Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

F-16 lighter pilots alerting the tower that they're "coming in hot" convey more than one meaning. Not only are they making a fast approach-and-land, but the speeds they'll be landing at will produce temperatures in the braking components at the wheels that can potentially rupture the tires, or stay so hot that it may cause the fuel to ignite during refueling on quick turnaround missions. Research of these braking temperatures will be assisted with a sensor system under development at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA. The prototype system will permit ground crews to measure the temperature of an F-16's brakes as it lands. The information can then be conveyed to pilot and ground crew if temperatures approach 1,800[degrees]F, which is considered "hot brake emergency" territory. A sensor that can detect temperatures up to 2,000[degrees]F with an RF tag will be inserted into an existing wear pin, a component which usually monitors brake pad wear. As the plane lands, ground crews will use a hand-held wireless device, called an interrogator, to send an activation signal to the RF tag. Switched on, the sensor takes a reading and sends the data back to the interrogator. A single interrogator can be used to gather data from more than one RF tag simultaneously.