Fit to fly: Team Travis maintainers take on major C-5C repair

  • Published
  • By Senior Master Sgt. Ellen L. Hatfield
  • 349th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Team Travis Airmen got more than they bargained for when a small repair on a C-5C Galaxy turned out to be a major undertaking.

Back in October of 2009, 60th Maintenance Squadron Airmen discovered a leak during a routine inspection that would require major repairs.

The C-5C is a space cargo modified Galaxy, specially customized to carry satellites and large cargo. With only two in the Air Force inventory that routinely support National Aeronautics and Space Administration requirements, having them fully mission capable is essential.

The leak was discovered during a pressure check. Master Sgt. Sheldon Jentzsch, assigned to the 60th Aircraft Structural Maintenance shop, said the process is simple. "We start by wetting the plane down to look for bubbles, which indicates a leak. We started to find more and more, with fasteners and such."

"Once we cut away where the initial crack was found, we discovered fairly extensive corrosion and more cracks," he said. "What started out as a repair of about eight by 10 inches grew to five feet by 11 feet."

Extensive repairs would normally be done at the depot at Warner-Robins Air Logistics Center, Ga., but the plane has to be flown there, and the plane wasn't flying anywhere.

The next option was to request a depot team to come here to perform the repairs, but a team wasn't available until mid-April.

With only two C models in the entire inventory, having one grounded for so long was out of the question.

"Having one C model down represents a 50 percent decrease in support capability to NASA," said Col. Carol Johnson, 60th Maintenance Group commander.

Tech. Sgt. Kyle Parr, 60th MXS was appointed the primary technical advisor for completing the repairs at Travis. While he was coordinating with the engineers at Warner-Robins on design set up, a six-person team was put together here at Travis.

"We're really proud of our team, and the fact that it represents our best expertise in a dedicated team," said Gary Lewis, Aircraft Structural Maintenance chief. "We knew we'd require support from the 349th Air Mobility Wing, as well as our civilian work force, so this is truly a total force, 'one team, one fight,' initiative."

Team leader is Staff Sgt. Dan Louden, 60th MXS, joined by air reserve technician Staff Sgt. Brent Dost, 349th MXS; Tech. Sgt. Robert Stemen, 349th Maintenance Squadron traditional Reservist; Airman 1st Class Joseph Madrid, 60th MXS; Terry Hendricksen, DoD civilian and retired master sergeant from the Reserve; and Tom Chalmers, DoD civilian retired from active duty.

"Airman Madrid is a 3-level in upgrade training, so this is not only an exciting opportunity for him, it's also a unique training experience," said Senior Master Sgt. Scott Pagenkopf, 60th MXS fabrications flight chief.

There is nothing routine about the repairs for this particular model of C-5, including more than 8,000 fasteners that need to be put back, requiring attention to detail, hours of repetitive motions and infinite patience.

Sergeant Louden was thoughtful before saying, "It takes patience, but also a certain type of person for a job like this. It's a privilege to be part of a team working on this job, getting this plane back flying. It takes absolute trust in our expertise and abilities."

The weight of responsibility to keep aircraft flying is heavy for the Team Travis maintenance community. Mr. Lewis, Sergeant Pagenkopf and Sergeant Jentzsch said this repair job followed the rules of the trade and technical orders, but engineering and fabrications had to work hand-in-hand to develop a design for the repairs to meet the strength and standards required by the C-5C model.

"Sergeant Parr had to do research and some homework, because this C-5 is unique," said Mr. Lewis. "The skin panels are made from a special alloy and thickness that includes aluminum and titanium. The thousands of fasteners that hold it together are a special high-tension type."

Once the team had the new skins fabricated and received a shipment of more than 12,000 fasteners, they worked 12-hour days, seven days-a-week in a large hangar that could house the giant jet.

"They are putting their hearts and souls into this repair," said Mr. Lewis. "At the Depot, they fix planes from lots of different bases, but this is a Travis tail, so it's ours. When we see it going down the runway, we can say, 'We fixed that.'"

"I can remember fixing a bullet hole on an aircraft in Somalia in 1992 as an Airman," said Sergeant Pagenkopf. "Years later, I saw it again and thought just that, 'I fixed that. But this is even better, we're proud of the fact that this is a total team effort between Airmen, active duty Reserve and civilians."

Sergeant Jentzsch said once the repairs are finished, the team completes additional pressure checks for leaks. If all seems solid and sealed, they sign off on the repairs as "good to go" from the structural perspective. Then the "confidence" flight with test pilots is the litmus test to get it back airborne.

"This project speaks volumes on the level of talented Airmen here at Travis," said Colonel Johnson. "It is truly indicative of their passion, dedication and ingenuity."

The team expects to finish the repairs by late January.