European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 06, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Safe is hooked on the bak9 by John Reese staff writer the air Force song the wild Blue yonder there s a line which a nothing can Stop the . Air  who believes that should go it to the runway of any fighter air base in Safe and take a look Ato Naething called a bak9. It can bring i Jet going 155 Miles an hour to am Pele halt within 750 feet. This Barrier engagement gear Cost ing somewhere in the neighbourhood of a Quarter million dollars has Accord Ling to Safe safety officers saved in Kold millions in air planes to say Noah fing of injury and death to pilots. The principle by which the bar 9 works is relatively simple. A 1%-Lnch Cable is stretched across the runway add held off the ground by a series of rubber doughnuts threaded onto the Cable. Each end of the Cable i attached o Strong webbing tapes which in turn arc wound onto Large spools. Attached to the spools Are Hydraulic brakes similar to those use Dion a b52 bomber. Below the Tail of the aircraft is Metal arrester Hook which can be Low ered by the Pilot. As the plane passes Over the Cable the Tail Hook grabs the Cable which is released under braking stress on the spools bringing the Planeto rest. 1 he bak9 is installed at both ends of the run Way. The device at the approach end will halt Landing pianos. The one at the Forward end will Stop plane which must abort a take off. All Safe f4s, floor. Flows a n df102s arc equipped with Tail Hooks. Safety officers revealed that in 1967 Safe planes made 73 emergency bar Rier engagements 32 of them at the. Approach end of the runway. Thus far in 1968 there have been 29 engagements 10 from the approach end. Although there is no positive Means of measuring what possible damage might have occurred had the barriers not been present safety officials Are certain that such damage might be Well up in the millions of dollars. In addition to the bak9, fighter runways Are equipped with another har Rier system called ma1a. This is an f102 comes in with Hook extended for bak9 Stop after fire blew out during Takeoff run at Hahn air base in Germany. Earlier cruder system hut it still works and docs not require a Tail Hook on the plane. The i3ak9 has been in use in Safe for about 10 years and the ma1a for some five years longer. The ma1a consists of a similar Cable actuated by the nose wheel passing through a Low tape Barrier. This flips the Cable up across the front of the Mai Landing gear. The ends of the Cable arc fastened to heavy Anchor chains stretched out of each Side of and Paral Lello the runway. As the plane Rolls Forward the Cable dragged by the land ing gear picks up the weight of the chains one -15-Pound link at a time. This has the effect of steadily in creasing drug us Eadi successive link is picked up. Thereby bringing the Planeto a gradual halt. Whereas it takes Only about seven minutes to reposition the Mai a requires the bak9 device about 30 minutes and considerable manpower to Reposi Tion the heavy Chain and reset the Cable. Al o present a clearer picture of the value of arresting gear safety officers cited figures on finding Roll for fighter  f4 under Good conditions and All systems functional might land and Stopin 3,500 to 4,000 feet on a dry runway. If the runway were icy and the Drogue Chute failed to pop the same aircraft might need a ground Roll of 15.000 feet which without Barrier engagement would far exceed any runway in Safe prob ably resulting in damage to the air Craft and injury to the Pilot or  icy or wet runways other conditions under which the arresting gear might be employed include Brake failure Flap failure failure of nos wheel steering or severe Cross winds might cause loss of  has used similar gear for years on carriers where landings most limited. At sea the a ear is used As a matter of course. The arrester gear is used in Only Small percentage of the landings and takeoffs on fighter land bases. But All fighter pilots take a Good measure of Comfort by knowing that the gear is there if needed. Which the Many space resting of massive broke drum of bak9 u manned by two operators. Monday May 61968 bak9 stopped this f102 easily. Note rubber donuts which lift Cable off runway surface. The stars and stripes Page 11