During the Summer of 2020, a C-5M Super Galaxy got stripped for depot level maintenance in the refurbished Hanger-125 on Robins Air Force Base (AFB), Georgia.
USAF by Joseph Mather.
The C-5M is the largest aircraft operated by the U.S. Air Force (USAF).
USAF by Joseph Mather.
By mid-November the C-5M rolled out, but still a little more work needed before test-flight and new clothes.
Photo by Rashida Banks.
In 2018, the World War Two era Hanger-125 underwent a $75-million renovation, supervised by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Photo by Rashida Banks.
Building (hanger) 125 is capable of fully enclosing multiple large aircraft at the same time, for depot level tear-down.
Photo by Rashida Banks.
Hanger-125 has four ‘docks’, which allows up to four C-5 type aircraft, or a whole bunch of smaller aircraft. Building/Hanger-125 takes-up 14.7 acres (5.9 hectares) of land.
USAF by Joseph Mather.
Rebuilders can perform mass-depot level maintenance on several smaller aircraft at the same time, like these F-15s which just happen to be stripped down at the same time as our C-5M, in Summer 2020.
USAF photo by Edward Aspera Junior.
In 2019, this naked C-5 was exposed to a group of looky-loos from other USAF depots, as part of a get-together discussing how best to do their jobs.
Time lapse USAF music video by Paul Wenzel, C-5 gets new clothes at Robins AFB, 2018:
“We are set up to be part of the sustainment effort for F-15 aircraft canopies. We are part of the team that does the replacement parts like the canopies, stabilizers or any of the other flight controls that keep F-15 aircraft flying.”-Alberto Garza-Mayer, 572nd Commodities Maintenance Squadron, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, February 2021
U.S. Air Force photo by Joseph Mather, 11FEB2021.
“After a while, flying during storms or other types of weather conditions, the canopy will develop hazing to a point it will not be serviceable anymore and will need to be replaced.”-Alberto Garza-Mayer, 572nd Commodities Maintenance Squadron, Robins AFB, Georgia, February 2021
USAF photo by Joseph Mather, 11FEB2021.
“The canopies will get disassembled and de-painted. After it is disassembled, we do a frame inspection check to see if the canopy is still serviceable.” -Alberto Garza-Mayer, 572nd Commodities Maintenance Squadron, Robins AFB, Georgia, February 2021
“Once the canopy goes through its necessary repairs, it is resealed where the canopy sits onto the airframe. Then all the holes are located to drill. There are about 3-hundred fastener holes that hold the canopy to the frame. We drill the holes, then trim it to fit within technical order tolerances, make sure it fits, do a final inspection, and install it onto the frame.” -Alberto Garza-Mayer, 572nd Commodities Maintenance Squadron, Robins AFB, Georgia, February 2021
“Last year, we averaged six or seven canopies a month, so we were in the 80-plus canopies completion range. This year, the numbers have been lowered, so we have been doing around four canopies a month.” -Alberto Garza-Mayer, 572nd Commodities Maintenance Squadron, Robins AFB, Georgia, February 2021
USAF photo by Airman First Class Anthony Clingerman, 18NOV2020.
At Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, November 2020, 48th Equipment Maintenance Squadron performed maintenance on a F-15 canopy.
USAF photo by Airman First Class Anthony Clingerman, 18NOV2020.
This included buffing-out the canopy.
USAF photo by Airman First Class Rebeckah Medeiros, 23JUL2020.
Back in July 2020, 18th Equipment Maintenance Squadron personnel at Kadena Air Base (AB), in Japan, were building their own F-15C canopy braces.
USAF photo by Airman First Class Rebeckah Medeiros, 23JUL2020.
This involved using Computer Numeric Controlled (CNC) program to shape aluminum stock.
USAF photo by Airman First Class Rebeckah Medeiros, 23JUL2020.
The aluminum braces are necessary to prevent warpage of the F-15 canopy.
USAF photo by Airman First Class Rebeckah Medeiros, 23JUL2020.
USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Matthew B. Fredericks, 19SEP2019.
Canopy inspection on F-15C, Kadena AB, September 2019.
USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Alexandre Montes.
