Phase Three Alert

GLOSSARY

AlC: Aircraft Commander, the pilot in charge.

ACM: Additional Crew Member, a term frequently applied to riders who have no actual function in the operation of an aircraft.

ADF: Automatic Direction Finder, a radio-navigation device that, in essence, has a needle that points directly toward the station to which it is tuned.

Advancing line search: One of several techniques for systematically searching a given area from the air.

A-frame: A simple, portable device, usually equipped with a block and tackle, which can be used for moderately heavy lifting jobs at field locations.

Aileron: A relatively small, movable control surface normally located at or near the wingtips of an aircraft. They are used to keep the wings level or to bank them while turning.

Airframe: The main structure of an aircraft, excluding the engine(s).

Airlifier: An aircraft specifically designed to carry freight. The term is sometimes applied to other aircraft that have been modified for cargo use.

Airscrew: Another, more technical, name for propeller.

Airway: A specific, frequently used flight path that is equipped with navigational aids. An air highway.

Alclad: A type of sheet metal used in aircraft construction. It consists of a strong aluminum alloy covered with a layer of pure aluminum to resist corrosion.

Altimeter: An instrument that shows the height of an aircraft above sea level. Most altimeters work by atmospheric pressure and need to be frequently reset. Radar altimeters read the distance above the ground or water directly underneath the aircraft.

Analyzer: A piece of electronic equipment which displays on a tube face a continuous report on the condition and functioning of an aircraft engine.

Angle of attack: The angle at which the wing of an aircraft meets the relative wind. Under normal flight conditions, increasing the angle of attack increases the amount of lift generated, up to a specific point.

AOK: A familiar military expression meaning “as good as possible.”

APU: Auxiliary Power Unit. On large aircraft, the APU supplies power to operate various systems while the main engines are shut down.

Archie: The Thule designation for Arctic foxes.

ARRS: Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service, a part of the Military Airlift Command.

Artificial horizon: An aircraft instrument that, by means of a gyroscope, can display on its face a miniature aircraft and a horizon line, which correspond to the relative positions of the actual aircraft and the true horizon.

ASAP: As Soon As Possible.

Atmospheric pressure: The almost constantly changing pressure of the atmosphere as it would be measured at sea level. The world standard for average conditions is 29.92 inches of mercury in a vacuum.

Autopilot (sometimes Automatic pilot): A piece of equipment normally capable of maintaining an aircraft’s flight path at a preset direction, altitude, and attitude. Highly sophisticated units are coupled to radar altimeters and can thereby avoid terrain obstructions when flying at low altitude.

Avionics: Electronic equipment normally used for navigational purposes.

B-17: One of the bulwarks of the United States Army Air Corps during World War II, the B-17 (B for “bomber”) was a four-engined heavy bomber, piston-powered and principally used for daylight bombing of the Axis strongholds. Thousands were built. The B-17 enjoyed a phenomenal reputation for durability; many of them flew home despite severe battle damage. The B-17 was designed and built by Boeing; when additional planes of the same type were needed, production lines were also set up at Douglas Aircraft Corporation at Vega.

Ballistic Missle Early Warning System (BMEWS): A very large, highly complicated, and extremely powerful radar installation kept in continuous operation to give warning in case of an attack launched against the United States or Canada by means of ballistic missiles.

Barrel roll: An aerobatic maneuver during which an aircraft is rolled completely around its longitudinal axis. (The longitudinal axis is an imaginary line drawn from the tip of the nose back to the end of the tail.)

Battery cart: A standard piece of ground-support equipment that carries a number of well-charged batteries (under most circumstances). It can be plugged into an aircraft and used to start engines, thereby sparing excess drain on the aircraft’s own internal batteries.

Beeper: A small device that transmits a continuous electronic signal so that it can be easily located.

Belly in: To land an aircraft, usually deliberately, without putting the landing gear down. This is the accepted technique when making forced landings in rough terrain or on water.

Bendix Mixmaster: A very good, but quite complex, octant used during World War II for celestial navigation purposes.

Blind broadcast: A message put out with no assurance that it is being heard by the intended recipient.

Bluie West 8: The World War II code designation for the landing strip located at Söndre Strömfjord, Greenland. It is on the west coast of the island, slightly north of the Arctic Circle.

