chain on both sides of the runway. One link was
positioned right next to the prior link, so the chain was very "slack". When
you caught the wire, you pulled one link on each side for about a foot, then
picked up the next link for about a foot. Before long you were dragging many
tons of iron down the runway. I have no doubt that it would stop almost
anything.

Al