Cleared for take off

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Raymond Hoy
  • 60th AMW Public Affairs
Travis Air Force Base, Calif. --  With the first of the C-17 Globemaster IIIs due to arrive at Travis in July, there is still preparation work to do. 

However, major steps are being taken to ensure a key part of the C-17 training program is in place for the aircrews. 

Since the arrival of the C-17 flight simulator Feb. 11, the Boeing contractors have been working hard to finish the construction of it and its supporting components, even while the exterior of the building is still under construction. 

The building itself has had some security upgrades to allow for growth in the future security needs of the facility. 

“We have the capability to lock down different parts of the building that may contain sensitive materials in the future,” said Mr. Darrol Prill, the facility’s quality assurance manager. “Access to these areas will be achieved through use of a common access card.” 

Input from Mr. Bill Bogda, the project officer and QA for the KC-10 aircrew training system, helped with the design of the new C-17 simulator building. 

“Some of the things we learned from the design of the KC-10 simulator building, we were able to use to improve the design of this building,” he said. 

The new simulator itself is more mechanically efficient than traditional cargo simulators.
“The actuators for the legs are electro-mechanical; it doesn’t work with traditional hydraulic pressure,” said Mr. Tom Kearney, the C-17 aircrew training system site manager. This provides smoother, more precise movements during operation. It uses digital controls so it knows precisely where it is going down to the millimeter.” 

This makes the simulator much more environmentally friendly than other cargo aircraft flight simulators as well. 

“Without hydraulics, we were able to do away with some unnecessary designs in the building, such as the hydraulic pump room, the hydraulic sump and the waste facilities associated with them,” Mr. Bogda said 

“It doesn’t consume as many overall resources either; it is much cheaper to operate,” he added. 

The simulator consists of two separate stations, one for the pilots and one for the loadmasters. These stations have the capability to be linked for simultaneous training as well. 

While the initial C-17 aircrew training is held at Altus Air Force Base, Okla., the Travis C-17 aircrews will complete quarterly training requirements in the simulator. 

“The training that they do here at these sites is typically refresher training with limited amounts of initial qualification training,” said Mr. Kearney. “Down the road they may look into doing more initial training.” 

While some of the simulator training consists of standard mission operations, the majority of the training the aircrew will complete is emergency training. 

“The crews could experience anything from engine fires to electrical malfunctions; there are hundreds of different situations they can do,” said Mr. Kearney. “Any airplane system, or sub-system, that can possibly break; we’ve got a button that will break it.”