Idaho Air Guard helps test new stackable cargo pallets

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Anthony Vincelli
  • 124th Wing Public Affairs Officer
GOWEN FIELD, Idaho (AFPN) --  As part of an ongoing Air Expeditionary Force Battlelab initiative, a team tested a new bilevel aircraft loading system aboard an Idaho Air National Guard C-130 Hercules here April 22.

People from the battlelab, a think tank for new and innovative ideas based at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, made the short 50-mile trip here to test the system as part of an ongoing process to assess its fitness for use in the field.

The system works by taking existing pallets, and attaching a frame and vertical rails to make a second tier. The unit’s base is designed to hold up to 6,000 pounds while the upper pallet can hold up to 3,000 pounds.

It is very simple, yet very innovative because it would dramatically increase the efficiency of airlift missions such as the air and space expeditionary force rotations into the Persian Gulf region, said Master Sgt. Forrest Wood, project officer from the battlelab.

Sergeant Wood, a loadmaster by profession, said the beauty of the system is that it will be able to use the upper tier of cargo aircraft that was previously unused.

“This system will allow the Air Force [to] fill its airlifters with more equipment, which will result in having to use fewer planes to haul the same amount of cargo,” Sergeant Wood said.

The idea for stackable pallets was first theorized in the 1970s, but it was never developed, said Norman Maynard, program manager for the design team from the Air Force Flight Test Center’s instrumentation division at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The division designed and constructed the system.

“Nobody could get it to work,” Mr. Maynard said.

This latest initiative, however, does work. The team has already completed an intense round of dynamic testing at Robins AFB, Ga., and the system passed with flying colors.

“We ran this system through a number of worst-case scenarios, including crashes, uneven loading and even hanging the pallets upside-down. It seems to handle whatever we throw at it,” Mr. Maynard said.

Now into the static-test phase, the team is in the process of loading and unloading the system into cargo aircraft to ensure it fits into aircraft correctly. Team members have completed testing on the C-141 Starlifter and C-17 Globemaster III, and their visit here marks the first test on the C-130. The tests on all three aircraft have proven successful, officials said.

Mr. Maynard and other members of the design team said this initiative has been an exercise in teamwork among the Guard, active duty and Air Force civilians.

“This entire project was conceived, designed and patented by the Air Force. It is a totally ‘blue’ project,” Mr. Maynard said.

If approved for use in the field, Mr. Maynard said the system will be relatively inexpensive -- between $8,000 and $10,000 a piece.

“If all continues to go well ... we may see these in the field in less than a year,” Mr. Maynard said.