Message posted by Nelson on January 07, 2009 at 10:20:42 PST:
Yup, I was ninety percent sure about the arresting cables along the runway, I've seen a system like it in operation at the North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego. They don't have structures over the mechanism there, google earth has some very clear images of it. I've also gotten to check out the old obsolete system at the Alameda NAS, they left it in place when they closed the runways.
Of course, at most airports they have very obvious distinctive markings over the cable system, I suppose they feel that they don't need the markings at Groom Lake.
The thing that gets me is the net, I've actually been wondering if what we're seeing IS the shadow. The perspective seems right, but of course I'm no expert. I suppose it could be lying on the ground, and they could have some kind of a quick erection system to deploy it. That would explain one of the things confusing me, putting such an obvious height hazard so close to the end of an active runway. Either way, it's huge compared to the systems they use for UAV recovery, and the emergency net system they use on aircraft carriers.
Interesting that they put so much effort into just one end of one runway, it seems like whatever they're worried about running off the runway is only approaching from the north and landing on 14 L.
In Reply to: Re: A question about Groom Lake posted by Don on January 07, 2009 at 8:37:19 PST:
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