ARIA October 2009 Newsletter

796

Special Donation Items
You have the opportunity to support the construction of the ARIA 328 Memorial in Walkersville, Maryland, and receive some very special items.

I was very excited to acquire 24 AMtech ARIA/A-LOT model kits. AMtech produced 5000 of these kits in 2002 and has since gone out of business. The kits were received in a bulk pack the way AMtech would have received them from the manufacturer. When AMtech received these bulk kits they would then repackage the kits in a retail box.

These kits are now available online from the ARIA 328 Memorial web site at https://www.ariamemorial.com/Donate/Special-Offerings/. The kits are repackaged in a plain box and have the additional resin parts and decals to build one of four versions of the ARIA aircraft. These are complete kits except for the printed instructions. The instructions can be downloaded at http://www.flyaria.com/ariamodels-0.html. You are invited to submit pictures of your model to be placed on the flyARIA.com web site. If you haven't visited the flyARIA.com web site lately you may want to take a look at the ARIA models that are currently displayed on the site. You can access the pictures from the main menu under ARIA Art.

We have a very limited supply of the 1982 Ascension Island 40th Anniversary Wideawake Field stamp sets. The stamps in the set are of the Fairey Swordfish, North American B-25C Mitchell, Lockheed Hercules, and our own ARIA Aircraft 61-0330. You can view higher resolution images of the ARIA stamp at http://www.flyaria.com/ascensionisland-2.html.

William Walkowiak - Cape Town Bound

Albuquerque Center: “AGAR 94, do you have time for a question?”

AGAR 94: “Go ahead”

Albuquerque Center: “Just curious, what is a C-18 and what is your destination?”

In over six years as an ARIA (Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft) pilot, this set of radio transmissions has been the hallmark of many trips around the world. Our latest expedition marked a return to Cape Town, South Africa after a ten year hiatus due to political turmoil in the region. This cold night of February 14, 1996 would be the first leg of a deployment to perform the first-ever telemetry gathering flight over the continent of Antarctica. A recent modification, which allows in-flight refueling, made this flight possible as well as our 6400 nautical mile non-stop leg from Edwards AFB, CA to Ascension Island in the South Atlantic.

The EC-18 is the latest version of the ARIA (Apollo, until 1975/Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft). Developed as a joint venture between NASA and the DOD, the first fleet of eight modified C-135 transport aircraft became operational in January 1968. These McDonnell-Douglas/Bendix modified aircraft filled the huge gaps of telemetry and voice relay ground station coverage around the globe.

After the Apollo program concluded, the ARIA fleet moved to the 4950th Test Wing at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. Continuous upgrades allowed new missions including orbital insertion, re-entry vehicle tracking, and cruise missile chase.

In 1981 the USAF announced plans to upgrade the ARIA fleet by converting to the Boeing 707-320 airframe. Eight of these airliners were purchased from the American Airlines corporation for approximately $2 million each. The first C-18 ARIA mission, with its increased takeoff weight and shorter field capability, flew from Kenya in January 1986. More modifications to ARIA provided an ICBM scoring, tracking, photography capability known as SMILS (Sonobouy Missile Impact Location System). The SMILS C-18 lays a pattern of sonobouys to score missile impact accuracy, effectively replacing three aircraft with one C-18 platform. Over 120 re-entry vehicles were scored during testing. During a Peacekeeper missile test in the summer of 1992, a full mission certification was completed at the Kwajelien Missile test range.

The Base re-alignment and closure Act of 1991 closed the 4950th Test Wing and the ARIA fleet moved to Edwards AFB, CA. The new 452nd Flight Test Squadron continued to upgrade the fleet by modifying the C-18 for in-flight refueling. Extensive upgrades to the telemetry mission equipment incorporated digital equipment, SATCOM, and GPS-based timing. In the spring of 1995, the first ARIA in-flight refueling took place over the Mojave desert.

At Ascension Island, the C-18 in our story, tail number 81-0894, AGAR 94, supported a Delta Booster launch of the NEAR spacecraft, which will have a close encounter with the asteroid Eros. The next morning we deployed to South Africa for the Polar Explorer mission. A beautiful, sunlit mountainous area along the coastline greeted the crew as we approached Africa from the north. On landing, the charm of the South Africans overtook us. Greeted by our host officer, Capt Moore of the South African Air Force, the crew of 894 soon discovered the tremendous hospitality of the South Africans. The KC-135R tanker crew from McConnell AFB, KS met us at Cape Town International Airport. Ground transportation took us to our quarters at the South African Air Base of Ysterplaat where, an evening reception followed. The next day, several tours of the historic local area were graciously arranged by our hosts. On the morning of the 23rd, eager to fly, both crews went to their planes to prepare for the long trek south. Shortly after takeoff, the ARIA began to verify their equipment for the mission. About three hours after departing Cape Town, the flight of two aircraft began its historic in-flight refueling, enabling the Antarctic flight.

