653rd Combat Logistics Support Squadron team helps out with C-5 Galaxy wheel, brakes upgrade Published Jan. 25, 2008 By Holly Birchfield 78th ABW/PA Robins Air Force Base, GA -- Members of the 653rd Combat Logistics Support Squadron teamed up with others from Travis Air Force Base, Calif., Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and Lackland Air Force Base, Texas in an effort to stop brake fires and other related problems in the C-5 Galaxy aircraft. The C-5 Wheel Brake System Improvement project, which involved a 14-person team, was a seven-month project that was about four years in the making. It all started in May 2003 when Hill Air Force Base, Utah, who overhauls the wheels, brakes and landing gear of the C-5, called for a new wheel and brake design to make the plane safer for its crew. Laurence Gressett, a mechanical engineer in the 730th Air Combat Sustainment Group who has just recently made a permanent change of station to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, served as the lead project engineer. Mr. Gressett said the project would save the Air Force millions. "We spent $12 million a year on landing gear wheels and $2.5 million on nose landing gear wheels, so that's $14.5 million a year and it lasts one year," he said. "This current one is going to last 10 years. So, we're going to spend $14.5 million for 10 years instead of spending $145 million the next 10 years. That's $130 million in savings every 10 years." Mr. Gressett said the project's peripheral effects could end up saving the Air Force even more money in the end. To make the project feasible, the Air Force Reserve Headquarters allowed Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass., to provide a C-5 aircraft for the project. Tech. Sgt. Michael Towe, an aircraft electrical environmental craftsman in the 653rd CLSS, who was the team chief for the project, said Hill first approached the C-5 System Program Office on the project, and that's when he and his members were called in. "We flew out to Edwards Air Force Base the first of May of 2007," he said. "We, in conjunction with the engineers at Edwards and (the) modification team, started to modify the aircraft. They added sensors, removed all of the wheels and brakes, and the aft axels off the aircraft. The new parts that we installed were instrumentated (so) the engineers could read temperature and measure the stress the aircraft was going through." Sergeant Towe said this part of the project took about three months. After the modification was completed, the team started tow testing on the plane to see how much stress the landing gear could take, Sergeant Towe said. The team then started baseline testing on the original wheels and brakes for about a month and half. After this line of testing, the team removed the legacy wheels and brakes and installed the WBSI wheel and brakes and put the aircraft through the battery of tests again to compare the old and new wheel and brakes for signs of improvement. Sergeant Towe said the project went very well. "I think it was very successful," he said. "The amount of money that the new wheels and brakes will save, I think it's well worth the work we did and it was very interesting work." The success didn't come without its challenges though. Sergeant Towe said the weather slowed the project a bit. "We had a few cancellations from weather because we were limited by the amount of wind during an actual test," he said. "(On) a couple of days, the heat (affected us). We broke a record for heat one day." Tech. Sgt. Ronald Bolden, a hydraulics mechanic in the 653rd CLSS who helped plan the project, said keeping the plane in tact was a hefty chore. "The normal day-to-day maintenance of keeping the aircraft maintenance ready (was a challenge)," he said. "With the C-5, you're going to have little things that are going to go wrong. You've got the modifications of testing that's going on, but also you have just trying to keep the aircraft itself working." Sergeant Bolden said on average, the team had to make about 240 tire changes. With each weighing in at about 300 pounds, the endeavor took a team effort. With each configuration, brakes and tires had to be changed. There were 24 changes for each configuration, Sergeant Bolden said. Parts availability for the project was low since support needed for the on-going war on terrorism took priority. But, Sergeant Towe said their partnering bases came through for them. Good coordination among Robins, Hill, Edwards, and contractors such as B.F Goodrich out of Troy, Ohio, and General Atomics based in Utah, helped make the project run smoother, Sergeant Towe said. The team chief said he also gives great credit to the bases that provided support. "We couldn't have done this project without the support from Travis and Lackland Air Force bases," he said. "They definitely helped out a lot with the people and some of the equipment they sent for us." While most of the team members stayed a few months before rotating out, two members were on board from start to finish, Sergeant Towe said. "Two of us stayed the whole time, (me) and Tech. Sgt. Amos Salisbury, the lead crew chief for the trip," he said. Sergeant Towe said no matter their stay, all were dedicated to the mission at hand. Sergeant Towe said the Air Force hasn't yet determined when it will implement the new wheels and brakes on the C-5.