European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 11, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday june 11, 19b8 the stars and stripes Paga 3 army discounts Black Hawk glitch radio signal interference a nuisance by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington Strong radio Sig nals that May activate cockpit lights and cause control problems in the army s uh-60 Black Hawk helicopters Are a correctable nuisance rather than a serious safety Hazard army officials Are main Taining. This is not a safely of flight Issue said maj. Phil Soucy a Pentagon spokes Man. When this helicopter is flown within its design limits meaning you Don t crash into mountains Fly Loo fast make Loo Light turns there is nothing wrong with in. That also goes for electromagnetic interference. We have prescribed standoff distances for pilots of observe when Fly ing near sources of Emi such As Antenna farms. When those distances arc observed Here arc no safety  even so inc army is working with Sikorsky aircraft the prime contractor Tor the Black Hawk to make the helicopter s systems less susceptible to Emi. Soucy said the modifications should make this nuisance go  until thai can be done the army has warned Black Hawk pilots in a message to the held to be aware of the potential problem of Emi which results when electronically controlled equipment is used close to Strong radio signals. The message was prompted by an Inci Dent last year in which a Black Hawk an aircraft that Soucy said already had a history of electrical problems came relatively close to one of the most Power Ful Antenna Fields in he world near Augsburg West Germany during a routine training Mission the held about one mile Long and three quarters of a mile wide generates More than 400 million Walls of Power. An pm radio station with 50,000 Watts of Power is considered Strong he said. The Augsburg site is one of 153 locations in Europe hat nato classifies As High intensity radio transmission  they already Are marked on the maps used by army pilots. The message said pilots should be particularly wary of six of the most powerful Sites Augsburg among them. Soucy said the army is not publicly listing the others for Security reasons. During the flight last year certain lights in the cockpit of the helicopter activated on their own Soucy said but when the Pilot flew the same flight path Home to try to duplicate the phenomenon he could t. In april the same helicopter flown on inc same flight path again experienced inc activation of the cockpit lights. The next Day that aircraft and another Black Hawk both had the problem. In Early May the army safety Center Dew 16 passes near the Field at various speeds and altitudes. On one the aircraft went into a five second uncontrolled till a Yaw in Pilot jargon when the steering pedals moved on their own. The army found that the Yaw was caused by electromagnetic interference affecting the Hydraulic logic modules that control the Tail Rotor Servo used to steer the aircraft. The army plans to Speed up design changes that already were planned As a result of previous tests to upgrade the resistance of the Black Hawk to Emi including installing Hydraulic logic con Trot modules built to standards used by the Navy for its version of the Black Hawk Soucy said. The Navy s modules have 20 times As much insulation against Emi As the army s systems. Navy standards always have been higher because of the High Power transmitters routinely found on ships. Controversial nuns two roman Catholic nuns who had been under threat at expulsion from the Church for supporting women1 right o abortions speak to reporters thursday in Washington the Church has backed Down from its plan to expel Barbara Ferraro left and Patricia  nuns ran shelter for he homeless in Charles ton . Hopefully we can Start installing those new modules this fall Soucy said. In the meantime the army has no plans o ground the Fleet or otherwise restrict Black Hawk operations except to require pilots to observe published standoff distances from Emi Sites. Soucy discounted speculation thai the situation might Lead to development of a radio signal weapon that could make Black Hawks crash. That is nonsense he said. You d have to design in to work at such and such an Altitude at such and such a Dis Tance and then you d have to plug it Imo a Power Supply the size of the one that lights up Chicago. That would t be too practical. This thing has been blown out of pro portion. We Are arcs Sicly tackling the Emi phenomenon and doing in with an Altitude of safety first but Here is no evidence to support grounding the Fleet or