Airmen resume refurbishing tankers

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Martie Capoeman
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. (AFPN) --  As the saying goes, it's what's on the inside that counts. That is the case for a 45-plus-year-old KC-135 Stratotanker that has recently gone through an interior sprucing-up, by airmen of the 92nd Maintenance Squadron’s equipment excellence shop here.

"These improvements are critical to our mission," said Col. Anthony M. Mauer, 92nd Air Refueling Wing commander. "It's no small task, but the folks in maintenance are doing an incredible job keeping this aircraft (ready)."

During the tanker refurbishing process, the airmen not only refurbished the aging aircraft, they also made improvements to their process.

"We've improved the process for cutting floorboards with new equipment and streamlined (it) from a two-person to a one-person process," said Staff Sgt. Josh Shull, equipment excellence technician. "We purchased a new vertical-panel saw (that) allows more accurate cuts, (and saves) us time and money, with no more reworked boards and with less waste."

The 14-person refurbishing team includes crew chiefs, aerospace ground equipment operators, sheet-metal airmen and electronic specialists.

"Basically anyone from (the maintenance group) can work in this shop," Shull said.

It takes the team 15 days to completely refurbish the inside of the aircraft.

The airmen begin the process by disassembling everything from the cockpit to the boom pod. Then, they sand everything that needs to be painted including the floor. Next, they establish their paint plan, which includes masking off areas and taking parts into a booth to be painted. After the floor is painted, they install the freshly painted equipment and complete quality checks.

Masking paper waste was reduced with the creation of reusable templates for the aircraft, Shull said. The templates lowered the cost of hazardous waste that previously had to be disposed. This improvement also effectively helps the environment, he said.

"With the new dual-bulb florescent tube light system on the aircraft, we are able to work more efficiently (because of) better visibility," Shull said.

The improved lighting has helped the team produce a higher quality paint job and saves time because there is less resanding.

"These good ideas have saved us money in terms of man-hours instead of direct monetary impact," Shull said.

"The jets come out … looking and operating like they're (supposed) to,” Mauer said.

The first KC-135 refurbishing project is scheduled for completion Dec. 15. (Courtesy of Air Mobility Command News Service)