Aging C/KC-135 aircraft to receive 'nose jobs'

Citizen Airman, August, 2004

Over the course of the next three years, 495 C/KC-135 aircraft are going to receive nose jobs, but it's not out of vanity.

According to officials from the C/KC-135 Systems Program Office at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., the 45-year-old-plus aircraft will receive a new radome as organizational-level maintenance units begin replacing existing standard honeycomb nose radomes with new compressed foam units.

The Air Force Reserve's 507th Air Refueling Wing at Tinker, in cooperation with the C/KC-135 SPO, provided one of its KC-135R Stratotankers last fall to support the final test of the replacement process and verify the time compliance technical order instructions.

According to Ron Hopkins, C/KC-135 structural engineer, the new radome, which consists of a foam core sandwiched between fiberglass plies, was chosen because of its high-impact resistance and resistance to moisture intrusion. The part is 10 pounds lighter than what is currently on the aircraft and is easier to repair. Hopkins estimates the meantime between failure for the new radome will be 17,241 hours versus 1,689 hours for the existing honeycomb radomes.

One reason the honeycomb radomes are failing at such a high rate, Mr. Hopkins said, is the layers are separating, allowing moisture to creep in. Once inside the layers, the moisture freezes at high altitudes and causes disjointing of the radome materials.

Radomes will initially be issued as a TCTO modification kit, which means they will be free to customers. Mr. Hopkins said the new radome assembly kit will apply to a majority of the C/KC-135 aircraft currently being flown. He added that the KC-135D/E aircraft pending retirement have been excluded from the TCTO.

According to Senior Master Sgt. Robert Erickson, 507th Logistics Group quality assurance NCO in charge, "the actual installation of the radome takes four hours to complete. It's great to know our unit can help improve the readiness of the entire fleet of KC-135s."

Installation of the new foam core radomes is expected to save $29.6 million over the life of the C/KC-135 weapon system. The replacement project should be complete by early 2005. (Maj. Rich Curry, 507th ARW public affairs, Tinker AFB.)