4 ms·

Upside Down Air Force

104 points by stevage 2y ago

latchkey 2y ago
Discussions on similar submissions: The USAF's "Upside-Down Air Force" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40544829 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40544829 (June 1, 2024 — 84 points, 14 comments)
dmurray 2y ago
> Instead of flying the aircraft over test antennae, the airframes (usually minus their tails) are suspended upside-down, under or near the instrumentation. Why not make a hole in the ground and put the antennae under the airplane that way?
- KineticLensman 2y ago
  Because then the interesting electronic emissions would be radiating into the ground, not to nearby test equipment.
  - dmurray 2y ago
    I was intending to put the test equipment in the hole. Since "flying over test antennae" was an option, it shouldn't be a problem that there's solid ground (the bottom of the hole) underneath the test equipment. I think the real answer is that they need more angles than keeping the aircraft flat and level and putting the antennae below it would provide. The aircraft have to be suspended anyway, so they can be rotated and have different profiles measured.
    - ano-ther 2y ago
      The ground lining the hole would also reflect or absorb electromagnetic waves differently than air.
- ambicapter 2y ago
  I think the intention is to radiate into the ground, not into the sky, where spy satellites can possibly sense the stray emissions.
morellt 2y ago
I'm a current DoD contractor employee at Griffiss, and it's a real trip to see just how much cool stuff is/was being done at the base when it was still active. There is still cool research being done but nothing at this scope for a while now. It makes me kind of sad to see all of this activity being sent away from NY to Cali, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, etc. Not a whole lot of large-scale testing/development going on up here nowadays. Getting stories from the old timers is always fun, though.
- morellt 2y ago
  FUN FACT: This is the same base Woodstock '99 took place at :D
dylan604 2y ago
"This must be the full-service island" I'm dead. For that to be one of the only captions, I'm just glad I wasn't taking a sip when I read it.
gunian 2y ago
thought this was about the airforce of a newly created republic called upside down
franky47 2y ago
"I was inverted" "Uh, Lieutenant. What were you doing there?" "Communicating."
HocusLocus 2y ago
There (was) also ATLAS-I or "Trestle" ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATLAS-I https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATLAS-I ) at Kirtland Air Force Base near Albuquerque, New Mexico to park airplanes onto for EMP testing. The largest non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse generator in the world. See it ( https://www.google.com/maps/place/35°01'47.3"N+106°33'27.6"W/ https://www.google.com/maps/place/35°01'47.3"N+106°33'27.6"W... )
- kragen 2y ago
  Hearsay: one guy was too close to it when it went off and discovered he'd killed his digital watch.
- twic 2y ago
  And then pan around and marvel at all the other weird shit out there in the desert. Sandia National Laboratories Tech Area V: https://maps.app.goo.gl/WWjnzFfi1yLrhC4RA https://maps.app.goo.gl/WWjnzFfi1yLrhC4RA (which is various nuclear stuff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=valvf2yoVvU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=valvf2yoVvU) The USAF Safety Crash Lab, surrounded by bits of broken planes: https://maps.app.goo.gl/M4EUYP9syfvXw3DH6 https://maps.app.goo.gl/M4EUYP9syfvXw3DH6 A lot of recreational vehicles: https://maps.app.goo.gl/kFyVCbYYSSP6JL8C6 https://maps.app.goo.gl/kFyVCbYYSSP6JL8C6 National Solar Thermal Test Facility: https://maps.app.goo.gl/14zygVRtw76VQ3QQ9 https://maps.app.goo.gl/14zygVRtw76VQ3QQ9 Sandia Water Impact Facility (big diving pool): https://maps.app.goo.gl/TknLAuHmkW2egnXX7 https://maps.app.goo.gl/TknLAuHmkW2egnXX7 Starfire Optical Range (big lasers): https://maps.app.goo.gl/5gyXwYcHAPFBUVZM8 https://maps.app.goo.gl/5gyXwYcHAPFBUVZM8 A long thing (rocket sled track?): https://maps.app.goo.gl/1JPXWJC1XBQtcFwv9 https://maps.app.goo.gl/1JPXWJC1XBQtcFwv9 Definitely a rocket sled track: https://maps.app.goo.gl/nwrDBbqqy8NjRtnPA https://maps.app.goo.gl/nwrDBbqqy8NjRtnPA Antenna towers?: https://maps.app.goo.gl/JXrmSBhhizGHGroJ6 https://maps.app.goo.gl/JXrmSBhhizGHGroJ6 Ramp down to where they keep the nukes: https://maps.app.goo.gl/R2vkRG9PWg6HE6mw8 https://maps.app.goo.gl/R2vkRG9PWg6HE6mw8 Buried hangars (there's a large hilly area enclosed by a fence with these all over it): https://maps.app.goo.gl/sbP1C3ZgeQvFY7mk8 https://maps.app.goo.gl/sbP1C3ZgeQvFY7mk8 Burrito: https://maps.app.goo.gl/KaqonStYX37P8YLw6 https://maps.app.goo.gl/KaqonStYX37P8YLw6 No idea, but it's up a track from a live fire training range: https://maps.app.goo.gl/64RxsGgzVVaL6AsM6 https://maps.app.goo.gl/64RxsGgzVVaL6AsM6 Lovelace Biomedical Research (NOT AT ALL SUSPECT): https://maps.app.goo.gl/BrJRXwA6xKwi1e8v6 https://maps.app.goo.gl/BrJRXwA6xKwi1e8v6
craigmcnamara 2y ago
I used to work at AFRL as an intern and a contractor, there were pictures of these platforms in a bunch of the buildings. I also played in a golf league in Newport NY. You could see the platform from a few of the holes.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

104 points by stevage 2y ago

Discussions on similar submissions: The USAF's "Upside-Down Air Force" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40544829 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40544829 (June 1, 2024 — 84 points, 14 comments)

dmurray 2y ago

> Instead of flying the aircraft over test antennae, the airframes (usually minus their tails) are suspended upside-down, under or near the instrumentation. Why not make a hole in the ground and put the antennae under the airplane that way?