Without the successful transfer of fuel, the ARIA would not have the range to reach its support point, and the Delta II launch from Vandenberg AFB, CA would be forced into a costly postponement. The airmanship of both flight crews was evident as the refueling went off without a hitch. A jubilant crew continued to another ARIA first; crossing the Antarctic Circle, traveling to 69 degrees south. Ready to support, the ARIA arrived on station only to have the mission canceled due to excessive upper level winds at the launch site at Vandenberg AFB. Returning to Cape Town, the crew found themselves going into immediate crew rest to prepare for the next day's mission.

The locals say, “the table is set." The phrase describes the breathtaking view of morning fog rolling off the Table Mountain summit that greeted us the next day.

Our take off was to the south, and within a few minutes, the Cape of Good Hope passed beneath the right wing. Five hours passed with nothing to see but water and icebergs. The pilot pans, “Lots of water down there.” The co-pilot retorts as he has a thousand times before, “And that’s just the top of it.” Again, AGAR 94 met the tanker, call sign TURBO 95, successfully refueled, and headed south for the second support attempt. After a smooth refueling, trouble struck our mission equipment section. With recorder problems, communication difficulties and processing equipment failures, the mission equipment crew of seven enlisted and one officer had their hands full. With over 30 years experience amongst them, the crew solved every problem. By the time the Delta II was ready to launch, AGAR 94 was ready to receive it. Two additional ARIA aircraft supported the launch near the equator and the initial launch data was perfect (“nominal” in space lingo). Once out of range of the first two ARIA, the Polar vehicle, true to its name, traveled south over the pole and AGAR 94 began to receive telemetry. At this point, the NASA operators looking at the re-transmitted data at Cape Canaveral noticed an unauthorized user on the satellite channel. Increasing to full authorized power on the SATCOM transmitter, we managed to override the interloper and soon Cape Canaveral announced the clear reception of our data which continued through the rest of the mission.

In high spirits the ARIA crew returned to South Africa, departing the next day to return home. The monotony of the final, 15 hour flight, from Ascension Island to Edwards AFB was broken only by the radio talk:

MIAMI CENTER: “Just curious AGAR 94, Do you have time for a question?”

William Walkowiak

Information Donation
Nunzio "Tony" Virgilio has provided a very special photograph of ARIA 328 that was taken by the Tech Photo Lab at Wright-Patterson AFB. This is a photgraph of ARIA 328 in-flight with the names of the crew of the last flight superimposed. Tony also included a picture of 330 at the Hanscom AFB Air show from 1978 and a 4950th brochure called Testing Tomorrow's Technology Today.

Tony, thank you for all of the items that you have donated, but especially I want to thank you for the picture of ARIA 328.

Video Request Response
I want to thank Glenn Hamilton for the video donation for the flyARIA.com web site. The one video is taken on Ascension Island and I plan to have the video available online this month.

I still do not have any videos from Edwards Air Force Base. I know that at least one exists showcasing ARIA. Please consider a video donation. The ARIA alumni will thank you.

Help Identify Alumni
I have a photograph of the 4952nd Test Squadron which I received from Toby Rufty. What is great about this photograph is that the last names of the personnel are listed but it would be nice to have first names. To view the photograph go to http://flyaria.com/4952nd.html and click on the picture to enlarge.

I want to thank the following in providing names for the group picture:

Joyce Augustyn
Bob Beach
David Cook
John Dyson
Danner Martin
Ray Upright

Information Donations
While visiting the National Museum of the Air Force my wife Melody inquired about ARIA and the 4950th Test Wing at the gift shop looking for some type of memento to come away with. For those of you that may be unfamiliar with the museum it is located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio. It didn't necessary surprise her that they didn't have anything available to purchase but what did surprise her was that no one knew anything about ARIA or the 4950th Test Wing. Unfortunately, this is the rule and not an exception even when an outfit and program was an integral part of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for many years. Most history books fail to mention specific programs and organizations.

I would bet that you have a piece of the puzzle on the history of ARIA and the associated outfits. You may be the only one with this information. Please consider donating to flyARIA.com with information donations. You may not necessarily think that what you have to offer is important, odds are it is.

If we just look at 2009, we know that the flyARIA.com presence has spread the history of ARIA around the world. flyARIA has been an easy source to locate via the web for those who desire information for different projects.

Most importantly, flyARIA has been a beacon for ARIA alumni to return to the fold and become informed on current news and projects. flyARIA has reunited old friends separated by decades of time.

flyARIA.com would not have happened without the generous information donations from you. You are keeping the memory alive.

flyARIA.com Updates
September was a slow month for updates to the flyARIA web site. My schedule has been impossible but I will keep working away at updating the site.

Correction Submissions
No corrections this month.

Did I Forget Something?
Please let me know if I have not included your submitted information in the newsletter. Have something you want to include in the newsletter? It is easy to do, just send me an email.

Mailing List Instructions
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Contact Information
I can be contacted through the ARIA Memorial web site or by Randy.Losey@ARIAMemorial.com. You can also use this email address to submit information to be included into the ARIA Newsletter.