What’s left of a F-15 ‘gate guard’ canopy after 2018’s Hurricane Michael hit Tyndall AFB, Florida. (Photo taken in February 2019)
USAF photo by Naoto Anazawa, 24OCT2018.
Under the canopy, Kadena AB, October 2018.
USAF photo by Naoto Anazawa, 24OCT2018.
USAF photo by Naoto Anazawa, 24OCT2018.
Oregon Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Jennifer Shirar.
An Oregon Air National Guard F-15, from the 173rd Fighter Wing. minus its canopy during phased inspection, October 2014.
Oregon ANG photo by Master Sergeant Jennifer Shirar.
On 23FEB2021, a ‘divested’ B-1B bomber landed at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) in California, being saved from the ‘boneyard’ in Arizona, but never to fly again.
U.S. Air Force photo by May Straight.
The B-1B tail number 86-0099 arrived with Ruptured Duck artwork on the side.
USAF photo by May Straight.
Under the National Defense Authorization Act, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) is required to divest 17 B-1B Lancers (aka Bones) in order to justify buying the new B-21 Raider (a new version of the B-2).
B-1B #86-0099 was named Ruptured Duck in 2017, on the 75th Anniversary of the Doolittle vengeance raid on Japan. One of the B-25 Mitchell bombers in that raid was named Ruptured Duck:
Official video explainer:
Natural sound video, by Giancarlo Casem, of Ruptured Duck’s arrival on Edwards AFB:
On 03MAR2021, a mummified civilian airliner was hauled off to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, drafted for use as an emergency response trainer for the U.S. military.
USAF photo by R.J. Oriez.
USAF photo by R.J. Oriez.
The 40 miles trip from Wilmington Air Park took three days. Its new home is the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine.
USAF photo by R.J. Oriez.
N798AX was a 767-200 series, last used by Germany’s DHL, first used by Japan’s All Nippon Airways, then Hokaido International Airlines, then by ABX Air in the United States before being leased to DHL. DHL used the 767 for just under a year before its retirement, N789AX was just over 34 years old when ‘retired’. In November 2020, N789AX was broken-up at Wilmington Air Park, Ohio.
USAF photo by R.J. Oriez.
It is not a Boeing 707, or a KC-135 (which itself is not a 707). It is a Boeing 767, and will be used to mimic the military version of the 767; the KC-46.
USAF photo by R.J. Oriez.
The zombie 767 will join a zombie KC-135, which was delivered to School of Aerospace Medicine at the end of March 2020, to train flight nurses, medevac technicians and critical care air-transport team members in the movement and treatment of patients onboard aircraft.
USAF photo by R.J. Oriez.
The School of Aerospace Medicine also uses a zombie C-130, and five other aircraft, for the same training.
U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer Third Class Isaak Martinez.
Quietly, around the 15th of March, 2021, the crew aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Essex-LHD 2 placed shiny black rings on their fingers. The rings came from the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC), which claimed they were part of a new way to keep people healthy.
USN photo by Petty Officer Third Class Isaak Martinez.
It’s part of a U.S. Navy (USN) study called Crew Readiness, Endurance, and Watchstanding (CREW). The official reason for the CREW ring is so leadership can monitor essential personnel who are not getting enough sleep: “We want CREW to be a decision support tool so that you can understand how fatigued people are and how much sleep they are or are not getting. We can then determine how those fatigue levels correspond with the health of the individual so that we can provide a way or course of action to offset some of the risks that come with fatigue and poor health.”-Doctor Rachel Markwald, NHRC
USN photo by Petty Officer Third Class Isaak Martinez.
The crew of the USS Essex are the first to take part in the study. Supposedly, the rings can also detect when a person’s performance is down due to being infected, it is hoped the rings might be able to detect infection before a person realizes they are sick. The CREW monitoring system can also be used in bracelets. Doctor Markwald claims she’s already getting good feedback from crewmembers.
Just a few years before the official end to the unofficial Cold War, Poland’s military decided to modify its license built T-72M1s. The idea was to incorporate as many locally produced upgrades as possible. So many items were changed that the PT-91 Twardy (tough, strong) is almost a totally different tank from the T-72; engine, transmission, auto-loader, targeting system, etc.
