RSUs: A critical role in air traffic control, pilot production

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Keith Holcomb
  • 14th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  On most days, aircraft on Columbus Air Force Base fly from dusk ‘til dawn, making the airspace full of moving pieces that Airmen on the ground must direct and communicate with to ensure pilots are landing, taking off and navigating the skies safely.

Aircrew circle in a large pattern in the sky to effectively learn maneuvers, conduct procedures and perform multiple touch-and-go landings, and each pilot requires a set of eyes to ensure the safety and accuracy of maneuvers.

The tower air traffic controllers cannot handle the pilot training mission’s demands alone, so they have help from specially trained instructor pilots who work from Runway Supervisory Units, located next to each of the three runways.

The RSUs are manned by four pilots – two trained controllers, and two students, who serve as a recorder and spotter.

“The air traffic controllers can only control up to four aircraft at once in the patterns,” said Capt. Roland Neal, 37th Flying Training Squadron T-6A Texan II RSU controller and instructor pilot. “But with the RSUs, it allows us to control up to 12 aircraft in (each) pattern, maximizing the amount of students we can have training at once in that pattern.”

Not only does it allow students to train more in the sky, but also allows students to learn from the ground as well, as the RSU recorder and spotter are trained by the controllers.

“The recorder is the first position you learn,” said 2nd Lt. Maggie Collins, 41st Flying Training Squadron student pilot. “Your responsibility is to keep accountability for the aircraft in the pattern at all times and record any incidents that may occur under control of the RSU. The other job is the spotter, whose job is to make sure the aircraft are configured the way they reported they were going to be configured over comms.”

This kind of experience creates a wider understanding of their job as pilots, making them even more competent the next time they take to the skies.

“It helped me understand what was going on in the pattern, where certain points in the pattern are, and why or why not the instructors accepted certain requests at certain times,” Collins said. “Overall it will help me when I fly the pattern because I’ll know what they are looking for and what I need to do.”