Airmen give dead engine new life

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Darrell Habisch
  • 934th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL AIR RESERVE STATION, Minn. (AFPN) --  There is life after death.

Airmen of the 934th Maintenance Squadron here took a T-56-A-7 turboprop engine with more than 22,000 hours of total time running destined for the "bone yard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., and now use it to train unit members. 

The engine was condemned and its usable life over, except for the possible turn of the wrench to remove a needed part for another engine. The basic design of the T-56 turboprop has remained the same since first constructed in the 1950s and in almost all respects, is the same as the T-56-A-15's on the C-130 Hercules aircraft flown by 934th Airlift Wing Airmen. This makes it perfect to live on as a training engine.

Without a training engine to complete required on-the-job training core tasks, upgrade training was dependent upon whenever an engine would break. 

"We can't break something just to work on it," said Senior Master Sgt. Phil Kvamme, the 934th MXS Propulsion Flight chief. "We now have hands-on training and everyone can get their core tasks completed."

Resurrecting the engine to trainer status has been a spare-time project since its delivery to the 934th MXS Propulsion Flight in June 2007. 

Tech. Sgt. Dennis McClain, an aircraft propulsion craftsman, was one of the driving forces during the restoration process. He washed the entire engine while inspecting and documenting its status and all of its historical records. This was followed by sanding and stripping years of paint done by Tech. Sgt. Dave Dudash of the 934th MXS Corrosion Control Flight. Sergeant Dudash also designed a new paint scheme to match the 934th AW's colors. 

The engine is primed and ready for another lifetime of service training new propulsion mechanics. 

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