Wing's old simulator becomes teaching tool for future Airmen

  • Published
  • By Harry Lundy
  • 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  A salvaged F-15E Strike Eagle egress simulator has found a new mission in the Air Force JROTC program at Southern Nash High School in Bailey, N.C.
 
The simulator's life began in 1989 when it arrived at the wing training facility here. The F-15Es were coming online to replace the F-4E Phantom, which was the primary aircraft of the 4th Fighter Wing. 

Robert Freeman, the current school liaison officer here, was the noncommissioned officer in charge of wing training and aircrew life support at the time. He said he remembers when the simulator first arrived and had to share floor space with the F-4 simulator. 

"We brought aircrews through every 90 days for training on egress and ejection procedures," said Mr. Freeman. 

Now that the simulator is going to be used at a local high school, Mr. Freeman said he is still just as excited. 

"The kids will love it," he said. "Whether they join the Air Force to fly or fix airplanes, it will be a good recruitment tool." 

The egress simulator has been used by every F-15E pilot that passed through Seymour Johnson AFB until 2006, when it was replaced by a two-seat model. Normally, that would be the last one would hear of the instruction tool. 

The simulator is now in the process of coming back to life thanks to retired Chief Master Sgt. Scott Wedding. He has been an aerospace science instructor at Southern Nash for four and a half years and is responsible for its rebirth. 

While on a visit to the life support shop, he saw the simulator and heard that they were going to get rid of it. For the next month, we worked to have it transferred to the school. 

"It was a matter of being in the right place at the right time," Mr. Wedding said. 

Once the trainer arrived at the school, there was one big hurdle to overcome. It was too large to get into the classroom. Without a viable means of moving the simulator, it sat underneath an overhang covered by a tarp for two years. 

In the interim, Mr. Wedding did some research, found out it was made at Luke AFB, Ariz., gave them a call and found out the simulator could be disassembled. 

With the help of Mr. Freeman, they put out the word for volunteers. The first person to step up to the challenge was Tech. Sgt. Shane Ricketts from the egress shop. He called Staff. Sgt. Matthew Pernie, an egress systems instructor, to see if he could lend a hand. 

The two Airmen removed the canopy and panels, repositioned the controls and cleaned out two years of cat hair, spider webs and debris. Once that was accomplished, the simulator was able to be moved into the classroom. 

Sergeant Pernie is working to improve the seat of the simulator for the JROTC students. 

"The egress shop and I are donating items here and there to make the ejection seat look a little nicer, a little more lifelike," he said. 

Sergeant Ricketts also called in a favor to Tech. Sgt. Matthew Wildman, corrosion NCOIC at the aircraft structural maintenance shop, to give the simulator a more realistic F-15E look. 

"We are repairing some minor damage to the fiberglass and recoating what is a mock up of the forward fuselage and windscreen," Sergeant Wildman said. 

He also said the Airmen working on the project consider it an honor to do their part. The rest of the structural maintenance element are lending their support by picking up the workload of the volunteers. 

Staff Sgt. Lance Geist, Airman 1st Class Stephen LaMere and Airman Thomas Cline are the primary technicians undertaking the task and they expect to be finished Monday. 

The volunteers will need to rewire the seat and canopy to ensure they work properly.
Mr. Wedding plans to go further than just refurbishment though. He intends to upgrade it to a computerized flight simulator. 

"I want to hook up a computer, monitor and joystick to make it as realistic as it can be for the students," he said. 

The goal is to immerse the students into the most accurate environment of an F-15E fighter pilot. 

"When all is said and done," Sergeant Pernie said, "this will definitely be a gamer's dream come true." 

For two years the students of Southern Nash High School have been waiting to see the simulator's potential. Thanks to the help of volunteers from Seymour Johnson AFB, they will be able to experience it firsthand. 

Mr. Wedding said he is appreciative of the money he has received from some of the local businesses to help make this dream a reality. He is especially glad of the amount of assistance he has received from members of the 4th Fighter Wing. 

Sergeant Pernie sees the amount of work that everyone is doing as an investment in upcoming Air Force members. 

"It may sound cliché, but one of those cadets could be a future chief master sergeant of the Air Force or possibly chief of staff of the Air Force," he said. "To think that I could possibly have had a hand in making that happen, that's pretty amazing."