Aerial spray unit gets more people, money to perform mission

Published April 24, 2007
By Tech. Sgt. Bob Barko Jr.
910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

YOUNGSTOWN AIR RESERVE STATION, Ohio -- Air Force Reserve Command's aerial spray unit here is getting more people and money to deliver one-of-a-kind services.

The 910th Airlift Wing provides the only fixed-wing, aerial spray capability in the Defense Department. Its modified C-130 transport aircraft can spray for mosquitoes and other insect pests, contain large oil spills in the ocean and lakes, and deliver herbicide on unwanted vegetation.

To enhance that mission, the wing's aerial spray maintenance flight will gain nine traditional reservist positions and $2.6 million worth of new and additional equipment.

This is the first time the maintenance flight will receive part-time help to complete the wing's ongoing aerial spray mission.

"(The reservists) will certainly enhance our capability to meet mission requirements for 24-7 aerial spray operations," said Senior Master Sgt. John Daniels, the maintenance flight's flight chief, commenting on the added manpower during drill weekends.

The extra equipment will modify two more C-130 aircraft for the aerial spray mission and upgrade vital mission components in the aircraft and on the ground.

Sergeant Daniels said the new equipment will help his unit meet four priorities. They are:

- Update the Global Positioning System units used in the aerial spray aircraft.

- Modify two more aircraft for aerial spray missions.

- Update the on-board Quantity Indicating Systems, a system that allows the aircrew to know the amount of product available during a spray mission for each aircraft.

- Rebuild the on-ground mixing tanks, used in the aerial spray missions, at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.

The maintenance flight is already playing a key role in upgrading the GPS systems on the aircraft. The shop that the flight works out of is chock full of rows of tables and workbenches holding an array of blinking, flashing, humming and beeping equipment.

Two GPS units are mounted to a workstation platform in the rear of the room.

One device is the GPS unit currently used aboard the aerial spray aircraft. It was specifically adapted for the spray mission. Several of its components contain analog, push-button style controls with no visual readout screens.

The other unit mounted on the workstation is the new GPS being tested in the shop for the purpose of replacing the existing units being used in the spray operations. If approved after a series of ground and air tests, the new GPS units will be installed aboard all of the aerial spray aircraft and put into real-world use, according to Master Sgt. Michael Birmingham, an avionics technician.

"This is a new agricultural GPS," said Sergeant Birmingham. "It was designed specifically for the aerial spray applications.

"In addition to giving latitude and longitude - your location - this GPS has a database for tracking the sprays, predicting the spray clouds and the deposition area, (the location where the spray will land)," he said. "This allows the subsequent sprays to be much more accurate."

While the current GPS system is accurate within 150 feet, Sergeant Birmingham said with the correct satellite information the new GPS unit could match the precision of a laser-guided bomb in being "on target" during a spray mission.

"With an Omnistar subscription, this new system enables the spray missions to be accurate within 15 centimeters of a pre-selected target area on the ground," said Sergeant Birmingham.

He said the Omnistar system allows the Air Force to use an optimum number of satellites to allow this kind of precision in spraying even as the aircraft are delivering their payload from 150 feet in the air.

Sergeants Daniels and Birmingham agree that the new GPS system will improve an already "outstanding, one-of-a-kind operation in DOD."

"It has been a long road to get here, but the new capabilities of (the aerial spray mission) are just beginning," said Sergeant Daniels. (Air Force Reserve Command News Service)