European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 24, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 2 the stars and stripes sunday september 24,1989 tests Spur barrel of Confidence by Ken Clauson Bromer Haven Bureau Jason Winn and Frederick Small a couple of tankers from the 2nd army Oil fwd Learned last week just How much their mini Abrams and the West German Leopard 2 have in common. During a test soldiers put the main gun barrel of a Leopard 2 tank on the american i Ai Abrams and fired both German and american 120mm Lank rounds through it. In the same test at a West Ger Man proving ground in map pc the american bar Rel was installed on the Leopard 2 for a similar successful test. To the technical experts the test amounted to a Quality Assurance Type of exercise on the interoperability of two weapons systems. To Winn and Small the test meant they would have some extra Security during a War. I have Assurance that my German counterparts can support me said Winn a staff sergeant who commands an mini. If War docs break out Here i know i can get parts right Here in Germany instead of them having to come from the states. It assures me that i can continue to fight if War docs break Small a sergeant who earned the nickname Bull Sec during the test firing said now that we be seen it done we have Confidence that it will work. The great advantage is we can just pull into a Ger Man maintenance Bay and they can fix it. The same thing with ammo if we run out we can just take some of the tests were conducted by the tank Crew from d co 3rd in 66lh Armor in Garl Studt Turret mechanics from the 498th support in and West German civilian technicians. During the tests the americans fired 10 German rounds and 10 american rounds at stationary tar gets. The West germans did likewise. The tests verified the tank designers original in tent of making the tanks compatible said to Kordova an Engineer for the . Army s tank Auto motive come in Warren Mich. I think there arc More than 100 parts in the gun tube shroud Breech and gun itself that arc directly interchangeable Kordova said. We have in other tests taken the guns apart mixed the parts and made a hybrid gun of German and american last week s test involved merely swapping the main gun tubes Between two tanks then firing both German and american rounds through each refitted tank. Although the gun parts and ammunition were manufactured to the same original specifications physical testing is required to ensure that the products of the different country s manufacturers Are compatible. Having soldiers do the test firing was important said Mai. Robert Kochur an Armor officer in the . Embassy s mini Leopard 2 Liaison office. There have been a lot of rumours Here in usar eur soldiers think they May have to make modifications to be Able to fire German ammunition. Now the sold ices know they can fire it Kochur said. One of the key things of the test is that soldiers did it. American soldiers took a Leopard 2 and were Able to Swap gun tubes from a manual. The mechanics also get some credit because this was the firs time a lot of those soldiers were Ever on a Leopard 2." the barrel swapping is part of a nato attempt to help the armed forces in the 16-Membcr Alliance us similar ammunition. But across the Board compatibility will probably never happen because the Fielding of a new Genera Tion of weapons overlaps the old one said Chris Foss editor of Jane s Armour and artillery. Both the dutch and West German armies arc equipped with Leopard 2 tanks but nearly half the German tank inventory is the first generation Leop Ard 1. A tank with a 105mm main gun Foss said. Similarly the . Army inventory Stilt include the rifled barrel 105mm m-60 and the rifled 105mm my. The British main Battle tanks challengers and chieftains have 120mm rifled barrels and require completely different ammunition. . Temperatures september 22 6w lcin.1alblfy nyc Alt Bouef qut anchorage.1 a Atlantic my t auslm.1 Bartoi Albaton Rouge 1 Burlington. I Mcnart Elloris c a cuheilon.wvl.1 c cmdr dramatic Cleveland cow to spoil code Muff go joins it wonit.1 it Toru Daytona Beach Den vet desmrxm.1dtmml fjpaso.1hamsburg.1 Hartm Choum Houston, indianapotis.ljkuon.mrss.1 Jackion Rafti. Juneau Kansas . Luveqas.cleimoton.1 Low Tittle Roc min macoo.1 Beachu Midland odessa.1 ,e i 78 55 by 6 of 54 1? 74 52 47 77 54 to 60 is 74 91 66 13 713 6 m 74go 45 2 a86 72 71 6210 68 77 6578 37 78 4579 44 66 x86 69 86 63bo 60 77 4490 71 67 4274 36 74 3976 55 82 6982 75 89 5688 59 79 6175 43 74 5989 73 56 5074 37 73 6485 66 75 3593 63 73 4976 32 79 tl83 63 80 4777 49 88 6672 35 94 5076 62 67 8578 50 78 3670 34 to Mottle Montgomery. he � Mai Talon Vic North cry Omaha 1orlando. Pau Cahoj .1providenct.c Rakhun c Sain vote san late City. san Antonio. San 090 1san sin jowl san r Santa a 1 Sisle Wane tilt syracusetahahassw.1 Tampa Sipl id i wedo.1looeu.i w Palm Beachu of Allyl Wilkes -arrt.1w�rrunjton, Vimal Hilo 87 6289 60 73 6287 61 78 7581 76 88 7370 24 75 4571 32 91 7376 63 77 3683 74 109 8676 46 61 6892 55 83 7486 69 59 3363 45 88 7181 49 95 5179 a 81 5791 61 77 6378 56 87 m86 74 69 4669 36 88 6991 55 84 5878 37 61 4163 53 83 6489 74 74 3974 36 106 7970 47 69 6266 60 86 7490 74 76 4078 51 78 6781 73 84 4578 42 105 73iii m co Pilot pushed wrong Button Cut throttle in Jet crash Prober says european weather forecast Tor sunday Patty Cloudy n t e 6eh.i Patent tarty mom ing toy it non Tom and ten Tiai Gemar Cloay Wolf terse my Reg Fop win irate Rcd tart an4 artist Powei v we sown Ion temperatures 65-70 Northern and Central areas 61 66 m Southern areas kit 52 55 i Northern and it Natal Arias. 