F-101 relocated at Air Park maintenance applies hard work, ingenuity Published July 21, 2011 By Scott King 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash -- In an effort to make the Air Park near the base entrance more aesthetically pleasing and functional, aircraft have been repositioned utilizing the skills of the 92nd Maintenance Squadron Aero Repair shop. The overall tasking to move the C-47 and the F-101 aircraft was assigned to the 92nd MXS Aero Repair shop. One of the many duties they perform is the Crash, Damaged, or Disabled Aircraft Recovery program, so this was right up their alley. A C-47 Skytrain was towed to its new location that will point to the future base headquarters facility and an F-101 Voodoo was just hoisted via crane and lowered onto its new home. "This is not something that the Aero Repair shop does every day, so these were excellent opportunities for the team members to hone their skills and receive training," said Senior Master Sgt. Stephen Bowick, 92nd Maintenance Squadron lead production supervisor. The C-47 was moved in May. The CDDAR Team used KC-135 jacks to lift the aircraft so the welding contractors could cut away the pedestals. Before this could happen, metal technicians had to locally manufacture jack pad adapters to eliminate the damage that would have been caused if they used the normal adapters. The team then had to air up the three tires to the proper pressure prior to lowering the aircraft to the ground. Once the aircraft was on the ground, it was towed to the newly-poured concrete pad. "The F-101 was considerably more difficult to move," Bowick said. "Because of the sheer weight of the aircraft [30,000 lbs] we could not simply put it on the ground and tow it to its new home. We also did not want to risk cracking the new concrete pad and, unlike the C-47 tires, the F-101's small tires were not designed to roll on the dirt surface." The CDDAR team elected to perform a lifting operation. To do this, the 92nd Contracting Squadron solicited bids from local crane companies. Hite Crane in Spokane was chosen to lift the aircraft. The major problem with the lift project was that the lifting sling designed for the F-101 was not available from any museums Air Force-wide. Once again, metals technicians came through by designing a lifting strap that was similar in shape and size to the original device. "I contributed to the fabrication of the lift attachments that were bolted to the sides of the aircraft and use to lift the jet with," said Staff Sgt. William Ishler, 92nd MXS aircraft metals technology craftsman. "I designed the parts and welded the bushings into them to actually engage into the jet and lift it. We went through three attempts with different designs to get it right. I'm glad I was involved in this project. It played a part in the preservation of part of our Air Force history, and it also allowed some out-of-the-box thinking and provided us with training." To ensure the safety of the team, as well as the contractors, the straps were put through the same stringent tests as KC-135 lifting devices. Once all welding was complete, the 92nd MXS Non Destructive Inspection shop inspected the welds for cracks. Once the straps passed this test, they were sent to Broadway Splicing in Spokane for load testing. Each of the two straps was required to be tested to a maximum of 24,000 lbs. for three minutes. Once the two straps passed the load test, NDI completed a second in spection to ensure the integrity of the welds. Both straps passed the final test and the move was scheduled for July 8. "The major factor at this point was how to protect the grounds and sprinkler systems from damage by the 103,000 lb. crane as it was driven into place," said Master Sgt. John Young, CDDAR team chief. "Our team used ingenuity and applied airfield matting for the crane tires to roll over as it was driven into position. Once in position Railroad ties which are normally used by the team as shoring for downed aircraft were used as pads for the cranes outriggers. This provided a solid resting point for the pads as well as dispersing the load of the crane. From that point it was a matter of the company setting up the rigging cables and belly band strap while our team installed the locally manufactured lifting straps on the aircraft." Six hours later, the F-101 was resting in its new location on a newly-poured concrete pad. "The move went off without a hitch," Young said. "The design and build of the devices used to lift the aircraft were spot-on. This opportunity yielded great results and provided our maintenance folks valuable training. This gave almost all of our CDDAR team members a chance to move an aircraft in a non-hostile environment. That reason alone made this move well worth all the efforts." As with any large effort Fairchild undertakes, working closely with other on and off- base agencies is crucial. "A big plus is working with other agencies here," Bowick said. "The civil engineer and contracting squadrons, as well as off-base contractors, came together to make this happen. The impact from moving these two aircraft was huge. We were able to work on unfamiliar airframes that posed unique challenges and required us to use skills obtained in AFSO 21 training as well as Maintenance Resource Management training. I hope that we, as a team, can take away some valuable 'lessons learned' from the experience and put them to use in our daily routines to make 'Team Fairchild' stronger."