U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Andres Chandler, 13JUN2020.
Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area, Poland, June 2020.
USA photo by Sergeant Andres Chandler, 13JUN2020.
USA photo by Sergeant Andres Chandler, 13JUN2020.
NATO video of PT-91 live-fire during wargame in Latvia, April 2020:
Canadian Forces photo.
Polish Hussars PT-91 during Assurance wargame in Latvia, 26JUL2018.
Michigan Army National Guard photo by Captain Tyler Piper, 06JUN2018.
Michigan Army National Guard photo by Specialist Alan Prince , 06JUN2018.
Bemowo Piskie Training Area, Poland, June 2018.
Michigan Army National Guard photo by Specialist Robert Douglas, 15JUN2018.
USA photo by Specialist Hubert D. Delany the Third, 06JUN2018.
USA photo by Specialist Hubert D. Delany the Third, 06JUN2018.
Polish PT-91 in Latvia, at Camp Ādaži, 11MAR2018. Canadian Forces photo by Corporal Jean-Roch Chabot.
Canadian Forces photo by Corporal Jean-Roch Chabot.
In Latvia, February 2018, NATO wargame Reassurance. A PT-91 arrives for ‘decontamination’.
Canadian Forces photo by Corporal Jean-Roch Chabot.
A Slovenian soldier checks for ‘contamination’ of PT-91’s tracks/road wheels.
Canadian Forces photo by Corporal Jean-Roch Chabot.
Polish PT-91 about to get ‘decontaminated’ during CBRN (Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear) training in Latvia. Back in the Cold War, and through the 1990s, we called it NBC (nuclear Biological Chemical) training.
Camp Ādaži, Latvia. Canadian Forces photo by Master Corporal Gerald Cormier, 02OCT2017.
Canadian Forces video by Master Corporal Brandon O’Connell, Polish PT-91 during NATO wargame in Latvia, 2017:
Camp Ādaži, Latvia. Canadian Forces photo by Master Corporal Gerald Cormier, 02OCT2017.
U.S. Army photo by Charles Rosemond, 15JUN2017.
Adazi, Latvia, during NATO Saber Strike wargame, June 2017.
U.S. Army photo by Specialist Brandon Best, 04JUN2017.
U.S. Marine Corps photo by First Lieutenant Kristine Racicot.
Since the 1990s, many new versions of the PT-91 battle-tank have come out, with different designations and names. There’s even recovery vehicles, engineer vehicles, bridgelayers and self propelled artillery based on the PT-91. Besides Poland, Georgia, India and Malaysia use some type of PT-91 variant.
“This plane was built for the Cold War. It serves as the link between the national decision makers and the nuclear triad.”-Chief Petty Officer Jeffrey Penington, Task Force 124, July 2007
U.S. Air Force photo by Greg L. Davis, 23AUG2019.
U.S. Navy E-6B from Tinker Air Force Base (AFB), Oklahoma, flies over Colorado, 23AUG2019.
U.S. Air Force photo by Greg L. Davis, 23AUG2019.
The E-6B has a greatly strengthened airframe/wings/landing gear compared to its E-6A incarnation, due to greater weight caused by lots of electronic gear and extra fuel capacity. By 2003, the entire E-6A fleet was converted to B standard.
U.S. Air Force photo by Greg L. Davis, 23AUG2019.
E-6B Mercury refuels from a KC-135. The KC-135 and E-6B are not the same type of aircraft. The E-6B is based on the Boeing 707, the KC-135 is not. While the KC-135 is based on the same prototype-predecessor it was developed independently from the 707, and airframe parts are not interchangeable.
USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Jacob Skovo.
E-6B Mercury, assigned to Strategic Communications Wing 1 at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, taxis on the flightline of Offutt AFB, Nebraska, 15JUL2019.
USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Jacob Skovo.
Notice what looks like a drogue type refueling system at the tail-end of the plane, it is reportedly a type of VLF antenna that’s five miles (8km) long when fully reeled out!
U.S. Air Force photo by Josh Plueger, 03OCT2017.