BMEWS: See Ballistic Missile Early Warning System.

Buddy system: A military regulation that, when in effect, prohibits anyone from venturing out without at least one companion, for mutual protection.

BX: Base Exchange, a military store operated for the benefit of the personnel stationed at a military facility; it normally sells civilian goods at reduced prices.

C-47: The Douglas DC-3 in all of its military variations. It is one of the most memorable aircraft ever built, and one of the best.

C-130: A Lockheed-built, four-engined, turboprop airlifter widely used by the Military Airlift Command, and by the Canadian Armed Forces. It is noted for its short takeoff and landing capability, and for its rugged reliability; its official name is “Hercules.”

C-141: A Lockheed four-engine, jet, heavy airlifter with strategic (long-range) capability. This aircraft is the current backbone of the MAC fleet.

Carburetor beat: A system for deicing carburetor intakes in piston engines that do not have fuel injection. Carburetor ice is a frequent problem, even during good weather conditions, and almost all conventional piston-powered aircraft are equipped with this device.

Checklist: A schedule of items that must be checked and verified before each phase of aircraft operation. Usually there are several checklists, including pre-engine-start, pretaxi, before-takeoff, before-landing, after-landing, and sbutdown. Sometimes long and complicated, checklists are used to insure that no significant items are forgotten or overlooked. Checklists are religiously used during all properly conducted aircraft operations.

Chill factor: An equivalent temperature arrived at by taking into consideration both the actual temperature and the wind velocity. The wind has a major effect in determining the danger of exposure in the Arctic.

Chord: The width of an aircraft wing, measured from the leading (front) to the training (rear) edge. It is almost always greatest at the root, i.e., next to the fuselage or the main body of the aircraft.

Closed field: An airport where all operations are prohibited because of adverse weather conditions. (The term also applies, of course, to airports that have shut down permanently.)

Cocked: A term applied to a large or sophisticated aircraft that has been prepared for flight with all checklist items completed up to “start engines,” or the equivalent. Generally, any aircraft prepared as far as possible for immediate use.

Command post: An especially equipped room, or site, that serves as a headquarters for a specific type of operation. Normally command posts are equipped with communications, display boards, and other facilities.

Cuban 8: A fairly difficult aerobatic maneuver which consists, roughly, of vertical figure 8’s. Cuban 8’s are notoriously prone to induce airsickness in passengers who elect to ride through them.

CW: Continous Wave, or Morse code-type, radio communications.

DEW Line: A series of Distant Early Warning radar stations stretched across the Arctic; there are DEW Line stations on the Greenland Ice Cap, but they are different from, and should not be confused with, BMEWS.

Ditch: To put a land-based aircraft down on water, obviously an emergency procedure only.

DME: Distance Measuring Equipment, an airborne electronic device that can read out the distance in nautical miles from an aircraft to a suitably-equipped (usually TACAN) radio station. A pilot’s dream come true.

Dope: A special compound used to coat aircraft fabric-covered surfaces.

Dorsal: A long, extended fin on the top of an aircraft which leads into the vertical stabilizer.

Double drift: A navigational technique used to determine the strength and direction of the wind. By measuring the observed drift accurately on two different headings, the navigator can make a very close determination of the wind at the altitude at which his aircraft is flying.

Driftmeter: A device by means of which a navigator can determine the drift of an aircraft by sighting the ground or water underneath. Drift, per se, is the amount of sidewise motion induced by the prevailing wind.

Driftpins: Very substantial and heavy steel pins used to fasten the wings onto the main body structure of certain aircraft. They are slightly tapered and usually one to two inches in diameter.

Drink: Aviation slang for “refuel.”

Elevator: A movable surface (or a pair of surfaces) that controls the pitch of an aircraft. It is part of the tail assembly.

Elmendorf A United States Air Force base located near Anchorage, Alaska.

Empennage: The complete tail assembly of an aircraft.

Engine frame: The (usually welded) tube structure that serves as an engine mount on an aircraft. ETA: Estimated Time of Arrival.

FAA: Federal Aviation Agency.

Fairings: Fillets, usually between the wings and fuselage of an aircraft, installed to insure a smooth, minimum-friction flow of air over otherwise awkward areas.

Feather: To turn the blades of an inactive propeller edgewise to the wind to reduce drag and prevent windmilling.