55-58 v Southern areas Sunset sunday 6 22.sunrise monday 616 Outlook Lor monday Cloudy Man dense Portwig Terry statutes recorded fruity 64 97 Copenhagen. Ig59 63 Flam a c 68 n London. E61 77 mid flt. 0 61 77 my non. H63 64 pans. I 57 61 Rome. In Mana t Amsterdam Calheno. I . Hber lira h Biem Haven Brussels c 4am 4om59 66 59 6154 64 55 7352 73 59 6461 77 new York a the co Pilot of the us air Jet that crashed into the East River was making his first Takeoff in passenger carrying Boeing 737-400 when he mistakenly pushed a Button that Cuttle throttle an investigator said Friday night. The Pilot tried to remedy the error by increasing engine thrust manually but then decided to abort the Takeoff James Kohlstadt acting administrator of the National transportation safety Board said at a news conference. Also Friday the Federal aviation administration suspended the Pilot s and co Pilot s flight licenses because they left the scene after the crash and could not be questioned immediately by investigators Faa administrator James b. Busty said. He called their conduct highly two passengers died when the Char Lotte plane skidded off the end of a Laguardia Airport runway wednesday night. Though he described the mistake Byco Pilot Constantine Al Cissa 29, and detailed his Lack of experience on that Model of aircraft Kohlstadt did t explicitly blame Pilot error for the crash or say if investigators had pinpointed the cause. The co Pilot was in charge of the highly computerized controls when he mistakenly pushed the Auto throttle disconnect Button As the aircraft was rolling Down the runway Kohlstadt said. The automatic throttles arc programmed by the flight Crew. The Button Al Cissa should have pushed would have accelerated the plane automatically to a preset Speed for Takeoff he said. As the plane continued Down the run Way the Pilot 36-year-old Michael mar tin jumped in to try to increase the throttle manually Kohlstadt said. The plane started Drifting to the left and the Pilot Felt and heard a vibration which concerned then the Pilot Cut Power to abort the Takeoff Kohlstadt said. The pilots also failed to Call out the jetliner s Speed As required As it rolled Down the runway Kohlstadt said. It was clearly a Lack of proper procedure being followed in the cockpit he said. Al Cissa had controlled takeoffs in737-400s in training Kohlstadt said but had never taken off in that Model plan with passengers aboard. Martin has been a Captain since july and had flown Only 138 hours in that capacity on the 737-400, the new Yor times reported saturday he had about 4,000 hours on All models of 737s, mostly As a co Pilot the paper said quoting unnamed government and Industry sources. Faa records show Al Cissa received huge floodgate inaugurated in Belgium Antwerp Belgium a King Baudouin inaugurated the floodgate on Friday. With a Width of 74 Yards and length of547 Yards it is the biggest floodgate in the world and a key to the expansion of Antwerp s port. The will allow bigger ships to enter the seaport near the Mouth of the Scheldt River. It will also increase Antwerp s flood Gate capacity by almost half. His commercial Pilot s License in october1987 and an instructor s License six months later. His Faa record is clean said Faa spokesman Bob hoppers in Oklahoma City okla. Investigators questioned Martin and Kleissas separately for five hours Friday. Both men later submitted to urine test for drug and alcohol but the results weren t immediately available Kohls Idsaid. At his news conference Kohlstadt criticized the pair for not volunteering for alcohol and drug tests earlier. The provision of urine samples and no blood samples almost two Days after this Accident seriously impedes our investigation and unnecessarily creates an environment of suspicion he said. Nevertheless Kohlstadt noted that Martin and Kleissas helped passengers out of the plane after the crash and that airline regulations did t require them to remain at the scene. He also said both pilots went to a hos Pital for treatment thursday which partly explained their absence. Immediately after the crash Marti took a Rescue boat to the Airport and then a taxi to a nearby hotel where he called his Union representative Kohlstadt said. The air line pilots association issued statement Friday defending the Crew. There was nothing unusual in the Crew performance no Federal rules were Bro Ken and the Crew has cooperated completely with the investigation it said. The co Pilot was quoted after the crash As saying the Pilot was incoherent before the flight. But Kohlstadt said other Crew members had t noticed anything unusual in his behaviour. Al Cissa has apologized for his remarks the investigator said. Tis season to order presents from . Pimm by Del 13,2nd weather wig. Graben traits Ali other worldwide temperatures High lows to i 66 68 Montreal c Dublin c 5 54 Moscow. Hers. I 64 52 Oslo i Jeru Samc 88 64 Toronto. Atm. T 77 63 Vancouver r 77 46 sup Olieo by the associated Presto Cloudy. P partly Cloudy. Man mute. Igig. Ran. Ssi rhe1nau, West Germany is now is the time to order Christmas presents from the United slates by mail and have them arrive in Europe in time. Catalon shoppers who plan to place Holiday orders especially if they have the option to have them shipped to Europe by parcel Airlift pal or space available mail Sam should be placing their orders now army postal group Europe officials say. Shoppers can save Money by using the lower rates of Sam and pal when offered by a mail order mailing deadlines from the United states to Europe Are Sam nov.13 pal nov. 24 and priority parcels and letters dec i. Overseas residents should Tell state Side families and friends about the deadlines As Well so they also can Lake advantage of the less expensive mail rates
