On Monday morning (after the motor-glider REDCAP mission closed), Joel, Theo, and Don flew over the bivouac. Here's Joel's commentary:
Theo
, Don Hill and I got to fly over the biv on Monday morning after the mission closed (and the fog finally lifted). We took my digital video camera along so the cadets could get to see what it looked like from the air (and the seniors as well). I have about 6 minutes of video we can show at the next cadet meeting and senior meeting (Di/BillC have this video). I have also pulled a few stills from the video and attached them here for your viewing pleasure.For those that have not had the opportunity to see a target from the air, this will help put it all into perspective. This was a Very well defined target as targets go. They had a number of orange and yellow signal panels laid out. This is makes a great target, yet they are still very difficult to see. They also had a fire going, and stoked up the fire while we were around, yet we never saw the fire or the smoke. Diane, how big was the fire? It will be interesting to know how big you got it, and how smoky you felt it was from the ground, as it will help put the necessary size to be seen into perspective.
Here is a description of what you are looking at in each photo ...(Click on a thumbnail photo to enlarge)
Well Defined Target:
This is a close up (zoomed in 10x) of the target panels. We were at an estimated 2500 feet AGL, so this would be the equivalent of the view from 250 feet up. I am guessing that is a tent in the upper left corner. [Likely the Sweetser Condo Tent :-) Sue]
Target is Hard To See:
This is the same angle of view without any zoom. So this is about what it looks like from the air. Granted, we were up pretty high due to terrain. Notice how hard it is to see the target, even as well defined as it is. If you can't recognize it, it is just above the middle of the picture.
The Area
This is what the area looked like from a vantage point 180 around the turn around the point. Notice that due to the very dense trees, you can't see the target unless you have the right viewing angle through the trees. Pretty common.
Two Flashes at a Distance
The cadets began using mirror flashes once we started circling. This is what 2 bright mirror flashes look like from the vantage point of the aircrew. Can you find the target panels in reference to the flashes? Check out the next picture.
Target in Reference to Mirrors
The same basic view as previous, zoomed in so you can see the target in reference to the mirrors. Tough to see with the naked eye. The mirror flashes were excellent, the cadets did a great job.
Three Flashes
A cool moment in time when we had three mirrors lit up at the same time.
A Signal Mirror is one of the best signaling devices if used well. The larger (2.5" by 5" or so) will transmit a lot of light. They will hopefully catch an aircrew's attention because they are an object in motion which the human eye detects much better than anything else. They are bright when we are looking right at them, but they really are not all that bright if you are looking elsewhere, so you need to keep the flashes going.
After the mirror signaling, the cadets tried an experiment. They had someone in motion wearing an orange shirt, as we did a lower fly-by. We were at about 1000 feet as we went by at search speed. That orange shirt showed up real well in a field of dense trees once the cadet began running. Those shirts are GREAT!!! [Note - that was CPT Wolber in the Worsterlon blaze orange shirt from Cabella's. There was a cadet in BDU's running next to me on the trail, he was not seen by the aircraft. There were cadets with the orange vests on, they were not seen either. Lesson -- ground teams in BDU's are invisible... Sue]
Joel