Feathering button: The cockpit control which when depressed will feather a specific propeller.

Field-grade officer: A major or higher.

Fillet: A concave piece of metal used to streamline the meeting of two aircraft surfaces, such as the wing and the side of the fuselage.

Firebee: A pilotless target drone manufactured by Ryan.

Firewall: A solid panel which separates the cockpit from the nose-mounted engine in single-engined aircraft. If there is no nose-mounted engine, the term is still used.

Fittings: The integral parts used to fasten one piece of an aircraft’s structure to another.

Five-square: A code to indicate that communications are both loud and clear. The scale of values used is one to five, for both volume and clarity. Thus three-by-three would indicate marginal volume and also impaired clarity. Five-square is frequently used instead of five-by-five. The two values, of course, need not be the same; a signal could be very faint, but still clear.

Fix: A navigational term designating the exact location of an aircraft in flight at a specific time.

Flaps: Auxiliary wing panels which can be raised or lowered in flight. They are normally used to decrease speed and increase lift prior to landing. They are also used during takeoffs and whenever it may be necessary to slow an aircraft to minimum safe speed while in flight.

Flare: This word has two aeronautical meanings. Most commonly, when an aircraft is descending for a landing, just before or above the runway the pilot will raise the nose, slowing the descent to a minimum and putting the plane in a landing attitude. This is known as flaring. Expertly done, it produces a smooth and gentle landing. Flare also means a pyrotechnic signal light, as it does elsewhere.

Flight plan: A document filed by a pilot, or a responsible crew member, before departure. It supplies information concerning the pilot’s identity, intentions, destination, alternate choice of destination in case of adverse weather, and other data. (Under some circumstances a flight plan is not legally required for cross-country trips, but prudent pilots file them anyway.)

463L (Four-Six-Three L): An efficient, palletized, cargo-handling system used by the Air Transport Command. Fourteen-hundred hours: 2 P.M. See also Time.

Full bore: Wide open, i.e., a maximum effort.

Full feather: To turn an aircraft’s propeller blades until they are directly edgewise to the relative wind.

Fuselage: The main body of an aircraft, excluding the wings or rotors.

G’s: Multiples of the force of gravity induced by moderate-to-severe aircraft maneuvers. Two G’s means twice the normal force of gravity; at five G’s a normally 200-pound man would weigh 1,000 pounds. Astronauts and most test pilots regularly endure such stresses, and more.

GCA.: Ground Control Approach, a radar system by means of which a pilot on final approach to landing is given continuous information as to his exact position and distance from touchdown. This term has now been largely superseded by PAR (Precision Approach Radar).

Gear down: With landing gear extended. Also, the command by the aircraft commander to extend the wheels; normally it is done by either the copilot or the flight engineer.

Glide path: A precision approach path to an instrument runway. It is marked by two highly directional radio transmitters — the glide-slope indicator (GSI) and the localizer. The latter supplies right-left indications.

Glide slope: Specifically, the designated descent path onto an instrument runway. Also, the pitch, or angle, of that path.

Go-around: The procedure laid down for a pilot to follow if he approaches an airport but cannot complete his landing as planned. It is also known as a missed approach in instrument flying. The most common cause is inadequate visibility immediately prior to an intended landing.

Goose Bay: A widely known stop on North Atlantic and certain Arctic routes. It is located in western Labrador.

Ground control: The authority that handles the movement of aircraft on the ground, exclusive of takeoffs and landings, at major airports. Ground control normally has its own special radio frequency and personnel.

Ground effect: A phenomenon which gives extra lift to aircraft just before landing. Essentially it is an added cushion built up when the air deflected downward by the wings is slightly compressed against the ground.

Hardstand: A paved area at an airport where heavy aircraft can be safely parked.

Head: A military term, originated by the Navy, that means toilet.

Heading: The exact direction in which the nose of an aircraft is pointed. It can be, and frequently is, different from the path of the aircraft over the ground or water.

Head shed: The Pentagon, in Washington, D.C. (actually in Virginia). See also Puzzle palace.

Herc: Short for Hercules, the official name of the C-130 airlifter.

HH-3: The Air Force official designation for the twin-turbine Sikorsky rescue helicopter more popularly known as the Jolly Green Giant.

