The Wings of Destiny trains for high-altitude flying

Photo By Capt. Gina Thacher | Two UH-60L Black Hawk Helicopters with Company A, 6th Battalion, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), come in for a landing on top of a mesa during high-altitude-mountain-environment training near Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., Sept. 25, 2014. The purpose of the training was to give pilots and air crews the chance to sharpen their skills at flying and maneuvering around mountainous terrain at high altitudes. (U.S. Army photo by Capt. Gina Thacher, 101st CAB Public Affairs)  

HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, NM, UNITED STATES

09.25.2014

Story by Sgt. Darci Brennan 

101st Combat Aviation Brigade

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. – Air crews from 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), conducted high-altitude-mountain-environment training in the mountains around Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, September and October 2014.

The purpose of the training was to give air crews a chance to fly and land aircraft at high altitudes, in windy environments and around mountains and in dusty environments.

“HAMET is high-altitude-mountain-environment training,” said Lt. Col. Brad Smith, commander, 96th Aviation Support Battalion, 101st CAB. “Col. Drew, our brigade commander, considers this the number-one training event for the entire brigade. This training is so important because the vast majority of the aircraft we've lost in Afghanistan have been lost to altitude, power-management issues and dust.”

At high altitude the air gets thinner and that effects everything related to flying the aircraft. Engines are not getting the same amount of air as at lower altitude and that affects aircraft performance.

“At higher elevations, the air becomes thinner,” said Maj. Sarah Pearson, executive officer, 96th ASB. “As the air gets thinner, our engines perform less efficiently. It takes more power to climb and do the maneuvers. Part of our training is learning where you should not conduct maneuvers that require more power than the engines can generate. Temperature and the pressure at altitude all affect how much power we have available.”

In addition to the less-dense air, winds become an issue, particularly around mountains. Winds can be either a hindrance and potentially deadly, or they can assist a pilot in making maneuvers.

“As long as you utilize the winds, and understand where the winds are coming from, they can be an asset,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 George Gansel, maintenance test pilot, Company D, 1st Battalion, 101st CAB. “If you misunderstand where the winds are coming from, it can have some pretty bad effects. If you don't read the winds right you can run out of power. If you're running into the wind, it can be an asset, with a tail wind, you can see your power margin, power available versus power required, reduced. Here we get to train on recognizing and utilizing the winds in our favor.”

Wind sapping the ability of pilots to use power is one danger they face when flying around mountains. As the winds flow around and over mountains, the flow patterns change. In one situation the winds may be pushing you up and in others the winds may be flowing down.

“Up at altitude, the winds are shifting, so you have to be vigilant,” said Pearson. “With the mountains, updrafts and downdrafts will be affected so you need to be careful of where you are. If you're not careful, you may get caught in a downdraft and get pushed down by the wind. You have to maintain vigilance of where the winds are, taking in all the cues available to us. We look for which way smoke or vegetation may be blowing in addition to what our instruments tell us.”

The winds in and around mountains can be killers, but there are other hazards as air crews approach the ground. As helicopters come in for landings, the dust on the ground gets blown into huge clouds that can obstruct the view of the pilot as they attempt to land their aircraft.

Dust can create brown-out conditions, said Smith. When a pilot comes in for a landing, a dust cloud forms at the tail of the helicopter and moves forward. It starts when the aircraft is between 30 and 50 feet off the ground. As the helicopter gets closer to the ground, the cloud moves toward the nose and blocks visibility. Flying a helicopter blind, that close to the ground, is dangerous. The Army has lost a lot of helicopters due to brown out conditions.

With all of these dangers in mind, the pilots and air crews maintain their readiness. At the root of Army aviation's job is maximizing the abilities of troops on the ground and ensuring that they can take the fight to the enemy wherever they are. Ensuring that the Soldiers get to their mission safely will always be at the heart of the 101st CAB's next rendezvous with destiny.

“In Army aviation, one of the things that make us unique is that we consider our bond with the ground forces a sacred one,” said Smith. “The ground troops trust us with their lives to deliver them safely to wherever it is they need to be. Our fires platforms, Kiowas and Apaches, Soldiers in contact are trusting that we will provide them with timely and accurate fire support when they need it. We exist because of, and to support, the ground forces. When an aircraft goes down, everyone goes down with it, and quite a few have gone down over the years. We do everything we can to serve and protect them.”

• Date Taken: 09.25.2014
• Date Posted: 10.20.2014 15:48
• Story ID: 145542
• Location: HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, NM, US
• Hometown: FORT CAMPBELL, KY, US
• Hometown: HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, NM, US