{"id":2781,"date":"2018-01-05T09:46:49","date_gmt":"2018-01-05T14:46:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/?p=2781"},"modified":"2018-01-05T09:46:49","modified_gmt":"2018-01-05T14:46:49","slug":"tanker-trip-to-guam-flying-at-andersen-afb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/tanker-trip-to-guam-flying-at-andersen-afb\/","title":{"rendered":"Tanker Trip to Guam V | Flying at Andersen AFB"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the fifth in a series of blogs regarding one of my most successful (and fun) KC-135 Tanker missions.\u00a0 For the first see: https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/tanker-trip-island-guam\/<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0As we touched down around Labor Day just over 30 years ago, I had much to learn about Andersen AFB and the Island of Guam.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

As mentioned in a previous blog (https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/christmas-bombings-1972-tanker-trip-guam-iv\/<\/a>) the United States came into possession of Guam after the Spanish American War.\u00a0 Andersen AFB is located at the northern tip of the island and was built in 1944.\u00a0 We landed towards the evening in 1987\u00a0 and when I exited the airplane, my first thought was, \u201cI feel like I am in Florida\u201d.\u00a0 It was that same moist, humid, tropical heat one feels in the Sunshine State.<\/p>\n

I learned several things in those first days on the Island.\u00a0 One, Guam is a beautiful place.\u00a0 Two, there were three prices (unofficially) on the island. There was the price for the locals (known as Chamorro\u2019s).\u00a0 There was a higher price for the Americans, there was an even higher price for the Japanese.\u00a0 Why was that?<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

On December 8, 1941, the day after Pearl Harbor was attacked, the Japanese invaded and took Guam with overwhelming forces.\u00a0 The Americans had less than a 1,000 troops on the island and the invasion and surrender occurred in about 48 hours.\u00a0 The Chamorro\u2019s endured brutal conditions under the Japanese occupation.\u00a0 Many were forced to work at bayonet point and some were executed after their labor was complete.\u00a0 Forced marches of over 10,000 Chamorro\u2019s occurred.<\/p>\n

Relief came in 1944.\u00a0 From July 21 to August 10 the Americans invaded and retook the island after brutal fighting.\u00a0 The Japanese never surrendered and fought to the last man. The Chamorro\u2019s were so very grateful that the Americans had come to liberate them.\u00a0 Conversely they grew a great hatred towards the Japanese.\u00a0 I personally found that any Chamorro old enough to remember World War II and the occupation was extremely grateful to all of us service members.<\/p>\n

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For example, we as a crew attended the celebration for the baptism of a local and it was a great tropical feast.\u00a0 There must have been 200 in attendance under a bamboo shelter with palm trees all around.\u00a0 The Chamorro women over the age of 50 were practically tripping over themselves to serve us and make us feel welcomed.\u00a0 They remembered and appreciated the liberation so much.\u00a0 The younger citizens, not so much.\u00a0 The young men, in particular, seem to glare at us.\u00a0 Suspicious that we would \u201csteal their women\u201d.\u00a0 They need not fear, Kevin and Mac were married.\u00a0 I was not interested.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

There is a heavy military presence and influence on the island.\u00a0 The main road is known as the Marine Corps Highway (AKA Guam Highway 1).<\/p>\n

The Challenge of Runway 24<\/strong><\/p>\n

The flying out of Andersen AFB was good.\u00a0 Initially, we had a local training mission so that the detachment commander at Andersen could be assured we were a reliable crew.\u00a0 We seemed to pass with flying colors.\u00a0 However, the biggest flying challenge was the runway.<\/p>\n

The main runway at Andersen AFB is 06 \/ 24.\u00a0 Due to the prevailing winds, we almost always landed and took off from Runway 06.\u00a0 However, the day the fiscal year ended, September 30, we had a little bit of a challenge.\u00a0 We had gone on a local training mission.\u00a0 There is a rule of thumb in the federal government and the Department of Defense (DOD):\u00a0 If you don\u2019t spend all of your budget, you will get less money the next year.<\/p>\n

We were sent out to fly out the remaining training time budget for the year.\u00a0 We came back to the traffic pattern and found that we were to land on Runway 24.\u00a0 Here was the challenge: shortly before the approach end of Runway 24 lies a cliff, dropping vertically to the ocean.\u00a0 I would estimate that the cliff is about 200 feet in height.<\/p>\n

The cliff presents a flying challenge for two reasons.\u00a0 Number one, both strong updrafts and downdrafts can occur with a cliff right along the ocean.\u00a0 The wind is rarely calm at such a point.\u00a0 So if the wind is blowing out from the island, there will be a strong downdraft on short final.\u00a0 If the wind is blowing in from the ocean there will be a strong updraft on short final.\u00a0 Both will affect the pilot\u2019s ability to keep the aircraft on glide slope.<\/p>\n

The second issue is the strong visual illusion.\u00a0 A pilot is used to having flat terrain on final approach.\u00a0 With ocean and a 200 cliff on final approach the pilot will \u201cfeel\u201d like he or she is high on approach.\u00a0 The tendency then will be to \u201cdrag in\u201d or be low on the final approach.\u00a0 If the aircraft comes in too low on final approach, there is a chance of catching the top of the cliff or approach lights on short final.<\/p>\n

In this case we were very fortunate.\u00a0 As we came in for a late afternoon final approach and landing, the winds were surprisingly calm.\u00a0 Kevin was not fooled by the visual illusion and executed the final approach and landing flawlessly.<\/p>\n

We would have more excitement about a flight a few days later.\u00a0 Look for that story in a future blog.<\/p>\n

As a reminder, if you have not done so yet, sign up for the Spring semester of Doctor Aviation at:\u00a0https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/register\/\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the fifth in a series of blogs regarding one of my most successful (and fun) KC-135 Tanker missions.\u00a0 For the first see: https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/tanker-trip-island-guam\/ \u00a0\u00a0As we touched down around Labor Day just over 30 years ago, I had much to learn about Andersen AFB and the Island of Guam. As mentioned in a previous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":338,"featured_media":2800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[39],"tags":[597,609,613,610,560,612,142,563,611],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTanker Trip to Guam V | Flying at Andersen AFB - Doctor Aviation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is the fifth in a series of blogs regarding one of my most successful (and fun) KC-135 Tanker missions.\u00a0 For the first see: https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/tanker-trip-island-guam\/ \u00a0\u00a0As we touched down around Labor Day just over 30 years ago, I had much to learn about Andersen AFB and the Island of Guam.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/tanker-trip-to-guam-flying-at-andersen-afb\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tanker Trip to Guam V | Flying at Andersen AFB - 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