Hover-taxi: A frequently used helicopter technique; instead of rolling an aircraft along the ground on its wheels, the pilot will lift off a few feet and then fly just above the ground to where he is going. Some helicopters — those that have no wheels — do this of necessity.

Hundred-bour check: An inspection performed on aircraft after each 100 hours of use; normally it involves a minimum maintenance procedure.

IFR: Instrument Flight Rules.

ILS: Instrument Landing System.

Instrument approach: A precision approach to a properly equipped runway that can be executed by a qualified pilot solely by reference to instruments on the panel before him.

IO: Information Officer.

J Site: The common name for the BMEWS installation close to Thule.

Jigs: Tools used in the manufacturing of aircraft; essentially they hold components in proper alignment while the parts are welded or otherwise joined together.

Jolly: Short for Jolly Green Giant, the affectionate name for the Sikorsky HH-3 rescue helicopter, which gained great fame in Vietnam.

Knot: One nautical mile per hour. In round figures, fifty-two knots equals sixty miles per hour.

Latrine: Toilet.

LEM: Lunar Excursion Module.

Letdown: An aircraft’s descent from cruising altitude to a position where it can enter the landing pattern of its destination airport.

Loadmaster: A respected and highly skilled crew member who is responsible for the loading and unloading of an airlifter. He also makes certain that the load does not exceed allowable limits, is properly distributed, and is securely fastened down.

Long-legged: Having long-range capability.

Long-range cruise: An engine setting designed to get the maximum number of miles out of the available fuel at the sacrifice of some speed.

LORAN: An acronym for LOng RAnge Navigation; it is an electronic system, requiring specialized equipment capable of receiving two coupled transmitting stations simultaneously. LORAN is particularly effective over large bodies of water.

MAC: Military Airlift Command.

Mag drop: In almost all instances, aircraft piston engines have dual magnetos for greater ignition reliability. During normal operations both systems are continuously operated. Prior to takeoff, it is customary to run each engine for a brief test period on first one magneto and then the other to insure that both are functioning properly. The loss in rpm when running on either single magneto is known as the mag drop.

Mags: Magnetos, the alternators used to supply ignition to internal combustion engines; most aircraft piston engines have two for additional reliability.

Manifold pressure: The standard method for measuring the power output of an airborne piston engine.

Materiel: Military equipment and supplies.

Max gross: The theoretical maximum gross weight of an aircraft, including its fuel and payload, at which it can safely take off and fly.

Medevac: The transportation of medical patients by air; also, the special system set up to accomplish this.

Mixmaster: The popular name for the Bendix octant widely used by aerial navigators during World War II. See also Bendix Mixmaster.

Moonlight-requisition: A time-honored military technique for obtaining needed supplies or equipment which cannot conveniently be had through normal channels; it consists of helping yourself when no one is looking.

Mukluks: An Eskimo-invented foot covering worn inside boots in the Arctic for greater comfort and warmth.

Nacelle: The part of an aircraft’s structure that contains an engine, usually wing-mounted.

Navaids: A convenient abbreviation for aids to navigation, usually electronic ones.

NCO: Non-Commissioned Officer. Included are Air Force sergeants, Navy chiefs, et cetera. NCO’s frequently in positions of high trust and substantial responsibility.

NCOIC: Non-Commissioned Officer In Charge.

Non-directional beacon: A radio aid to air navigation that sends out a uniform signal in all directions.

NORAD: The North American Air Defense Command, a very complex and vital organization headquartered inside Cheyenne Mountain near Colorado Springs, Colorado. BMEWS provides data input to NORAD, as do other sources.

Number one: “Number one to land” is a tower directive informing a pilot that there are no planes ahead of him and that he may proceed with his final approach.

Octant: A navigational instrument similar to a sextant that is used for determining the height above the horizon of stars and other celestial bodies. Octants are almost exclusively used in aircraft.

OMNI: A very widely used omnidirectional air navigation system; it is most effective over land areas.

P Mountain: An isolated site in the environs of the Greenland BMEWS.

PAR: Precision Approach Radar.

PA system: Public Address System.

Pax: Passengers.

Personnel door: A small door set inside a main hangar door so that people can conveniently go in and out without disturbing the main installation.

Phase: A condition of abnormally severe weather.

