Whatsit?
I’m gonna guess that it’s the EMALS test facility at Lakehurst. I got that guess from seeing the aircraft lined up on rail #4 (counting from the left) and Googling “New Jersey catapult”.
I may amend this guess in a few minutes after a lil more looking around.
A crash test site with a long linear set of rail tracks, walls at the end of the track, and rocket propelled sleds that you mount whatever you want to crash-test to?
This facility is in Lakehurst N.J. and is tied in with.........
NAVAIR at NAES Lakehurst is the world leader in Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment (ALRE) and Support Equipment (SE).Probably a lot to do with the launching of aircraft from the new class of aircraft carriers soon to be commisioned.
My guess is that the Navy wants to get away from the old steam catapults and go to the magnetic system that moves some of the worlds high speed trains.
Posted by xiphos
06/11/2009 at 10:06 AM
Bah, I shouldn’t have given you guys ANY clues at all! But I thought that “great balls of fire” was a good one.
If you pull it up on Google Maps, it turns out that these tracks aren’t parallel. That’s because the picture was taken with a wide angle lens. They actually converge to a small area.
This facility, however, has nothing to do with EMALS, or launching of any aircraft. But you guys are all “getting warmer”.
Is this where they test ejector seats?
BOMAC, Lakehurst NAS?
Posted by laxdude
06/11/2009 at 03:00 PM
You guys have figured out the where, but not yet the what.
LAX - did you mean BOMARC? That was an air defense missile ages ago. I don’t know what a BOMAC is; that’s a new acronym to me.
No, this thing is still in use ... and if you look really carefully at the picture of the new Avenger, you can see why it too will be tested there.
Lyndon - I think the ejector seats are tested on the facility next door.
Xiphos has the best guess so far. You can pull it up on Google Maps, and look just WNW of town ... and to be completely fair, I think this picture is in backwards, although the roads there may change over time, and I really don’t know how old this picture is.
Yes BOMARC, not BOMAC. Thought the “balls of fire” might reference the warhead whoopsee they had back when we were toddling around in diapers. How about “Tracks at Jetcar Test Site?”
Posted by laxdude
06/11/2009 at 04:03 PM
Yes, that’s what the Navy labels the picture. Tracks at Jetcar Test Site.
But what the thing actually is, is the tailhook and carrier emergency barricade testing facility. Read all about it, with more pics:
http://deputy-dog.com/2009/04/record-breaking-jet-sleds-and-rooftops.html
LAX - “Great balls of fire” was a reference to the Hindenburg, which blew up at Lakehurst all those years ago. Yours was a good guess though.
LAX - Here is a link to one site that not only tells about the BOMARC near-disaster (right next door to Lakehurst) but gives quite a lot of info on Lakehurst NAVAIR Station, some more Hindenburg stuff, and a precise telling of the function of the above Whatsit:
As described on Lakehurst’s web site in 2003, the 5 test tracks are up to 9,150’ long.
A sled propelled by 4 J57 jet engines (developing a total of 42,000 lbs of thrust) is used to propel weighted deadloads (up to 100,000 lbs) or airframes down the track (at speed up to 250 knots) into the arresting gear or barricade under test. The remote location provides a safety & noise buffer. Runaway deadloads have harmlessly wandered off into the woods.
The site has been used by the Air Forces, FAA and foreign governments. The primary Navy use is wire rope acceptance tests, barricade testing, and arresting gear evaluation & verification.
Go here and read all about all of it.
All I knew was that in the original pic I saw an aircraft on a rail. To me, that narrowed it down to *something* involving catapulting aircraft.
06/11/2009 at 06:55 AM
