Busy base could complicate test flight Invading forces from two different countries could compete for base space, potentially impacting the first functional check flight of the Helios Prototype solar-powered aircraft. Exercises at the Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking
Busy base could complicate test flight
Invading forces from two different countries could compete for base space, potentially impacting the first functional check flight of the Helios Prototype solar-powered aircraft.
Exercises at the Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands by Japanese military forces are scheduled through Thursday, and the U.S. Army moves in with a 300-person force beginning today.
Still, the Helios test flight, originally planned to take place at the base as early as late May, is now scheduled for this Friday at around 7:50 a.m.
A Saturday liftoff at the same time is the fallback date, though the clock began running at t-minus four days yesterday for a Friday flight, explained John Hicks, project manager for the NASA ERAST (Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology) program.
“They’ve got all the range facilities taken up with the exercise,” Hicks said of the Japanese forces training at the base.
Regarding the computer glitch that caused the postponement of the second scheduled flight last Saturday, Hicks said it may have been a blessing that the problem revealed itself while the craft was on the ground and not trying to land after dark at the base totally on battery power.
To check that the latest problem has an easy solution, and that a battery-powered, nighttime landing won’t be a problem, after-dark testing happened late last night.
“I think we’ve got a simple solution. It does not appear to be an aircraft-related problem,” Hicks said. “The airplane, in fact, appears to have functioned exactly the way it was designed to do. It appears to be more of a procedural problem, and that’s of course much easier to fix than an aircraft system problem.”
Hicks said crew morale isn’t a problem despite the repeated delays. (The first cancellation last Friday was due to high-altitude wind.)
“I mean, everybody was disappointed, just like all the spectators that were out here witnessing everything,” he said. “Everybody gets their expectations up, and of course, you all get a little disappointed.
“But these are seasoned guys. We’ve been in this business for so long, it’s a standard part of the nature of our business that things don’t always come together real good,” he added. “They were disappointed, but on the second thought, they know that that’s kind of par for the course.”
Army will be hard to miss
The Army’s training exercises at Pacific Missile Range Facility will build up to around 300 people by Thursday. Army and civilian personnel from Hawai’i, Texas, Arizona and Kansas were scheduled to begin arriving today.
Officials said the public can expect heavy military vehicle traffic from Barking Sands along Kaumuali’i Highway to Hanapepe, where some training will also be conducted near the Hawai’i Army National Guard Armory.
Military aircraft will land at Port Allen Airport (Burns Field) between 2 and 4 p.m. Thursday. Soldiers will move across the beach to the armory after deplaning.
A large convoy of Army vehicles and marching troops, dressed in camouflage uniforms, will use Sidewinder Road on the base. Officials urge the public to use caution when driving in the area.
Also on South Sidewinder Road, blank weapon firings will be conducted.
The training exercise will require the closure of all PMRF recreational areas as follows:
– Recreation areas one (from Nohili ditch to the Barking Sands sand dunes) and two (from Major’s Bay north to the Nohili ditch) will be closed from 6 a.m. Thursday through 4 p.m. Friday.
– Recreation area three (from the Kekaha pistol range to Major’s Bay) will be closed from noon to 8 p.m. Thursday.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
