Beale launches unmanned jet


Message posted by lone wolf on November 22, 2006 at 11:40:04 PST:

Beale launches unmanned jet

By Daniel Witter/Appeal-Democrat

Global Hawk pilot and instructor Col. Chris Jella sent a champagne cork tumbling into the air, the contents of the bottle spilling over its side Tuesday afternoon.

Before him in a hangar at Beale Air Force Base stood pilots, mechanics and other airmen. Behind him stood a Global Hawk aircraft - a strange-looking plane with long wings, two tail fins and a bulbous cockpit without windows.

The celebration was one that he and other Beale officials have long waited for - the moment after accomplishing a historic first-ever operational flight of the Global Hawk over American soil.

“Today is a good day for the 9th Reconnaissance Wing,” said Col. Domenick Eanniello, the wing's vice commander. “It's a good day for the Air Force and the U.S.”

“It's been a long time coming,” said Staff Sgt. Brian Fox, who is a vehicle test controller with the 9th Reconnaissance Wing. It was his job to start up the aircraft for its historic flight.

“It's a little airplane that does a big job,” he said.

The Global Hawk is an unmanned reconnaissance jet that gathers intelligence from altitudes above 65,000 feet. The plane carries a variety of sensors and can fly nonstop for more than 30 hours, according to the U.S. Air Force.

Airmen launched the unmanned plane, verified procedures regularly used in overseas Global Hawk missions and landed the plane back at Beale.

The mission was successful, despite morning weather that threatened to derail the flight for a second day in a row.

The aircraft kept within 100 miles of the base, providing just a taste of its abilities, said Brig. Gen. Jake Polumbo, commander of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing.

“We can fly this aircraft anywhere in the world,” he said.

Pilots control the plane through computers based at Beale - even though the plane itself could fly on missions halfway around the world, Polumbo said.

Beale now has two Global Hawks on the base. The first arrived in October 2003, and the second arrived earlier this month. Pilots used the newly-arrived plane for Tuesday's mission.

A third Global Hawk will arrive within in the next few months, Polumbo said. By 2009, Beale will have seven of the aircraft. The Air Force plans for a fleet of 51.

Not only was the flight monumental for getting Beale's Global Hawk operational mission off the ground, it's also a transition from the manned U-2 aircraft, said Polumbo.

“It's the wave of the future, and all pilots understand that,” he said.

Base officials see the Global Hawk's future as very bright, and Tuesday's flight was only the beginning.

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