to support any allegations that routine radio signals can Knock Black Hawks out of he  since 1979, the army has fielded 970 Black Hawks out of a planned total of 2,200. There have been 32 major Acci dents in those nine years resulting in 65 deaths Souey said. In none of those accidents has Emi been determined As the cause he said. Wholesale prices Rose 0.5% in May Washington a wholesale prices led by the steepest increase in food costs since january Rose a Moder ate 0.5 percent in May the government said Friday. If he May increase held steady for 12 straight months inflation at the wholesale level would be 5.8 percent nearly triple the modest 2 percent increase of he past 12 months the labor department said. The May increase differed Little from the 0.4 percent Rise in april and a 0.6 percent hike in March except for the fact that food replaced Energy As inc main propellant of inflation. Egg prices jumped 12,5 percent mostly offsetting a 16 percent decline in april. Poultry prices were up 8.2 percent pork was up 5,5 percent and vegetable prices Rose 3.3 percent. However wholesale prices for fruit declined nearly 0,9 percent Rice was Down 3-2 percent limiting the Overall average increase for food to 0.9 percent. That was the biggest increase since 1.7 percent in january Energy prices which had surged 3.1 percent in april Rose Only 0.2 percent in May largely because of a 3.8 percent drop in natural Gas prices. Home heating Oil Rose a modes 0.7 percent compared with hikes of 5.2 per cent in april and 2.6 percent in March. Gasoline prices jumped 3.8 percent last month but were still Only 1,5 percent higher than a year ago. The labor department s Index for wholesale prices at the finished goods level minus Energy and food was up 0.3 percent analysts consider this a More reliable indicator of underlying inflation because of he month to month volatility of food and Energy costs. Over the past year wholesale prices excluding food and Energy have risen 2.8 percent. Leading the May increase were higher prices of t.3 percent for soaps and deter gent 0.8 percent for women s clothing 3 percent for tires and 0.7 percent for prescription drugs. Car prices Rose a modest 0.2 percent in May alter declining i percent in april on manufacturers rebates to dealers. Higher prices also were recorded for cosmetics household flatware and Home electronic equipment All of which had declined in april. Children s clothing prices dropped 1,3 percent after rising slightly More than half a percent in april the Only other product that had a Price drop was Alco Holic beverages Down 0.4 percent. The May increase brought he Overall wholesale Price Index for finished goods to 107,5, meaning that a Basket of products costing $100 in 1982 would Cost $107.50 last month up 60 cents from april bodies of 22 from War of 1812 Are coming Home Toronto a the bodies of 22 soldiers who fought and died during the War of 1812 Are coming Home to Ameri Ca for an honorable Bunal. Researchers who studied 36 skeletons unearthed at a Battle site on the Canad an Side of he Niagara River said thurs Day they know what food the men ate some of heir daily hardships and the Way they died but not heir names. "1 never expected to be Able to identify the bodies said it col. Joseph Whitcome a historian with the . Army. He said army records of the Day were used mostly for tracking deserters by making notes of hair color and scars. Whit Home is part of a 40-Mcmber earn of Archert ogints and historians from the United slates and Canada who studied the remains and compiled a re port on heir findings a study of the Bones revealed hat hardships the soldiers faced led to pre mature arthritis in men As Young As 20. Their legs showed fatigue fractures from carrying heavy packs Over hundreds of Miles. In most of the skeletons As Many As seven discs in each spine were collapsed from physical labor. Seven of the skeletons showed signs of amputations before the soldiers died. One 17-year-old youth had both arms amputated below the Elbow. Insignia on shirt buttons the Only clue o nationality identified 22 of he Skele tons As those of american soldiers. Their remains will be buried june 30 at Bath National cd Mccry in new York state with full military honors. Six More of the skeletons Are suspected to be Hose of american soldiers. The others will be studied further at the University of Tennessee. The skeletons were found last full at Snake Hill a strategic Mound of Earth on the Canadian Side of the Niagara River where occupying . Forces established a Battery and a Field Hospital in 1814 in their War against Britain the site Over looks Buffalo