 |
| News > Big wheels keep bombers rollin |
|
Big wheels keep bombers rollin
Posted 9/11/2012 Updated 9/11/2012
Email story
Print story
by Airman 1st Class Joseph A. Pagán Jr.
2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs
9/11/2012 - BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. -- The 2nd Maintenance Squadron maintainers play a vital role in ensuring the B-52H Stratofortress bomber continues accomplish the mission. From wing tip to wing tip, nose to tail, maintainers fix every part of the aircraft. However, the best maintainers in the world couldn't prepare a B-52 to launch without wheels.
The 2 MXS wheel and tire shop may be small, but has a big role in keeping the B-52 mission ready.
"Without the wheel and tire shop, pilots wouldn't be able to take off or land," said Senior Airman Jaquit Byrd, 2 MXS repair and reclamation journeyman. "The job we perform is essential for the safety of the crew as they return home from the mission."
When an aircraft lands, crew chiefs inspect the tires and landing gear, looking for melted rubber, and over-heated or broken parts.
"Most damage to the wheels or tires occurs when the aircraft has a hard landing," said Jaquit. "A hard landing is when the aircraft lands at a fast speed or comes in at the wrong angle."
When the wheels and tires can't stop at the normal rate it causes the brake pads to over-heat and burns the rubber on the tires. Crew chiefs look for any color change on the metal to determine if the landing gear is over-heated, he added.
Normally, Airmen are on the flight line fixing the entire aircraft until there are tires to work on.
"We take time from our primary job to fix wheels because it is a problem that needs to be addressed right away," said Senior Airmen Corey Jones, 2 MXS repair and reclamation journeyman. "Supervision directs us to the shop when there is work to be done so we can use our time effectively."
While in the shop, Airmen have all types of machines to repair the wheels.
"We recently added a one-man wheel builder in our shop which cuts our rim assembly time down from about an hour to 10 minutes," said Jaquit.
Although Airmen can use the one-man wheel builder, the shop takes a lot of teamwork to ensure the wheels will be ready to carry aircraft. The wheel and tire shop is another piece of the B-52 mission puzzle that keeps our bomber fleet ready for any mission. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
