Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas -- In a continuing effort to maintain pilot training operations, Laughlin’s old Digital Airport Surveillance Radar antennas were taken down with a crane, and new antennas were installed March 22.
Despite damage incurred by a recent hail storm, Laughlin’s DASR was deemed fully functional after various tests were run.
“Even though the DASR still operated, we needed to replace the antennas,” said Brock Kerzmann, 47th Operation Support Squadron electronics technician. “The damage created cracks in the antennas, and the cracks left internal components open to weather and other elements that could danger them.”
The four-day long process of repairing the DASR began March 21 with disconnecting the antennas from the system. After the antennas were disconnected, they were brought down with a crane, and new antennas were lifted up. The new antennas were then connected to the system before engineers began programming the system.
“We are making sure that everything is working properly,” said Kerzmann. “We hope that the DASR will be fully operational by the end of this week.”
After the DASR becomes fully operational, it will be tested before being handed over to Laughlin’s air traffic controllers.
“There will be a flight check early next week that will ensure everything works perfectly,” said Kerzmann. “The flight check will involve a Federal Aviation Administration pilot coordinating with our air traffic controllers, doing maneuvers and reporting positions. This is to make sure the position the pilot is reporting is the same that is showing for us.”