Fort S nelling Cadet S quadron

June 2005

Monthly Newsletter of Fort Snelling Cadet Squadron- Minnesota Wing Civil Air Patrol Auxiliary United Sates Air Force

Vol. 3 No. 6

Commanders Comments Major Kilian

The Cadet Oath "I pledge to serve faithfully in the Civil Air Patrol Cadet Program and that I will attend meetings regularly, participate actively in unit activities, obey my officers, wear my uniform properly, and advance my education and training rapidly to prepare myself to be of service to my community, state, and nation." wear my uniform properly, A simple request. Follow the regulations, and have a uniform that follows what is intended. Why is this important? Why have it as part of the oath? I would draw your attention to Memorial Day. This past weekend the country paused in remembrance of those who gave their lives so that we may be free. Some of those people wore the same uniform we now wear, and though the pins may be different, the significance is not lost. The United States Air Force has given us the privilege of wearing their uniform. The least we can do to say thanks to those who have fought to keep us free is to wear their uniform correctly.

S afety Corner Capt Yenkosky

A Systems Approach to Safety When Systems Break Down This is the second in a series of articles that will explore the background and important elements of safety. If you have any questions dont be afraid to ask questions of me at any meeting or in an e-mail: jyenkosky@sihope.com. So, last month we learned that Systems Theory is a useful way of looking at complex, interrelated things. We also learned that systems are organisms or entities that have several components with boundaries that interact with the surrounding environment to include feedback and tries to reach a stable internal state called homeostasis. I Break Down . . . In the 1970s a group called the Alan Parsons Project wrote the song I, Robot. Their album featured songs about a robot that begins to think for itself and decides to do things a little differently. Those apparently innocent and well meaning robotic changes actually cause lots of problems. The Alan Parsons Project was trying to criticize how people are programmed to think a certain way. From a safety standpoint we want people to think a certain way. If not, we can have a system breakdown. Breakdowns can result from mechani cal failure, but many times it is the human element that is the cause. (Continued on Page 2)

Monthly Newsletter of Fort Snelling Cadet Squadron- Minnesota Wing Civil Air Patrol Auxiliary United Sates Air Force Page 2

(Continued from Page 1) The natural law of mechanics is for things to break down. Entropy is the term physicists use to describe the natural tendency for systems in nature to breakdown and dissolve into chaos. Some took this fact and carried it to a logical conclusion that eventually the entire universe will just dissolve into a bunch of cold floating matter. No light. No movement. Just stuff floating around too far from each other to even have gravity affect it. Other physicists think that the universe will act like a system and find order in itself and regenerate into another Big Bang. Why is this important to safety, you ask? Because other kinds of big bangs occur if standards are not followed. Part of safety awareness is to understand that organizations and machines depend upon a level of order to function. That order often is written into standards for design (like using strong enough elevator cables) or checklists (for procedures that need to be accurately done). If the standards are not done the natural order is for the machine to break down - that can signal disaster, literally. In 1981 the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel skywalks collapsed killing 114 people. This occurred because engineers made modifi cations to the original design for the walkways without contacting the architects. The modifications made sense and did not have any apparent risk, but unseen to the engineers, the changes tripled the load onto a few bolt-nut-washer configurations that eventually failed. In 1940 the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsed in spectacul ar fashion. The bridge had become known as Galloping Gertie because the undulation in the roadbed was being measured in feet instead of inches as wind would make the drive across like a roller coaster ride. Researchers were trying to understand the reason for the swells as they filmed what became the last few minutes of the bridge. The film is a classic, when the winds off the bay made the roadbed act like an aircraft wing, twisting and eventually breaking down while horri fied people ran from the bridge toward the riverbank and onlookers gasped. The bridge collapsed because the architects made design changes without accounting for how the design would affect the bridge in the winds of Tacoma Narrows Bay. Over and over you will hear the term pilot error in aircraft accidents as the determined cause. (Continued on Page 4)

