Aviation students get an up-close look at a C-17

MOSES LAKE — It is one of the truisms of aviation that there are no minor collisions at altitude. There would seem to be less opportunity for two planes to run into each other — plenty of blue sky — but at any given moment there’s a lot of traffic up there, some of it headed for the same airspace.

Pilots have to pay careful attention to where they are and where everybody else is, and make sure other pilots and the control tower know where they are. That was the message from U.S. Air Force Captain C.J. Tetrick in a presentation to Big Bend Community College pilot training students Friday.

Tetrick also brought along her ride, a C-17 transport, all 174 feet of it. With a 170-foot wingspan. As a reference, loadmaster Hugh Banueloc said the plane has transported tanks and helicopters, among other cargo.

Tetrick’s unit is based at Joint Base McChord near Tacoma, and a lot of training is performed in the area of the Grant County Airport. The airport, of course, also is used by commercial jets for testing and training, and by BBCC students in pilot training. While there’s a lot of sky out there, that’s a lot of traffic. There have been 15 — “one-five,” Tetrick said — near-midair collisions at the Grant County Airport in the last five years. Technology has improved, and “they still happen, with our technology.”

Making flight operations more complicated is the fact air force, BBCC and commercial pilot training continues at night, in some cases all night. And the airport control tower closes at 10 p.m. “We’ll still be there, after the sun sets,” she said.

Tetrick emphasized the importance of communication – but not too much communication. Too much talk crowds out crucial radio traffic, she said.

A 2009 graduate of the Air Force Academy, Tetrick said she has about 3,000 hours flying experience. But she has done very little general aviation flying, she said, which made obtaining a general aviation license a challenging experience. “That was more terrifying than any C-17 flying,” she said.

Her career has taken her around the world; C-17s fly into combat zones, of course, but they also perform humanitarian and supply missions. Antarctica is among the regular stops on the supply mission route.

Big Bend aviation students walked the cavernous cargo hold, and climbed the ladder — very few aircraft have a second floor — to the cockpit. Banueloc said the trick to loading a C-17 is balancing the load, which means it’s important to get everything in the right place. Once it’s there it’s just as important to tie it down, so it stays in place, he said.