Aero repair, wheel, tire shops maintain vital aircraft components

November 27, 1997
Originally published by Fairchild Connection (Fairchild AFB, WA)

The wheel and tire and aero repair shops of the 92nd Maintenance Squadron work closely together to make sure that Fairchild's aircraft stay in top shape.

"We maintain the wheels and tires for all airplanes on base," said TSgt. David Johnson, NCOIC of the wheel and tire shop. "It's a big workload sometimes, because we get pretty busy with all the flying."

The supply point is the spot where crew chiefs drop off their worn tires and pick up new ones. "We disassemble the used tire, clean the wheel and inspect for defects. Then we have one of our back shops work on it," Johnson said. The largest of these is the NDI--nondestructive inspection area."

"Then we air them up, have a 24-hour leak check, then put in the bearings and do the paperwork," Johnson said. "We are in high demand because the flightline makes wheel changes on a continuing basis. We are always busy with deployments."

Wheels, tires and parts are washed and cleaned in the Vat Room, a department of the shop made for just this purpose. "We have to do a real good job of cleaning, because the wheels that come off the jets are pretty greasy and nasty," Johnson said.

TSgt. Edward Bonin, NCOIC of the Aero Repair shop, is in charge of coordinating all the maintenance that must be done with the aircraft.

"We're responsible for all aircraft maintenance dealing with flight control and landing gear systems," Bonin said. "We perform most of our maintenance on the flightline, with very little actually performed in the shop."

The shop also performs maintenance in the aircraft isochronal inspection docks, and performs inspections for mobility purposes and deployments.

MSgt. Christopher Hauer, element chief of the two shops, said the aero repair shop is responsible in a big way for maintaining the flight capabilities of all aircraft. "Our duties also include removing the landing gear, replacing the controls, and removing parts for inspection."

Hauer described a seldom seen but equally important mission the element provides: crash recovery. A crash recovery trailer and team is ready to assist with cables, airbags, and equipment for recovery in the event a plane crashes. That's just a small part of what we do, but it is important--obviously we just hope we never have to use it," he said.

"We support each of the five 92nd AGS sortie generation flights--blue, black, red, gold and green. We have an important mission and each of our personnel knows the impact we have on the mission and can always be counted on to give 100 percent."