Phase Alert: A warning that phase weather is shortly expected.

Phase One; Phase Two; Phase Three: Progressively more severe Arctic weather conditions (which are described in detail in the text). Phase Three can bring winds in excess of 200 miles per hour and chill factors which make survival out of doors very marginal, even with the protection of full arctic clothing. Phase storms have an intensity all but unknown in the continental United States.

Phase markers: Steel posts with bright reflectors on top that are set on each side of the roadways at Thule and along the route to BMEWS. They are only a few feet apart and are intended to mark the edge of the roadway for any driver unfortunate enough to be caught out during phase conditions.

Phase rations: Emergency food supplies stored in almost every building at Thule for use during extended phase weather conditions.

Phase Warning Card: A small blue card issued at Thule which states the rules that apply under each set of phase conditions.

Pitch: The angle at which the blades of a propeller meet the relative wind.

Pitch control: The means by which a pilot can change the pitch of his propeller blades. Pitch control is particularly important in turboprop aircraft.

PJ’s: The parachute rescue men of the ARRS. They are, among other things, scuba divers and trained medical technicians.

Proficiency flight: A flight made principally for the purpose of crew training and to maintain proficiency.

Prop: Propeller. Puzzle palace: The Pentagon.

R and R: Rest and Recreation.

Radome: Short for radar dome, a piece of nonmetallic aircraft structure behind which a radar antenna is mounted and operated.

RAL: Radar Assisted Landing.

Range-leg: A now all-but-obsolete method of air navigation. A radio range station would transmit four different legs a pilot could fly inbound or outbound. This system has been effectively replaced by the much superior OMNI and TACAN.

Red-line speed: The “never-exceed” speed of an aircraft, usually marked with a red line on the airspeed indicator.

Reefer strap: A canvas strap that is frequently used to fasten loads onto hand trucks or dollies.

Relief tube: A simple, flexible urinal found in most military aircraft, including fighters.

Roger: A standard radio communications term. It means “received and understood.”

Rotate: A technical term which applies principally to turboprop and turbojet aircraft. During takeoff the aircraft gains speed on the runway with the nosewheel on the ground. When flying speed has been attained, the pilot will rotate the plane around the transverse axis a specified number of degrees. Put another way, he lifts the nosewheel off and increases the angle of attack. This generates the necessary added lift and the plane comes off the ground.

Rotator: An aircraft which arrives on a regular schedule at a military base, bringing replacement personnel and taking back those who have completed their tours at the installation. The Thule rotator arrives weekly, weather permitting.

Rpm: Revolutions per minute.

SAC: Strategic Air Command.

Secured: Completely shut down. Also, closed and locked, in some contexts.

Sikorsky: A major American manufacturer of highly esteemed helicopters and, formerly, flying boats.

Single sideband: A form of long-range voice communication between a suitably equipped aircraft and the ground.

Six-pack: A fairly heavy pickup truck with a rear seat in the cab. It will carry six persons inside, including the driver.

Slipstream: The flow of air past an aircraft while it is in flight.

Snow cat: A tracked vehicle capable of operating on snow-covered surfaces. It is frequently used for towing sleds.

Socked in: A term applied to an airport or airstrip that has been closed because of adverse weather conditions.

Spin: An aerobatic maneuver during which an airplane is fully stalled and then allowed to autorotate like a falling maple seed. It is dangerous when performed — voluntarily or otherwise — too close to the ground.

Squawk: To signal by means of a transponder. See also Transponder.

Stabilizer: The (usually fixed) horizontal surface that is part of a conventional aircraft’s tail assembly.

Stall: A condition of flight in which the even flow of air over the wings is broken, either by having too high an angle of attack or by slowing below a safe speed (or both). Stalled aircraft will drop down until they regain flying speed — some more drastically than others.

TACAN: TACtical Air Navigation, an excellent electronic navigation method at present used largely by the military for over-land operations. TACAN is somewhat similar to OMNI in practical use, but is an entirely different system.

Tail-dragger: An airplane equipped with what used to be called a conventional landing gear, i.e., with a main gear in front and a relatively small tail wheel at the back.

Tail number: An identifying number normally painted on the vertical stabilizer of all military aircraft.

TDY: Temporary Duty.

Thule: An actual air base located high up on the west coast of Greenland. It takes its name from Ultima Thule: “the utmost limit.”