Leadership Corner 1Lt S chrenkler No Article this month

Monthly Newsletter of Fort Snelling Cadet Squadron- Minnesota Wing Civil Air Patrol Auxiliary United Sates Air Force Page 3

May Personnel AuthorizationsLTC Tony Tarpy to Deputy Squadron Commander Maj Dave Vaillancourt to Logistics Officer

June BirthdaysMaria Jo OHanley 6/5

June Service AnniversariesMaria Jo OHanley 6/24 (2 Years)

June S cheduleWing:
2- Flight Clinic @ St Paul 7- Flight Clinic`@ Viking 8- Flight Clinic @ St Croix 9- Flight Clinic @ Mankato 11-12 SAREX Rain Dates @ Group 1, Group IV 13- Flight Clinic @ Hutchinson 14- Flight Clinic @ Wesota 15- Flight Clinic @ Pipestone 16- Flight Clinic @ Worthington 18-19 Aerial Photography Course 19- Hutchinson Pancake Breakfast 19- St Croix Pancake Breakfast 19- Grand Rapids Pancake Breakfast 19- Crystal Days @ Crystal Airport 20- Flight Clinic @ Duluth 21- Flight Clinic @ Grand Rapids 22-Flight Clinic @ Cass County 23- Flight Clinic @ Bemidji 24- Flight Clinic @ Crow Wing 25- Flight Clinic @ St Cloud 25 Jun-2 Jul Cadet Encampment @ Camp Ripley 30- Flight Clinic @ Red Wing

Ae rospace Comments 1 st Lt. Jim Kline No Article this Month

S quadron: 6- Blues

Moral Leadership-Commanders Call- Safety Briefing Pre-Departure Mission Planning Planning Mission Execution

13- BDU 20- BDU

27- No Meeting

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Monthly Newsletter of Fort Snelling Cadet Squadron- Minnesota Wing Civil Air Patrol Auxiliary United States Air Force Page 4 (Continued from Page 2) CAP Websites www.capmart.org http://level2.cap.gov/ www.cap.gov www.mcchord.org/rack_builder/ www.mncap.org www.cap_es.net/ https://ntc.cap.af.mil/es/ics_niims.cfm www.mncap.org/ftsnelling www.thehock.com/

Often the error is not using checklists in the process of managing the aircraft system. The minor mistake early in a process can then coupled with an unfores een event that combines into an unmanageable situation. For example, in 1953, an aircraft received this decent clearance; Nectar One Six Nine Three Metro, you are cleared to cross Hobart at 8,000, Seattle at or above 4,000. Maintain 4,000. No delay expected. Contact Seattle Approach Control over Hobart for further clearance, over. The Captain, experienced with the route replied, Roger, this, uh, is Nine Three Metro is cleared to uh Hobart to cross there at 4,000 or above the Range Station at 4,000 and we are to report to you at Hobart, over. For further clearance Control replied, Negative. Report Hobart to Seattle. Approach Control correcting the last and least important part of the original clearance. Although the original clearance said Hobart at 8,000, mistakenly the aircraft descended to 4,000 feet and crashed into a mountain. The captain thought he knew the route well enough. He was fatigued. No one on his crew dared to challenge him becaus e he had a reputation for not appreciating advice from crew. So the crew died silent with him. So we have learned this month that from design to operation, complying with written standards and procedures is essential for safe operation of any machine. Keep that in mind when you take a pill that says to be cautious around heavy machinery. Next month we will further explore how systems break down, just like the Alan Parson Projects robot eventually does.

The Golden Dragon is the Monthly Newsletter of the Fort Snelling Cadet Squadron- Minnesota Wing Civil Air Patrol- Auxiliary United States Air Force The Newsletter is written and published by Major Tony Tarpy, Fort Snelling Cadet Squadron Public Affairs Offi cer. All article submissions and comments should be directed to me at ttarpy@mn.rr.com or at regular meeting nights. Articles are due the last Monday night of the month and newsletter is published the first Monday of the upcoming month LTC Tony Tarpy- Public Affairs/Editor Major Doug Kilian- Squadron Commander

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