Джон Болл - Phase Three Alert

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.