It looked like snow hitting the concrete in the T-6 "Texan II" Aircraft Weather Shelter at Laughlin Air Force Base on Wednesday (Jan. 14), but it was far from it. The high expansion foam is more like soap bubbles.

The bubbles were part of a test to check three new generators added to the weather shelter as part of its recent expansion. The test drew a crowd of Air Force members, contractors and civilian personnel, who came to see the entire system in action and to see how far the foam would spill out of the shelter.

Kendrick Cloud of the 47th Installation Support Squadron (Provisional) said the high expansion foam is used in the shelter to control fires. "The system is fairly sensitive," Cloud said, because it's protecting $5 million aircraft.

The foam system can be deployed using sensors or manually. Two 25,000-gallon water tanks are onsite to move the foam into the shelter, he said.

Abel Acosta, project engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said the original shelter was completed in 2006. "The last phase of the project is the final test," Acosta said of Wednesday's foam test. "We're looking for the foam to reach one meter above the floor in less than four minutes." Yellow markers were spaced around the floor to gauge the height of the foam.

In addition to the markers, a silhouette of a T-6 was outlined in blue on the shelter's floor. Acosta said the silhouette is another indicator to monitor how fast the foam covers the area.

Hilton Maddox, superintendent for general contractor MAPCO, Inc., said fire sensors – alarms and heat detectors – were tested Tuesday. "Today, we'll manually flip the switch," he said of the foam test.

An alarm sounded and flashing lights alerted observers that foam would begin pouring from the red generators within 30 seconds. The waterfall of foam with an overspray began shooting from the generators. "It just puts out the fire," Maddox said, "by taking away the oxygen." The foam is designed to extinguish a fire without damaging the aircraft.

Within 23 seconds, the T-6 silhouette was covered in foam, Maddox said. It took one minute 43 seconds for the one-meter mark to be reached inside the shelter. When the generators were cut off, the foam continued to expand outside the shelter.

Maddox said a sample of the foam was collected to check the percentages of water and foam created during the test. The last foam test was performed in 2005.

Cloud said the shelter's addition was due to Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) guidelines and the expanded mission at Laughlin Air Force Base. The base has 93 T-6s. The shelter can house 66 of the planes. Cloud said the T-6s are put under the shelter during inclement weather.

What happened to the mountain of foam after the test? Maddox said the foam would dissipate in two hours. "Then, they'll knock it down with water," he said comparing the foam to dishwasher soap in your sink.

The cost of the expansion and the cost of the foam test were not immediately available on Wednesday. Figures were not available on base. A representative from the Army Corps of Engineers' office did not return a call for comment by this posting.