Waterline
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EMALS
Continued from 3 EMALS consists of six subsystems working together and sharing components to power the four catapults on the ship. The test site has only one catapult so, up to now, the system has had to control only one launcher. After completing the system functional demonstration phase in November 2012, the EMALS team readied the site to replicate a four-catapult ship environment. The testing simulated generator-sharing for mul-
tiple catapults by launching dead-loads, or weighted sleds. “As EMALS successfully completes another test phase, I am confident we are providing the fleet with a reliable and efficient system that will revolutionize the way we launch aircraft from the Navy’s newest class of carriers,” said Capt. Jim Donnelly, PMA-251 program manager. Sulich attributed the team’s ability to team start and finish formal shared testing earlier than planned, to good preparation and coordination. One such preparation, he said, was using a ship repre-
sentative controls lab, located at prime industry partner General Atomics’ facility in Rancho Bernardo, Calif., to conduct extensive modeling and simulation of the fourcatapult system, ensuring the launch controls were set up correctly. “Instead of using the fullscale system at Lakehurst to test the full EMALS software suite, we used the ship-representative controls lab,” Sulich said. “By using the lab before we started formal testing, we were able to groom the software so that during commissioning testing we weren’t really discovering anything new.” EMALS is designed to
expand the operational capability of the Navy’s future carriers to include all current and future carrier air wing platforms - lightweight unmanned to heavy strike fighters. It delivers necessary higher launch energy capacity; substantial improvements in system maintenance; increased reliability and efficiency; and more accurate end-speed control. The system’s technologies allow for a smooth acceleration at both high and low speeds, increasing the carrier’s ability to launch aircraft with less stress on the ship and its systems.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Prescribed Burns Provide Airfield Clear Zone
U.S. Navy photo by Donna Cipolloni
Under the direction of NAVFAC Conservation and Planning Branch at NAS Pax River, certified wildland firefighters light a prescribed burn in the airfield clear zone near the approach to Runway 06, March 15. A drip torch, a can of liquid fuel with a long spout burning lightly at the end, was used to start and spread the carefully controlled fire by dripping a 3-1 oil and gas mixture on the grass at a steady rate. By Donna Cipolloni Tester staff writer
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Twenty-two acres of warm season grasses near the approach to Runway 06, in an area known as the clear zone, were intentionally set ablaze March 15 under the direction of Naval Facilities Engineering Command Conservation and Planning Branch at NAS Patuxent River. The effort, known as a prescribed burn, is the controlled application of fire to accomplish a specific land management goal. “An airfield’s clear zone should not have trees or vegetation above a certain height,” said Jim Swift, natural resources manager. “This area is planted with warm season grasses as an alternative to forest cover and the best way to maintain that grass is through periodic burning.” Swift explained how the grass will grow long throughout the growing season and then die off and lay over in winter. When the weather warms up again, new grass will rise from the old dried clump and the process begins anew. Over several years, however, a layer of thatch builds up and begins to choke out and kill the new grass. “Burning it off periodically allows the grass to continue coming back and also prevents any woody vegetation - trees and shrubs - from growing,” Swift said. “That maintains the clear zone the air operations people require.” In addition to recycling soil nutrients and providing a habitat for wildlife like rabbits and grounddwelling birds such as quail, prescribed burns cost less money than mowing. “It’s actually cheaper to burn every three years than to mow the area annually or put it on a regular mowing
schedule,” Swift said. “Today we’re burning 22 acres, next year we’ll burn another 25 acres, the year after that another 22 acres-for a total of 69 acres-that are burned on a rotational basis.” Prior to the burn, the site was prepared and Sustainable Solutions, the company subcontracted to do the work, provided a detailed fire management plan which covered the burn objectives, necessary weather and fuel conditions, fire techniques, smoke management and other pertinent safety information. A six-member crew, all certified wildland firefighters, conducted the burn. The team-leading Burn Boss made the final decision, on site, to commence the burn after taking into consideration the steady 20 mph blowing winds, among other conditions. “The ground can’t be too wet or too dry,” Swift said. “A couple days of dry weather following a rain is required. That provides enough drying time so the fuels can catch, but there’s still enough moisture in the grass and on the ground so that the fire won’t burn so fast or hot that it’s uncontrollable.” The fire was started slowly, one small area at a time, and the crew vigilantly monitored its progress by running the fireline-a prepared area at the perimeter of the burn site meant to contain the fire-on all-terrain vehicles that held water tanks and hand tools like swatters and fire rakes. “If anything looks like it’s beginning to creep beyond the fireline,” Swift said, “they’ll squirt it and pat it down to put it out. “ The fire lasted a total of three hours before burning itself out, as planned.