SonnyJ Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq -- After 47 years of service, a C-130E completed its last combat mission while in Iraq. Upon reaching its total aircraft hours of more than 33,220, the Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. aircraft was retired. "It's a very sad day when an aircraft retires," said Capt. Bradley Allen, 777th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Unit officer in charge. "A lot of people over many years have put in hard work and countless hours to maintain the aircraft - to see this one go, especially since it is a good flyer, it is a sad day." Although days away from retirement, tail 9813 remained vital to the mission as its last few hours of flight were spent over Iraq on an air drop mission. As the C-130 soared of Iraq cargo pallets of supplies were pushed out the aircraft to aid servicemembers across the AOR. Previously, the aircraft served in many different roles such as humanitarian missions, airlift transport of troops and equipment, and operations during Desert Storm. Even though Tail 9813 was a noted "good flyer" it flew the amount of hours its airframe was intended for and reached its service life. "Some aircraft are old, and they have done their job and have done it well," said Capt. Bradley Buinicky, 777th Expeditionary Aircraft Squadron C-130 co-pilot. "Most of them are from 1962 to 1972 and flew in the Vietnam War. So there is a lot of heritage involved in each airframe and each tail specifically." Despite the aircraft's age and even though it was heavily flown, tail 9813 was able to achieve a milestone in the maintenance arena by earning a "black letter initial" in 2007. The aircraft went with no open maintenance issues that entire year and was rated a perfect aircraft; ready for flight. Such an honor is a reflection on every crew member that turned a wrench or inspected tail 9813, said Captain Allen. Tail 9813 will now join more than 4,000 other aircraft at the aerospace maintenance and regeneration center, otherwise known as "the boneyard," at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdaley Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 Where did it end up? Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Railrunner130 Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 Not sure. Some of the guys we got from Willow Grove said it had been there though. Probably 2000-2007 time frame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3_Super_Bee Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 Despite the aircraft's age and even though it was heavily flown, tail 9813 was able to achieve a milestone in the maintenance arena by earning a "black letter initial" in 2007. The aircraft went with no open maintenance issues that entire year and was rated a perfect aircraft; ready for flight. Can someone explain this BS to me? Where did it end up? Bob Tail 9813 will now join more than 4,000 other aircraft at the aerospace maintenance and regeneration center, otherwise known as "the boneyard," at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
325X1 Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 (edited) Despite the aircraft's age and even though it was heavily flown, tail 9813 was able to achieve a milestone in the maintenance arena by earning a "black letter initial" in 2007. The aircraft went with no open maintenance issues that entire year and was rated a perfect aircraft; ready for flight. Can someone explain this BS to me? In TO 00-20-1 the AFTO Form 781H, STATUS TODAY block requires the symbol reflecting the status of the aerospace vehicle. The following is a bit out of order but explain it a bit better: "The status symbol recorded in these columns always represent the most serious condition." ... "A black last name initial indicates no known discrepancies which require a symbol exists and no inspections are due and/or overdue on the aerospace vehicle." ... "If no discrepancies exist on the aerospace vehicle, enter the last name initial of authorized individual who accomplished or supervised the pre-flight inspection." That person would usually be the crewchief or a reasonable facsimile there of. 325X1 Edited March 22, 2010 by 325X1 Clarify Entry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INS/Dopplertroop Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 I think it was a rhetorical question. Why was an airframe, in as good a condition and with as good a record as this, going to the boneyard ahead of more inferior aircraft? That would be the BS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMPTestFE Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 Can someone explain this BS to me? Yeah, there's no way any airplane went without any writeups for a whole year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave in WV Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 I believe they mean no open write ups as in all were corrected before flight and no inspections were due but still flown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skip Davenport Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 Still hard to believe -- in 25 years I flew only one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenmonster Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 Despite the aircraft's age and even though it was heavily flown, tail 9813 was able to achieve a milestone in the maintenance arena by earning a "black letter initial" in 2007. The aircraft went with no open maintenance issues that entire year and was rated a perfect aircraft; ready for flight. When I was at Pope my tail # at the time (I think it was 498) was on a black letter initial for about 15 minutes. I had busted my hump getting everything taken care of so I could use the initial. It lasted as long as it took the Pro super to look at the forms and say "Ain't no way for this old of an airframe can be on an initial" He then wrote up mulitple paint scratches acft due paint!! I was sooo pissed. Thats a good way to inspire your people. What a tool that guy was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OEO Posted March 23, 2010 Share Posted March 23, 2010 Politics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinyclark Posted March 23, 2010 Share Posted March 23, 2010 Can someone explain this BS to me? It is BS. I saw one black A/C at Ramstein during my six years there, for one day. I guess they never did any pre, post, thru, HSC or ISO inspections on it. Must have been a CNN news reporter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey_G Posted March 23, 2010 Share Posted March 23, 2010 Must have been a CNN news reporter. Worse, an af.mil reporter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lkuest Posted March 23, 2010 Share Posted March 23, 2010 It's probably just a misunderstanding. You tell a guy a plane got a black letter in 2007, meaning sometime in 2007, and what the guy hears is that the plane got a black letter for the year 2007. Sometimes maintainers forget how to talk to people who don't work on airplanes. You got to spell everything out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdaley Posted March 23, 2010 Share Posted March 23, 2010 9813 now in Amarg. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StovetopNav Posted March 27, 2010 Share Posted March 27, 2010 If I recall correctly, I think this tail had already received the CWB temp repair...it had way high EBH and had definitely earned its sunset flight to DM, serving our AF proudly for many years in many AORs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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