Time: The United States Air Force uses the 24-hour clock and expresses time accordingly. The hour and minute are written together as a single four-digit number; thus 0630 means six-thirty in the morning. Six-thirty in the evening would be 1830. Two P.M. would be 1400. This system removes all ambiguities and is highly efficient in use.

Trackmaster: A special rescue vehicle designed and equipped to operate over unprepared terrain, ice, and snow under the most severe weather conditions; riding in one is somewhat similar to being inside a concrete mixer.

Transceiver: A piece of radio gear that will both transmit and receive.

Transponder: A piece of airborne radar equipment by means of which an aircraft can identify itself or alert ground controllers to any unusual situation. The transponder produces a bright visual display on the controllers’ radarscopes. Transponder use is known as squawking; thus, an aircraft may be asked “to squawk” a certain code number so that it can be positively identified. An aircraft in distress will squawk 7700, a signal that gets immediate attention. The code 7600 indicates radio failure. There is also a code to be used if hijacked.

Tricycle gear: The now very popular arrangement of a main landing gear, usually somewhere under the wing area, and a nosewheel. It is used on aircraft of all sizes.

Trim tab: A relatively small movable surface that is part of a larger aircraft control surface. It is used to make minor, semi-permanent adjustments.

Truculent Turtle: The name of a famous U.S. Navy aircraft that set an impressive long-range record. The Turtle is a Lockheed P2V Neptune; Commander Thomas D. Davies and crew flew her nonstop 11,236 miles.

Turboprop: An aircraft powered by turbine engine(s) that turn propeller(s). Turboprops are roughly halfway between piston-engined aircraft (all of which are propeller driven) and pure jets.

Twin Otter: A DeHavilland (of Canada) aircraft particularly suitable for operation in undeveloped areas. It is a twin turboprop STOL (Short Take Off and Landing) transport able to carry up to twenty passengers and suitable for ski operations.

Urp bucket: A wax-lined bag, or other container, provided to receive vomit in case of airsickness. (The next time you fly, you will find one in the seat pocket in front of you.)

Very piston: A flare signaling device carried on most aircraft likely to be operated over desolate regions.

VFR: Visual Flight Rules, i.e., flying in clear, unobstructed weather.

VHF: Very High Frequency.

VIP: Very Important Person, now more commonly DV (Distinguished Visitor).

VORTAC: A radio aid to air navigation which combines VOR (VHF Omnidirectional Range) and TACAN transmissions — two entirely different systems — at one location.

Walter Reed: A large military hospital in Washington, D.C.

Weather radar: An airborne radar system that will show a pilot weather conditions ahead of him, particularly such things as thunderstorms. It is especially useful at night.

Weight and balance: A computation made before flight to establish that an aircraft’s load is within established limits, both as to gross weight and placement within the cargo hold.

Whipstall: A violent aircraft maneuver in which a stall is induced at an extreme attitude, such as with the nose almost straight up. Under such circumstances, the aircraft will literally whip around as it recovers. Unless stressed for such maneuvers, it could experience structural failure.

Whiteout: A condition in heavy fog or snow when the pilot of an aircraft cannot see anything but white out of his windshield, and cannot distinguish snow-covered ground from the equally white atmosphere.

Wilco: Will comply. Used in radio communications, it also implies that the preceding transmission has been fully understood.

Wing-root section: That section of an aircraft wing closest to the side of the fuselage.

Yoke: The aircraft control column, usually in duplicate in aircraft that have provisions for a copilot. The yoke moves backward and forward to control the elevators; the control wheel is mounted on top.Normally, yoke implies the entire control assembly.

Zero time: By law, or military regulation, a very careful record is kept of the amount of time that each aircraft is in actual use. This time accumulates until the aircraft (and/or its power plants) undergoes complete overhaul. When all worn parts have been replaced, and the aircraft has been restored to new condition, it is then considered to have zero time, since it is the equivalent of a brand-new plane. Zero time, therefore, does not imply total newness, but rather implies no time since exhaustive overhaul and restoration to new condition. The total time on each aircraft and engine is also progressively accounted for. An aircraft may therefore be described as having “total time 2, 345 hours, zero time since overhaul.” (Such periodic overhauls are mandatory.)