News

T-38 Talon lever fix is a success story

  • Published
  • By Wayne Crenshaw
  • 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  Members of the 573rd Commodities Maintenance Squadron at Robins are putting in some long hours to make sure Air Force pilot training doesn't come to a virtual halt.

Many members of the squadron have been working 10-hour days, seven days a week to make a new aileron actuator lever for the T-38 Talon used to train pilots. A T-38 crashed in April, killing the instructor and student. A faulty aileron lever was declared a contributing factor in the crash, according to an Air Force Materiel Command news release.

The problem threatened to ground all T-38s, but Warner Robins Air Logistics Center and the two other Air Force depots in Utah and Oklahoma took on the task of developing a replacement lever.

Robins was not in the picture for the fix at first, said Tommy Hunnicutt, deputy director of the 573rd Commodities Maintenance Squadron, but then the other two depots started having problems getting their prototypes approved for the item that requires precise, intricate milling. That raised concerns about how long the fix could take, Mr. Hunnicutt said, and that's when the 573rd CMMXS got the call to get involved.

After getting the contract July 30, the squadron got its prototype approved Aug. 25 with relative ease and is now producing 50 levers per week. The contract calls for the squadron to produce 250 left hand levers and 250 right hand levers. The levers control the ailerons, which are located on the rear of each wing and are used to control the aircraft during a turn.

"It's been overall just a very great success for this organization," said Mr. Hunnicutt. "Everybody associated with this project has really pulled together."

Maj. Gen. Polly Peyer, commander of the WR-ALC, visited the squadron last week to hand out "commander's coins" to members of the squadron to recognize their work on the project. She also visited the Robins detachment of Defense Supply Center Richmond.

Only about 32 people have hands-on involvement in the lever work at Robins, but it's important enough that the squadron participates in weekly, worldwide conference calls updating progress of the work. Mr. Hunnicutt expects the squadron to boost its output to 75 levers per week, which would put completion of the contract at about Nov. 14. That would be well ahead of the original completion date of Dec. 26.

The T-38 is a twin-engine jet that serves as the primary trainer for Air Force pilots. It also has the same basic airframe as the F-5 Freedom Fighter, and Mr. Hunnicutt said the F-5 aileron levers will also be replaced.

According to an Air Force fact sheet, the Air Force purchased about 1,100 T-38s between 1961 and 1972, when production ended, but the aircraft remains the primary trainer. Air Education and Training Command is the primary user, training pilots for front-line fighter and bomber aircraft that includes the F-15E Strike Eagle, F-15C Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, B-1B Lancer, A-10 Thunderbolt and F-22 Raptor.

Due to the age of the T-38, the original aluminum forgings used to make the levers are no longer available, which is why the parts had to be manufactured from scratch. The Air Force currently operates 546 T-38s.