Panel removal from E-6B Mercury engine nacelle, 03OCT2017, Offutt AFB. The U.S. Navy (USN) has its own maintenance unit on Offutt AFB, for the purpose of maintaining aircraft used in Airborne Command Post (AbnCP, aka Looking Glass), and Take Charge and Move Out (TaCaMO) missions.
U.S. Air Force photo by Josh Plueger, 02OCT2017.
A worn out E-6B Mercury training aircraft on Offutt AFB, under USN guard, while waiting for turn-around inspection, 02OCT2017.
USAF photo by Josh Plueger.
USN E-6B Mercury takes flight from the USAF base of Offutt, Nebraska, 28AUG2015.
USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Jacob Skovo.
In 2007, E-6Bs with Task Force 124 were also serving as airborne radio relay stations over Iraq: “Our role here is basically as a convoy relay. When the convoys are moving and they can’t get a hold of someone to report something or even perform a radio check, they can contact us. Because we’re so high in the air we have a greater line of sight and therefore can communicate with all convoys and reporting authorities.”-Lieutenant Junior Grade Amy Simek, TF-124 battle staff mission commander
USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Jacob Skovo.
USN photo, November 1984.
Take Charge and Move Out (TaCaMO) operations began in early 1960s, using EC-130s, for the purpose of directing nuclear ballistic missile launches from submarines.
In reality ‘drone’ technology is not new, it can be traced back to before the Second World War. So it’s not really a surprise to learn that the U.S. Air Force used a WW2 C-47/DC-3 Skytrain/Dakota to test the latest stuff for its MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle.
U.S. Air Force photo by David Dixon.
It is known as the Mini-AgilePod, the Air Force Research Laboratory began aerial testing using a DC-3 (silly-vilian version of the C-47), in Ohio, in 2017.
It was also tested on the Textron Aviation Defense’s Scorpion Light Attack/ISR jet, at the end of 2017.
USAF photo by David Dixon.
USAF photo by David Dixon.
USAF photo.
This is the larger prototype AgilePod, seen in 2016. In 2018, a report stated that testing for the Mini AgilePod would be done over two years. By the end of 2020, reports indicated that the AgilePod was being used to test electronic systems for other countries. So far there is nothing indicating that it has been accepted for regular use with the U.S. military.
The C-54 was the militarized version of the DC-4 airliner, developed during the Second World War.
Photo via Tinker Air Force Base History Office.
C-54s at the Douglas factory in Oklahoma, sometime in the 1940s.
Notice, three and four bladed propellers. Photo via Tinker Air Force Base History Office.
U.S. Air Force photo by Melanie Rodgers Cox.
C-54E flying museum on Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, 08JUN2012.
USAF photo by Melanie Rodgers Cox, 08JUN2012.
USAF photo by Melanie Rodgers Cox, 08JUN2012.
USAF photo by Melanie Rodgers Cox, 08JUN2012.
USAF photo by Melanie Rodgers Cox, 08JUN2012.
C-54 Flight Chief Timothy Chopp, poses with children from a local school. The flying museum reminds people of one of the first incidents of the undeclared Cold War; The Berlin Airlift. It was probably the first time military air transports were used in a massive humanitarian relief effort.
Video, C-54 over air show in Michigan, 2014:
USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Chad Thompson, 09SEP2016.
Spirit of Freedom sits on the tarmac at the Great Falls International Airport, Montana, 09SEP2016.
USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Chad Thompson, 09SEP2016.
USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Chad Thompson, 09SEP2016.
USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Joe McFadden, 22NOV2016.
The man responsible for the Berlin Airlift’s unofficial ‘Candy Bomber’ operation (which became part of the larger official Operation Vittles food supply mission); retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Gail Halvorsen at the Berlin Airlift Memorial outside Frankfurt International Airport, Germany, 22NOV2016. It started innocently enough, simply handing out candy to German children watching USAF aircraft landing on the Western side (split in half due to political divisions between the victors of the Second World War) of the war ravaged city of Berlin. So many children started showing up for sugar food that Halvorsen started tossing the candy out his C-54 before he landed. Soon, fellow transport pilots began following his lead, and candy donation drives were held in the U.S. to help bomb the children of the West Berlin area with candy.
