MARQUETTE, MI— The Army will be ice testing aircraft around Marquette Sawyer Regional Airport over the next few months.
Since 2015, the U.S. Army Redstone Test Center has brought a Chinook helicopter equipped with an orange boom that sprays water to the U.P. The Helicopter Icing Spray System—or HISS—creates a controlled-cloud environment through which a test aircraft flies. The effects of ice accumulation and shedding are documented with onboard instrumentation and photography.
RTC has the only HISS aircraft in the world and leading experts in maintaining the aircraft and conducting icing testing.
Sawyer officials say the operation has positioned Marquette County as a key winter testing site for international aircraft manufacturers in conjunction with RTC. Aircraft companies from countries like South Korea and Italy, as well as various U.S. companies, have used the HISS system in the U.P. Officials say the operation contributes more than $2 million to the local economy.
Testing will be performed through the end of April.