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McConnell TFI team performs rare maintenance task

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Brannen Parrish
  • 931st Air Refueling Group
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  A total force initiative team of crew chiefs here got to repair a KC-135 Stratotanker rear verticle stabliizer, a task normally performed at a depot-level repair facility.

Maintainers from the Repair and Reclamation sections of the 22nd Maintenance Squadron and 931st Maintenance Squadron began removing the rear vertical stabilizer July 11 in order to remove and replace a broken rudder. Preparing the work area and the aircraft to remove the stabilizer takes approximately 12 hours. The entire process of removing, repairing and replacing takes approximately 72 hours.

Typically stabilizers are removed during routine maintenance intervals at the KC-135 depot at Tinker AFB, Okla., but the repairs can be performed at field-level.

"No one in the KC-135 world gets to do this very often," said Master Sgt. Adam Keeter, crew chief, 931st MXS. "That's one of the reasons we are working so methodically. We are being very careful."

Most KC-135 maintainers outside the depot will remove a rear vertical stabilizer only a few times in their career.

"I've been at McConnell since 2009 and we've only completely removed the rear vertical stabilizer twice," said Chief Master Sgt. John R. McDermott, 931st MXS maintenance superintendent.