Helipad Accident Potential Zones
Picacho Peak Stagefield’s CZs and APZs I, shown on Figure 8, are similar in size to those at
SBAH, but since there are four landing lanes, the combined CZs and APZs I are wider. The
CZs are contained entirely within the fenced portion of the site. The majority of the APZs
are outside the fenced portion around the landing lanes but are contained within the
footprint of the installation. They do extend roughly 50 feet past the southern boundary
and less than ten feet past the northern boundary.
Rittenhouse Training
Site Fast Facts
Size:
Rittenhouse Training Site
Rittenhouse Training Site is a small facility approximately 12 miles southeast of
Phoenix‐Mesa Gateway Airport and six miles east of downtown Queen Creek.
Rittenhouse Training Site is an important support facility for different types of helicopter
training for the AZARNG. It is the closest helicopter training facility to Papago Military
Reservation and primarily used by pilots from that location. As such, it plays a critical role
in reducing fuel costs associated with training at sites that are further away. Types of
helicopter training that occur there include: touch‐and‐go landings, dust landings,
emergency procedures, multi‐ship training, slope operations, sling load transportation
(transporting supplies and equipment by suspending them from a rope or tether beneath
a helicopter), Bambi bucket training (transporting a 660‐gallon bucket of water
suspended beneath a helicopter), and some non‐live‐fire, small‐caliber weapons target
training. The proximity of the Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal makes Rittenhouse
Training Site an ideal location for Bambi bucket training, and it is the only site in the
AZARNG’s inventory where this type of training is conducted. This training capacity is
important to firefighting training for the AZARNG’s Defense Support of Civil Authorities
mission. Rittenhouse Training Site also serves as a maneuver and training area for light
forces. It is especially important in supporting pre‐mobilization field training exercises as
it is easily accessed by soldiers at Papago Military Reservation during ramp‐up activities in
preparation of deployment.
Bambi Bucket Pattern
Town of Queen
Creek, 3.1 miles
to the west
Closest helicopter
training facility to
Papago Park
Military Reservation
Training Areas:
Rittenhouse Training Site’s overall operational footprint includes the following
components:
Sling Load Pattern
Nearest Town:
Rittenhouse Training Site Mission Footprints
480 acres,
leased from the
Bureau of Land
Management
Touch-and-go
landing
Dust landing
Emergency
procedures
Multi-ship
Slope
operations
Sling-loading
Bambi buckets
Target training
Pinal County Joint Land Use Study
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