Official USAF video report:
Ohio Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Hope Geiger.
Douglas C-54 Skymaster ‘Spirit of Freedom’ museum plane during the Toledo Air Show in Swanton, Ohio, 14JUL2019.
U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant Carolyn Herrick.
Two short lived C-27J Spartans sit mummified on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (AFB), Arizona, 02JUN2016. Spartans were being interned at Davis-Monthan in 2013.
Video by Airman First Class Kelly Greenwell, Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMaRG) personnel mummifying an Ohio Air National Guard (ANG) C-27J with ‘spraylat’, 24OCT2013:
The Lockheed Martin-Leonardo Alenia Aermacchi (aka Leonardo Company) C-27J Spartan is a modernized version of the Aeritalia-Alenia Aeronautica G.222 (aka C-27A). The ‘J’ denotes that it uses the same engines and similar avionics as the C-130J Super Hercules. The concept for the C-27J was apparently suggested in 1997, the first flight of a C-27J was in September 1999. In June 2007, the U.S. Army (USA) and U.S. Air Force (USAF) decided to try the C-27J for their ‘Joint Cargo Aircraft’ operations. By 2009, the USA/Army National Guard Bureau decided they didn’t like the C-27J and gave their Spartans to the USAF/Air National Guard Bureau. The USA said their Chinook, and other utility helicopters, were much more cost effective at tactical transport, than the C-27J.
Ohio Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Jeffery Allen.
Ohio ANG C-27J loads-up in Qalat, Afghanistan, 15AUG2011.
Despite the publicity over the mishandling of the U.S. Spartan program, and mothballing of ANG aircraft, the C-27J is very much alive, in use with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOC).
U.S. Army video report about Operation Toy Drop, December 2015:
U.S. Army photo by Sergeant First Class Sean A. Foley.
Paratroopers jump from a perfectly good USSOC Spartan, over Fort Bragg in North Carolina, 26OCT2015.
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Third Class Taylor Bacon.
USCG HC-27J delivering pandemic vaccines to San Diego, California, 09MAR2021.
The C-27J is also being used by at least a dozen countries.
USAF photo by Airman First Class Christopher Quail.
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) C-27J leaves tiny Tinian, U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, during Cope North wargame, 19FEB2014.
USAF photo by Airman First Class Dana J. Butler.
Lietuvos Karinės oro pajėgos (Lithuanian Air Force) C-27J on Šiauliai Air Base, Lithuania, 01APR2014.
USAF photo by Senior Airman Damon Kasberg.
Bulgarian Air Force (Voennovazdushni sili, Военновъздушни сили) C-27J Spartan during NATO’s Steadfast Javelin-2 wargame, Ramstein Air Base, Germany, 02SEP2014.
USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Joe W. McFadden.
Hellenic (Greek, Πολεμική Αεροπορία, Polemikí Aeroporía) War Aviation Spartan takes off from Souda Bay, Greece, 29JAN2015.
USAF photo by Senior Airman Nicole Sikorski.
Bulgar C-27J Spartan over Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 16JUL2015.
Ministerstvo obrany Slovenskej republiky video from October 2017:
Photo via Leonardo Company.
C-27J of the Fuerza Aérea del Perú.
RAAF video of dirt strip landing, May 2018:
USA photo by Sergeant First Class John Etheridge.
RAAF C-27J during Talisman Saber wargame, 17JUL2019.
USA photo by Private First Class Andrew Webbbuffington.
U.S. paratroopers jumping from a perfectly good Italian Aeronautica Militare C-27J, 25JUL2019.
USAF photo by Senior Airman Malcolm Mayfield.
Forțele Aeriene Române (Romanian Air Force) Spartan during Carpathian Summer wargame, 31JUL2019.
Mexican Army & Air forces (ejército y FAM) video of C-27J (as well as C-295) loading-up with aid for flooded cities in the state of Tabasco, November 2020:
November 2020 promotional video by Leonardo Company:
WISE GUY RESURRECTION
NASA TRUCKS SAVING THE TRUCKING INDUSTRY
KC-135R GETS STRIPPED
