“Spirit of Solano” gets locked and loaded for first operational mission

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Donald Osborn
  • 60th AMW Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Within 24 hours after the wheels of Travis' first C-17 touched down during an arrival ceremony here Aug. 8, the "Spirit of Solano" took off fully loaded to Germany, Spain and Turkey in support of the Global War on Terrorism. 

According to Senior Master Sgt. Mike Belanger, 860th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron flight superintendent, the reason for the successful mission was the outstanding teamwork and countless hours of training to prepare for this date. 

"Everyone from the 860th and 945th Aircraft Maintenance Squadrons, the 60th Aerial Port Squadron and the 21st Airlift Squadron were crucial to this first successful mission," said Sergeant Belanger.
"It was amazing how within 24 hours of getting the aircraft, we placed a full load on it, plus Space A passengers and sent it on a mission," he added. 

All of that hard work seemed to pay off for the crews when the first of 16 pallets weighing over 46,000 pounds started to roll off of the cargo loader and into the new bird.
The 60th Aerial Port Squadron had the honor of placing the pallets into the belly of the "Spirit of Solano" for the first time. 

"This is the first time that I have taken part in loading a brand new aircraft in the 20 years that I have been here," said Mr. Dean Hibsch, 60th Aerial Port Squadron ramp foreman.
"It's pretty exciting to have the younger guys on the crew be a part of this," he said. 

To Staff Sgt. Ezra Whiteside, 60th Aerial Port Squadron ramp services load team chief, it was just another day on the job. 

"I know it felt great to be a part of the history of the "Spirit of Solano"," he said. "We put a lot of hard work into it, but just like any other mission we perform here, it felt like a normal workload." 

Although it may have felt like a normal workload, the technology put into this aircraft made loading the pallets into the C-17 easier. 

"A couple of loadmasters [virtually] built this aircraft from their own experience and inputs from the field," said Mr. Hibsch. "They looked at the C-130, C-141 and the C-5 and improved a better loading system from those aircraft." 

One of the improvements from the other aircraft are the omni-directional rollers on the aft ramp and the lifting capabilities of the ramp. 

"With these particular rollers on the aft ramp, we can place a pallet onto the ramp and actually turn it 360 degrees before we place it into the belly," said Mr. Hibsch. 

"Another improvement that was made was the ramp being able to lift 40,000 pounds," he said. "That's a big help especially when loading trucks." 

With all of the new capabilities of this aircraft, we are showing that our technology, and inputs from the field, really works. 

"The capability of this aircraft has lived up to all of its hype," said Mr. Hibsch.
"The experience of this brand new aircraft not only brings a new mission to Travis, it brings in a new era," he said. "The whole Travis community gains from its presence."