New system saves money, manpower

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WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFPN) --  Air Force Materiel Command experts are replacing decades-old instrument landing systems at six locations with state-of-the-art equipment.

The new systems will save money and manpower and allow quicker maintenance. They work off circuit cards and computers rather than tubes and older hardware allowing them to be maintained from a control point at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., said Maj. Richard Miller. He is from the AFMC air traffic control systems resources and requirements branch. The systems provide instrument readings that help guide pilots to the ground in bad weather or when they cannot see the runway.

"The systems we have now are 20 years old and require one person at each site for routine maintenance," Major Miller said. "With the new system, that same routine maintenance can be via a secure Internet-type connection, with a lot fewer people."

There are many technological benefits to the new system, the major said. For instance, the new system comes with a 10-year warranty which means experts will not have to wait as long for parts when they are needed.

"With the warranty, when we need a part for more than just routine maintenance, we simply call the manufacturer who ships the part overnight to the (affected) base," he said. "We have a customer service crew who goes to the base and arrives about the same time the part does. In most cases, the repair will be made in 24 hours versus about 72 hours under the old system."

The new systems are being installed here and at Edwards AFB, Calif.; Eglin; Hill AFB, Utah; Robins AFB, Ga.; and Tinker AFB, Okla. They are the only AFMC bases with active flying missions.

"AFMC is on the point of the spear for this right now," said Les Atkinson of the centralized instrument-landing system maintenance team at Eglin. He and his crew just finished installing the new system at Tinker. "(There are) no turning knobs or flipping switches."

The new systems comprise a localizer at the end of the runway which orients the incoming aircraft to the middle of the runway. It also has a second unit placed midway along the air strip directing the aircraft to the proper glide slope or angle of approach.

The units, each encased in a 2-foot cube, send signals aircraft receivers pick up, Mr. Atkinson said. The pilot sees intersecting needles on a round dial. Ideally, the needles cross precisely in the center of the dial.

Even when the sky is clear, pilots want the systems to be working so they can train on its use, Mr. Atkinson said.

"You should hear the pilots scream because (the system) is down," he said.

That should not happen often with the new system.

"The system will be available at least 99 percent of the time," he said.

That is a far cry from the navigational equipment he maintained when he joined the Air Force in 1978.

"It was very maintenance intensive, and we were called out daily,” Mr. Atkinson said. “There was a lot of down time. It was hard to get parts, and the parts were expensive. Now, I don't even have to take it down."

A computer at Eglin will contact each system across the command each morning. Any problems detected will be fixed via long distance.

Mr. Atkinson said command officials are saving substantial manpower with the new system. Fifteen instrument landing system maintenance positions across the command are being eliminated. (Courtesy of AFMC News Service)