RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
The airspace above Randolph is generally the domain of jet aircraft used for the base's training mission, but on Saturday morning, weather permitting, it will be filled with an estimated 50 propeller-powered civilian airplanes.
An assortment of Cessnas, Pipers and experimental aircraft will be occupied by civilian aviators, some of them ex-Air Force fliers, who will descend on Randolph's runways and learn more about the safety mission they share with the base's instructor and student pilots.
The occasion is the 12th Flying Training Wing Safety Office's Civil Fly-In, an event designed to support the base's Mid-Air Collision Avoidance Program, said Lt. Col. Douglas Hamlin, the safety office's MACA program manager.
"The event will help educate the general aviation population in San Antonio and the surrounding area," he said. "They'll gain knowledge of what we're doing and we'll learn about what they're doing."
During the morning event, fly-in participants will attend briefings presented by Colonel Hamlin and Federal Aviation Administration officials; tour the aerospace physiology facility, where an FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute one-day training course for civilian aviators is offered on a periodic basis; and talk to Randolph pilots. Colonel Hamlin will discuss the MACA program and FAA representatives will address general aviation topics.
"The civilian pilots will have a broad-brush look at what's available on base," Colonel Hamlin said.
He said the fly-in will not only attract civilian pilots who use nearby airports, it is also open to fliers with ties to Randolph.
"We've opened the doors to individuals who have trained here or lived here," Colonel Hamlin said. "It will be an opportunity for them to relive their past."
Among those individuals is Chuck Elsey, a 1967 Randolph High School graduate who served as a staff sergeant in the Taj Mahal from 1969 to 1972. He plans to fly from Conroe in an airplane he built himself.
"I am excited about your civilian fly-in to Randolph Field," Mr. Elsey said in an e-mail to Colonel Hamlin. "It will be one more thing I will be able to cross off my 'bucket list.'"
Colonel Hamlin said the fly-in is one way to spread the MACA program's safety message to people in the community who operate in the same airspace that Randolph's Air Force pilots occupy. He said he also presents briefings and distributes MACA program literature at airports in the area.
"Because we have so many airports in the area, it's critical that we have this program and have communication among pilots," he said.
Statistics show that mid-air collisions are a real danger.
"There have been nine close calls (in the region) this year," Colonel Hamlin said, most of those in the vicinity of Randolph. "Most pilots in the area are knowledgeable about us. The problem is transient aircraft. These pilots don't know about the high-density military operations we have here."
Colonel Hamlin said that Randolph and the base's auxiliary field in Seguin are FAA-designated alert areas, so adherence to the rules, which include flying at the right altitude, is especially important for pilots in this "chunk of sky." He said they should especially stay in radio contact with the controlling agencies and "keep their eyeballs outside" their aircraft.
"Pilots should abide by the rules for the airspace they fly in," he said.
Cloudy conditions forced postponement of the fly-in in April, but Colonel Hamlin said he's hopeful favorable weather will prevail so the unique event can unfold.
"It's a rare opportunity for civilian pilots to land on a military airfield," he said. "It's a chance for us to hear some neat stories, too.