“Game-changing Technology” Gives Pilots New Eyes

Filed under DoD News by on November 30, 2009 at 2:10 pm {no comments}

By Ian Graham

Air Force Col. Peter Mapes, along with other pilots at Andrews Air Force Base, have gotten the go-ahead to install and test advanced GPS units, designed originally for airplanes, in some of the 316th Wing 1st Helicopter Squadron’s UH-1N “Huey” helicopters.

“This is game-changing technology, because it directly addresses the leading cause of loss of life in this type of aeronautical vehicle,” Mapes said.

He added, because the vehicles are generally moving at high speed during such collisions, more than 90 percent of passengers and crew exposed to these events are injured or killed.

The new GPS systems, Mapes explained, turn each helicopter into a sort of “mini radar station.” In addition to providing data on obstructions and terrain, it also tracks weather patterns – including lightning strikes, wind flow and rain – and other aircraft in the area.



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Global Positioning System Improves Helicopter Safety

Video Blog: G.I. Joe Sneak Preview at Andrews AFB

Filed under Emerging Media by on August 6, 2009 at 2:01 pm {4 comments}

Though “G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra” opens in theaters nationwide tomorrow, some members of the military have been buzzing about it for more than a week.

When the cast of the new movie arrived, riding in the gunner’s stations on Humvees, at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, hundreds of service members and their families were lined up at the small movie theater on base to see them. Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans, Sienna Miller and Rachel Nichols met wounded warriors from nearby Walter Reed Army Medical Center at the special showing, days before the press could preview the movie.

The stars, easily in the same age group as most of the wounded troops, spent time chatting with each of the visitors from Walter Reed. Being face-to-face with the men and women of the military, they all said in one way or another, was humbling.

“We’re not out there on that front line,” Wayans said. “I see that and say, ‘Those brothers need a raise.’ Those are the real American heroes.”

Watch the video blog on YouTube by clicking here

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