KineticLensman 2y ago
Because then the interesting electronic emissions would be radiating into the ground, not to nearby test equipment.
- dmurray 2y ago
  I was intending to put the test equipment in the hole. Since "flying over test antennae" was an option, it shouldn't be a problem that there's solid ground (the bottom of the hole) underneath the test equipment. I think the real answer is that they need more angles than keeping the aircraft flat and level and putting the antennae below it would provide. The aircraft have to be suspended anyway, so they can be rotated and have different profiles measured.
  - ano-ther 2y ago
    The ground lining the hole would also reflect or absorb electromagnetic waves differently than air.
ambicapter 2y ago
I think the intention is to radiate into the ground, not into the sky, where spy satellites can possibly sense the stray emissions.

morellt 2y ago

I'm a current DoD contractor employee at Griffiss, and it's a real trip to see just how much cool stuff is/was being done at the base when it was still active. There is still cool research being done but nothing at this scope for a while now. It makes me kind of sad to see all of this activity being sent away from NY to Cali, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, etc. Not a whole lot of large-scale testing/development going on up here nowadays. Getting stories from the old timers is always fun, though.

morellt 2y ago
FUN FACT: This is the same base Woodstock '99 took place at :D

dylan604 2y ago

"This must be the full-service island" I'm dead. For that to be one of the only captions, I'm just glad I wasn't taking a sip when I read it.

gunian 2y ago

thought this was about the airforce of a newly created republic called upside down

franky47 2y ago

"I was inverted" "Uh, Lieutenant. What were you doing there?" "Communicating."

HocusLocus 2y ago

There (was) also ATLAS-I or "Trestle" ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATLAS-I https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATLAS-I ) at Kirtland Air Force Base near Albuquerque, New Mexico to park airplanes onto for EMP testing. The largest non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse generator in the world. See it ( https://www.google.com/maps/place/35°01'47.3"N+106°33'27.6"W/ https://www.google.com/maps/place/35°01'47.3"N+106°33'27.6"W... )

kragen 2y ago
Hearsay: one guy was too close to it when it went off and discovered he'd killed his digital watch.
twic 2y ago
And then pan around and marvel at all the other weird shit out there in the desert. Sandia National Laboratories Tech Area V: https://maps.app.goo.gl/WWjnzFfi1yLrhC4RA https://maps.app.goo.gl/WWjnzFfi1yLrhC4RA (which is various nuclear stuff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=valvf2yoVvU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=valvf2yoVvU) The USAF Safety Crash Lab, surrounded by bits of broken planes: https://maps.app.goo.gl/M4EUYP9syfvXw3DH6 https://maps.app.goo.gl/M4EUYP9syfvXw3DH6 A lot of recreational vehicles: https://maps.app.goo.gl/kFyVCbYYSSP6JL8C6 https://maps.app.goo.gl/kFyVCbYYSSP6JL8C6 National Solar Thermal Test Facility: https://maps.app.goo.gl/14zygVRtw76VQ3QQ9 https://maps.app.goo.gl/14zygVRtw76VQ3QQ9 Sandia Water Impact Facility (big diving pool): https://maps.app.goo.gl/TknLAuHmkW2egnXX7 https://maps.app.goo.gl/TknLAuHmkW2egnXX7 Starfire Optical Range (big lasers): https://maps.app.goo.gl/5gyXwYcHAPFBUVZM8 https://maps.app.goo.gl/5gyXwYcHAPFBUVZM8 A long thing (rocket sled track?): https://maps.app.goo.gl/1JPXWJC1XBQtcFwv9 https://maps.app.goo.gl/1JPXWJC1XBQtcFwv9 Definitely a rocket sled track: https://maps.app.goo.gl/nwrDBbqqy8NjRtnPA https://maps.app.goo.gl/nwrDBbqqy8NjRtnPA Antenna towers?: https://maps.app.goo.gl/JXrmSBhhizGHGroJ6 https://maps.app.goo.gl/JXrmSBhhizGHGroJ6 Ramp down to where they keep the nukes: https://maps.app.goo.gl/R2vkRG9PWg6HE6mw8 https://maps.app.goo.gl/R2vkRG9PWg6HE6mw8 Buried hangars (there's a large hilly area enclosed by a fence with these all over it): https://maps.app.goo.gl/sbP1C3ZgeQvFY7mk8 https://maps.app.goo.gl/sbP1C3ZgeQvFY7mk8 Burrito: https://maps.app.goo.gl/KaqonStYX37P8YLw6 https://maps.app.goo.gl/KaqonStYX37P8YLw6 No idea, but it's up a track from a live fire training range: https://maps.app.goo.gl/64RxsGgzVVaL6AsM6 https://maps.app.goo.gl/64RxsGgzVVaL6AsM6 Lovelace Biomedical Research (NOT AT ALL SUSPECT): https://maps.app.goo.gl/BrJRXwA6xKwi1e8v6 https://maps.app.goo.gl/BrJRXwA6xKwi1e8v6

craigmcnamara 2y ago

I used to work at AFRL as an intern and a contractor, there were pictures of these platforms in a bunch of the buildings. I also played in a golf league in Newport NY. You could see the platform from a few of the holes.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]