College Students Awake To Unique Sight

University of Georgia students, or any college student for that matter, are not accustomed to the low flight noise of an Air Force C-17 Globemaster III conducting practice landing runs overhead.

So it was no wonder that last Wednesday morning startled more than a few as the C-17, one of the largest STOL cargo planes used by the US and other countries, passed over the Athens campus several times as it conducted practice landing runs at the Ben Epps Field, as reported by the college's independent student newspaper, The Red and Black.

For freshman Jacob Smith, it was a unique wake-up call.

"I was asleep in my dorm, and I had the window cracked," he said. "It was like a really loud car right beside my window."

Another student, a junior from Germany, saw the big cargo plane pass over the campus three times.

Horticulture Professor Allan Armitage, who had worked with aircraft previously, thought the plane was about to crash, reported the newspaper, "so abnormal was its flight pattern."

But have no fear, University of Georgia campus: the plane was only practicing approaches.

Said Allan Yager, an operations technician at Ben Epps Field, "It didn't actually land, but it did get close to the ground. Close enough to pick up all the dust and the pollen."

Tim Beggerly, airport manager at the Ben Epps Field on Lexington Road, said the C-17 did not actually land at the airport.

The C-17 couldn't have landed if it wanted to.

Said Beggerly, "He's too heavy to land here. The runway is long enough for that airplane -- it's designed for short runways -- but our runways won't support the weight of that type of aircraft."

The C-17 is capable of carrying a payload of 170,900 pounds or 102 paratroopers and equipment. It can operate from runways as short as 3,500 feet and as narrow as 90 feet. Although it can also operate out of unpaved, unimproved runways, there is an increased possibity of damage to the aircraft. Its has an unrefueled range of 2,400 nautical miles.

FMI: www.redandblack.com, www.athensairport.net. www.af.mil