Message posted by loopbacktest4echo on June 20, 2007 at 7:29:39 PST:
From what I saw of the berm in the photo it looks like it was built to block or obscure the view of the hanger which makes perfect sense. My quess is that whatever is going in and out of the hanger may have a long setup or break down time which would leave it exposed for longer than they would like. It's also possible that the berm is a saftey barrier. Although A51 is not an AF base, the Air Force has historically used berms to block the ground view of aircraft landing and taking off to prevent photographing, attacks, and to contain damage (crashes). They also use berms to isolate aircraft from each so that if one should explode the other aircraft in the area aren't damaged. Aircraft on alert may be armed and fueled. Berms are used around fuel storage. An example of not doing this would be how easily the Japanese took out the rows of aircraft in their attack on Pearl Harbor. The Air Force does not like their active duty aircraft easily observed or photographed because this can give away capabilities and identify unit deployments. The berm could also block night vision observation. Just some thoughts.
In Reply to: Sometimes a dirt pile is just a dirt pile posted by Hank on June 19, 2007 at 14:23:17 PST:
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