Contents of Skywrighter are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, DoD, or the Department of the Air Force.
Stories and photographs reprinted from Vol. 41, No. 45, issue of Wright-Patterson AFB Skywrighter, published Thursday, November 9, 2000.

News

ARIA Comes Home for Retirement
  by Susan Barone, ASC Public Affairs

The last E model Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft, also known as ARIA, flew its final mission Thursday, from Edwards AFB to Wright-Patterson.

The Aria, which originally stood for Apollo Range Instrumentation Aircraft, is scheduled to go on display at the U.S. Air Force Museum. In coming to the base, it is actually returning to its former home. The 4950th Test Wing, which flew the ARIA, used to be stationed here.

ARIA aircraft still stir the blood and memory of those who flew its unique missions to support U.S. space and missile launch programs, according to one of its well-known pilots, Lt. Gen. Robert F. Raggio, now commander of Aeronautical Systems Center, flew the aircraft as a test pilot from December 1975 to June 1979. He also served as commander of the test wing, supporting ARIA missions, from August 1988 to May 1990.

"I've enjoyed my entire Air Force career, but my assignments with the 4950th Test Wing were unique," Raggio said. "There is a special bond between those of us who are or were associated with the ARIA mission that will remain with us."

Raggio and Edwards' flight test center Commander Maj. Gen. Richard V. Reynolds flew with the E-model ARIA to Wright-Patterson.

Recognizable for its 10-foot, elongated, bulbous nose, the aircraft houses a seven-foot steerable dish antenna, which has earned it nicknames like "Droop Snoot" and "Snoopy Nose."

When the 4950th TW was stationed at Wright-Patterson, ARIA crews supported well known missions for the space shuttle, Voyager I and II, Galileo, Mars Observer, Peacekeeper and Tomahawk.

ARIA was designed and developed to supplement land and marine telemetry stations in support of the Department of Defense and NASA's space and missile programs. Telemetry, similar to television broadcasting, is a way of transmitting information from the spacecraft to the aircraft and then to the ground.

The ARIA fleet included eight configured C-135 jet cargo aircraft, whose mission was to receive and transmit astronaut voice communications and record data for the Apollo manned space flight program, when it operated out of the Air Force Eastern Test Range, Patrick AFB, Fla., from 1968-1975.

In December 1975, when the 4950th TW was established here, the fleet became part of their inventory. Over the years, as requirements changed, the test wing oversaw many improvements and modifications to the aircraft, which allowed them to continue performing their missions.

ARIA crews gathered telemetry data from ballistic missile re-entry tests, air launched cruise missile tests, satellite launches and spacecraft. ARIA also collected data for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA.

While here, four A models were modified to the E model configuration, and three were converted to the Boeing 707-320 airframe, designated C-18s in the Air Force inventory. One aircraft was lost during a training flight in a crash that occurred near Walkersville, Md., in 1981. The fleet moved with the test wing in 1994, becoming part of the 412th TW at Edwards AFB, Calif.

Today, all but two of the fleet have been retired, and these active EC-18s are in line to retire in the next two years.

Photo Feature
	Air Force photo by Spencer P. Lane		An EC-135 Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft, also known as ARIA, makes its final touchdown Nov. 3 at the Air Force Museum, where the aircraft is scheduled to go on public display. The last of the E models in the Air Force inventory flew its last mission Nov. 2 from Edwards AFB, Calif. to Wright-Patterson. The 4950th Test Wing, operational here from 1975 to 1994, flew the ARIA in support of U.S. space and missile launch programs.
	Lt. Gen. Robert F. Raggio, commander of Aeronautical Systems Center, shares his memories as an ARIA test pilot and wing commander with members of the news media Nov. 2. Raggio flew with the aircraft from Edwards AFB, Calif. to Wright-Patterson.		Air Force photo by Spencer P. Lane
	Air Force photo by Spencer P. Lane		Bill Schantz, a contractor with 88th Logistics and Operations Group transient alert unit, places a chock under the tires as tail number 00374 comes to a stop near Bldg. 206, Area C, after its arrival from Edwards AFB.
	As seen in the sky above the Air Force Museum, the seven-foot dish antenna housed inside the aircraft’s nose makes it easy to understand the aircraft’s nicknames of “Droop Snoot” and “Snoopy Nose.”		Air Force photo by Spencer P. Lane
	Air Force photo by Spencer P. Lane		Lt. Col. Walter R. Price reacquaints himself with the navigator’s seat in the ARIA. Price was with the 4952nd test squadron from 1986 to 1992.
	Pilot Lt. Col. Jon L. Lange and crewmembers Master Sgt. John Fjellberg, flight engineer, and Maj. Howard Judd, co-pilot, of the final flight crew pose for a photograph by navigator Maj. Kenneth Vance, as the aircraft is prepared for towing across Loop Road to the Air Force Museum’s restoration hangar.		Air Force photo by Spencer P. Lane