What was being sprayed over the Youngstown Air Reserve Station?
If you were close enough to Youngstown Air Reserve Station on Monday, you may have seen spray coming from one of the big planes. Airbase officials say it was only water.
Part of the 910th Airlift Wing’s mission is to have an aerial spray capability to control disease-carrying insects, pests, and undesirable vegetation and to disperse oil spills in large bodies of water.
The 910th personnel are trained to carry out specialized missions using EPA-approved products.
As the Air Reserve Station is preparing to upgrade its aging C-130-H Hercules aircraft, the wing’s electronic modular aerial spray system must be tested to make sure it will work with the new J-30 model aircraft.
On Monday, a C-130J-30 Super Hercules aircraft from Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, sprayed water at Youngstown Air Reserve Station as part of a flight test.
According to the Air Force, compared to older C-130s, the J model climbs faster and higher, flies farther at a higher cruise speed, and takes off and lands in a shorter distance. The C-130J-30 is a stretch version, adding 15 feet to the fuselage, increasing usable space in the cargo compartment.
The newer plane also features system improvements that include an advanced two-pilot flight station with fully integrated digital avionics, color multifunctional liquid crystal and head-up displays, and state-of-the-art navigation that includes a dual inertial navigation system and GPS.
The aircraft also features fully integrated defensive systems, low-power color radar, a digital moving map display, new turboprop engines with six-bladed all-composite propellers, and a digital autopilot.
The C-130J/J-30 also includes improved fuel, environmental and ice protection, and an enhanced cargo-handling system.
The spray test at the Air Reserve Station was carried out in partnership between 910th Airlift Wing maintenance personnel and aerial spray specialists, members of the Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex C-130 System Program Office, Georgia, and test flight aircrew from the Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas.
