EDWARDS RUNWAY WILL GET OVERHAUL COST PROJECTED AT $103 MILLION.Byline: JIM Jim Miss Watson’s runaway slave; Huck’s traveling companion. [Am. Lit.: Huckleberry Finn] See : Escape SKEEN Staff Writer EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. -- After almost five decades serving cutting-edge military aircraft, Edwards' main runway, nearly three miles long, needs a makeover. The Air Force plans to spend $103 million to overhaul the 15,000-foot-long runway, which officials say would otherwise functionally fail by 2008. The runway already routinely sheds concrete chunks several inches across. To keep flight-test operations going while Runway 22 is overhauled, a new 12,000-foot runway will be built parallel to it and about one-half mile away. Air traffic will be diverted to the 12,000-foot runway while the main runway is overhauled, said Col. Brent Baker, commander of Edwards' 95th Air Base Wing. ``It's pretty much a complete upgrade,'' Baker said. The Air Force is looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a builder now. One issue, however, is whether the 12,000-foot runway will be able to accommodate space-shuttle landings while Runway 22 is out of service. NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. officials want to get an additional 1,000 feet added to the second runway. ``Twelve-thousand feet is cutting it just a bit too short,'' said NASA Dryden Flight Research Center The Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), located inside Edwards Air Force Base, is an aeronautical research center operated by NASA. On March 26, 1976 it was named in honor of the late Hugh L. spokesman Alan Brown
If NASA's request cannot be accommodated at Edwards, officials say the agency would look elsewhere for a secondary shuttle site. Edwards is the secondary site after the Cape Canaveral Cape Canaveral (kənăv`ərəl), low, sandy promontory extending E into the Atlantic Ocean from a barrier island, E Fla., separated from Merritt Island by the Banana River, a lagoon; named (1963) Cape Kennedy in memory of President John , Fla., area. An option in the Air Force construction plans allows for a 1,000-foot extension. Who would pay for it hasn't been determined, Baker said. ``That issue hasn't been totally resolved, but it is known,'' Baker said about NASA's concerns. Shuttle landing rollouts can vary because of factors including temperature, the shuttle's weight and wind conditions. NASA wants a bigger safety margin in case there's a brake problem or a problem with the drogue chute that slows the shuttle. Astronauts piloting a shuttle set the main gear wheels down at a spot about 2,500 feet into the runway. The landing rollout, at a minimum, can take up to 8,500 feet. james.skeen(at)dailynews (661) 267-5743 |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion