You are at netAirspace : Forum : Air and Space Forums : Military Aviation

I'm 150 miles from Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, one of the three designated places where Afghan refugees will live for a while. The Civil Reserve Air Fleet will transport refugees to the three sites in the USA.

Ft McCoy (CMY) has two runways: 11/29, which is 4697 feet x 100 feet, and, 1/19, which is 4114 feet x 50 feet. I assume the CRAF aircraft will be twin aisle aircraft. Will they fit at CMY?

If they don't fit, then I assume they would land the CRAF aircraft at Volk Field Air National Guard Base (VOK), which has a single runway... 9/27, which is 9,000 feet x 150 feet. Refugees would have to be transported by ground to Ft McCoy, creating another step in their transportation plan.

The road distance from Volk Field to Fort McCoy is 24 miles, of which about 15 miles is on an interstate highway.

Based on your experience and knowledge, where do you anticipate the CRAF aircraft will land? Ft McCoy or Volk Field?

Unless the refugees are transferred to smaller aircraft, it's going to be Volk. CMY doesn't have much ramp space and it doesn't look like the runways have the weight bearing capacity anyway. Volk can handle much more.

ShyFlyer wrote:Volk can handle much more.

I know Volk took lots of Omni DC10's a few years ago.

Mark wrote:If they don't fit, then I assume they would land the CRAF aircraft at Volk Field Air National Guard Base (VOK), which has a single runway... 9/27, which is 9,000 feet x 150 feet. Refugees would have to be transported by ground to Ft McCoy, creating another step in their transportation plan.

And that's what's happening. ABC7 News Chicago had a crew up there yesterday. Nice, big chartered busses waiting for the incoming refugees for transport to Ft. McCoy.

Volk also has the AARF needed for the wide bodies. I doubt McCoy does. If the runway is less than 5500 feet even a 737 is going to be leery of landing and taking off.

In the winter of 78-79 the 1/75th Airborne Ranger battalion jumped into Fort McCoy for a training session. The DZ is in a bowl. Green light came on about 10 seconds too early. Several broken bones, sprains, and scratches as the first few jumpers out the door had only a 500 foot drop to ground versus 1000 feet. I was one of the lucky ones. Slammed into the ground on my second swing back after the chute deployed. Missed a tree trunk by about a foot. Looked up and felt like I could reach up and touch the belly of the next C-130 that flew over.